Education in Canada

Education in Canada
Educational oversight
Provincial & Territorial
Ministers of Education:
List of Ministers
National education budget (2016)
Budget6.0% of GDP‡[12]
General details
Primary languagesEnglish, French
System typeProvincially controlled
Literacy
Male99%[13]
Female99%[13]
Attainment
Secondary diploma93%[16][17]
Post-secondary diploma68%[14][15]
‡ Includes Elementary, secondary and post-secondary non-tertiary education.

Education in Canada is for the most part provided publicly, funded and overseen by federal, provincial, and local governments.[18] Education is within provincial jurisdiction and the curriculum is overseen by the province.[19][20] Education in Canada is generally divided into primary education, followed by secondary education and post-secondary. Education in both English and French is available in most places across Canada.[21] Canada has a large number of universities, almost all of which are publicly funded.[22] Established in 1663, Université Laval is the oldest post-secondary institution in Canada.[23] The largest university is the University of Toronto with over 85,000 students.[24] Four universities are regularly ranked among the top 100 world-wide, namely University of Toronto, University of British Columbia, McGill University, and McMaster University, with a total of 18 universities ranked in the top 500 worldwide.[25]

According to a 2022 report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Canada is the most educated country in the world;[26][27] the country ranks first worldwide in the percentage of adults having tertiary education, with over 57 percent of Canadian adults having attained at least an undergraduate college or university degree.[28] Canada spends an average of about 5.3 percent of its GDP on education.[29] The country invests heavily in tertiary education (more than US$20,000 per student).[30] As of 2022, 89 percent of adults aged 25 to 64 have earned the equivalent of a high-school degree, compared to an OECD average of 75 percent.[27]

The mandatory education age ranges between 5–7 to 16–18 years,[31] contributing to an adult literacy rate of 99 percent.[32] Just over 60,000 children are homeschooled in the country as of 2016. The Programme for International Student Assessment indicates Canadian students perform well above the OECD average, particularly in mathematics, science, and reading,[33][34] ranking the overall knowledge and skills of Canadian 15-year-olds as the sixth-best in the world, although these scores have been declining in recent years. Canada is a well-performing OECD country in reading literacy, mathematics, and science, with the average student scoring 523.7, compared with the OECD average of 493 in 2015.[35][36]

  1. ^ "Minister of Education — Province of British Columbia". Government of British Columbia. Retrieved October 29, 2024.
  2. ^ "Cabinet Ministers". Government of Manitoba. Retrieved October 29, 2024.
  3. ^ "Members of the Executive Council". Government of New Brunswick. Retrieved October 29, 2024.
  4. ^ "Minister — Education". Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. Retrieved October 29, 2024.
  5. ^ "Honourable Becky Druhan". Government of Nova Scotia. Retrieved October 29, 2024.
  6. ^ "Caitlin Cleveland". Government of Northwest Territories. Retrieved October 29, 2024.
  7. ^ "The Honourable Pamela Hakongak Gross". Government of Nunavut. Retrieved October 29, 2024.
  8. ^ "Jill Dunlop named Ontario's new education minister after Todd Smith resigns". toronto.ctvnews.ca. August 16, 2024. Retrieved October 29, 2024.
  9. ^ "Lantz, Hon. Rob". Government of Prince Edward Island. Retrieved October 29, 2024.
  10. ^ "Honourable Jeremy Cockrill". Government of Saskatchewan. Retrieved October 29, 2024.
  11. ^ "Jeanie McLean". Yukon Legislative Assembly. Retrieved October 29, 2024.
  12. ^ "Education Indicators in Canada: An International Perspective 2018" (PDF). Statistics Canada. December 11, 2018. p. 93. Retrieved August 27, 2019.
  13. ^ a b "CIA World Factbook — Canada". US Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved July 21, 2009.
  14. ^ "Education Indicators in Canada: An International Perspective 2018" (PDF). Statistics Canada. December 11, 2018. p. 32. Retrieved August 27, 2019.
  15. ^ "Education Indicators in Canada: An International Perspective 2018" (PDF). Statistics Canada. December 11, 2018. p. 24. Retrieved August 27, 2019.
  16. ^ "Education Indicators in Canada: An International Perspective 2018" (PDF). Statistics Canada. December 11, 2018. p. 33. Retrieved August 27, 2019.
  17. ^ "International Educational Attainment" (PDF). p. 4. Retrieved August 27, 2019.
  18. ^ Scholey, Lucy (April 21, 2015). "2015 federal budget 'disappointing' for post-secondary students: CFS". Archived from the original on June 3, 2015.
  19. ^ Canada 1956 the Official Handbook of Present Conditions and Recent Progress. Canada Year Book Section Information Services Division Dominion Bureau of Statistics. 1959.
  20. ^ Montesinos, Vicente; Manuel Vela, José (2013). Innovations in Governmental Accounting. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 305. ISBN 978-1-4757-5504-6.
  21. ^ Epstein, Irving (2008). The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Children's Issues Worldwide. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 73. ISBN 978-0-313-33617-1.
  22. ^ Shanahan, Theresa; Nilson, Michelle; Broshko, Li Jeen (2016). The Handbook of Canadian Higher Education. McGill-Queen's University Press. p. 59. ISBN 978-1-55339-506-5.
  23. ^ Blake, Raymond B.; Keshen, Jeffrey A.; Knowles, Norman J.; Messamore, Barbara J. (2017). Conflict and Compromise: Pre-Confederation Canada. University of Toronto Press. p. 249. ISBN 978-1-4426-3555-5.
  24. ^ Richards, Larry Wayne (2019). University of Toronto: An Architectural Tour (The Campus Guide) (2nd ed.). Princeton Architectural Press. p. 11. ISBN 978-1-61689-824-3.
  25. ^ "Academic Ranking of World Universities 2019: Canada". Shanghai Ranking. Archived from the original on February 27, 2020. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
  26. ^ "The Daily — Canada leads the G7 for the most educated workforce, thanks to immigrants, young adults and a strong college sector, but is experiencing significant losses in apprenticeship certificate holders in key trades". Statistics Canada. November 30, 2022. Retrieved March 8, 2024.
  27. ^ a b "Education at a Glance". OECD. September 12, 2023. Retrieved March 8, 2024.
  28. ^ Education, Level Of. "Canada". Education GPS. Retrieved March 8, 2024.
  29. ^ "Canada Education spending, percent of GDP". TheGlobalEconomy.com. December 31, 1971. Retrieved March 9, 2024.
  30. ^ "Financial and human resources invested in Education" (PDF). OECD. 2011. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 8, 2014. Retrieved July 4, 2014.
  31. ^ "Overview of Education in Canada". Council of Ministers of Education, Canada. Archived from the original on February 14, 2010. Retrieved October 20, 2010.
  32. ^ "Canada". The World Factbook. CIA. May 16, 2006.
  33. ^ "Comparing countries' and economies' performances" (PDF). OECD. 2009. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 7, 2012. Retrieved May 22, 2012.
  34. ^ "Canadian education among best in the world: OECD". CTV News. December 7, 2010. Archived from the original on May 28, 2013.
  35. ^ "PISA – Results in Focus" (PDF). OECD. 2015. p. 5.
  36. ^ "Canada – Student performance (PISA 2015)". OECD. Retrieved December 18, 2020.