Education at a Glance in Canada

School Tuition: $14,000

National Boarding School: $34,000

Language: English/French

Language Certification: Not needed

Possibility of Temporary Residence Visa: Five-year Tourist Visa for parents

Permanent Residency after graduation: No

Canada is know for its quality of life in every measurable category and is consistently ranked as one of the top ten places in the world in which to live. Home to many world-class academic institutions with affordable tuition fees, Canada has also become a preferred destination for students from around the world who dream of pursuing quality higher education in a safe, secure and multicultural environment.

Foreign students in Canada typically have two options for accommodation; Some elect to stay on-campus in student housing, while others might choose off-campus residential areas in cities and towns.

Students completing their education often apply for work and permanent residency in the hopes of building new lives in Canada.

The other unique features of Canada educational system is that it is a provincial, not federal, responsibility and is operated on the basis of geographic districts. Districts have a number of schools within its jurisdiction. They develop and implement their own policies covering a number of areas, including hiring teachers, allocating resources for school equipment and infrastructure, as well as overseeing and monitoring the decisions of specific schools within districts.  Most districts are supervised by an elected board (a School Board) and many schools also have parents committees that that contribute in various ways to make life better for students and teachers such as extracurricular activities, community and volunteer work, to name a few.

Since education is the exclusive jurisdiction of the provinces, each develop their own standards. Generally, provinces require that teachers be certified and licensed to teach in primary and secondary schools. In addition to a teaching certificate, they require a minimum of a bachelor’s degree, and in most cases, a master’s degree.

Canada’s education system is known as being among the top-tier in the world.  There are currently  approximately 310,000 full time teachers in primary and secondary schools, and 40,000 in colleges and universities across Canada.

How to find a public school in Canada?

Parents are understandably very selective about the schools that their children attend. It is worth noting that Canadian schools regularly rank at the top levels of global rankings for public and private schools, including at institutions of higher learning and research universities.

For parents with school aged children, deciding on the right place to live is often the second priority to identifying a good and suitable school for their children. In a public school setting, that is done by registering in a neighborhood public school.