Education

Education and lifelong learning today play a critical role in the development of economies and societies. In Canada, education is the responsibility of the 10 provinces and 3 territories. While educational structures and institutions across the country are similar in many ways, they have been developed by each jurisdiction to respond to the particular circumstances, geographical situation, and historical and cultural heritage of the population they serve.

Public education is provided free to all Canadian citizens and permanent residents until the end of secondary school, normally at age 18. In most jurisdictions, elementary-secondary education consists of kindergarten and 12 years of study, grades 1 through 12; the only exception is Quebec. Quebec's elementary/secondary system has 11 years – 6 years of elementary school and 5 years of secondary school.

Once secondary school has been successfully completed, students may apply to a college career program or to a university. Traditionally, enrolment in trade-vocational programs, such as apprenticeship or other programs geared towards preparation for employment in an occupation or trade, did not require graduation from secondary school. However, requirements are evolving so that more and more programs, especially in trades dealing with advanced technology or having implications for public safety, are now requiring high school graduation.

The systems of public non-degree-granting institutions in Canada for the most part were created by provincial and territorial governments in the 1960s to provide labour market preparation programs as alternatives to the more theoretically oriented programs of universities. Depending on the province or territory, they are called colleges, regional colleges, centres, colleges of applied arts and technology, community colleges, institutes, schools, or, in Quebec, collèges d'enseignement général et professionnel (CEGEPs). In Quebec, students wishing to go on to university are generally required to complete a two-year pre-university program (the CEGEP 'general' program).

Universities typically offer four-year undergraduate programs leading to bachelor's degrees. Advanced degrees include master's degrees, generally requiring two years of study after a first degree, and doctoral degrees, requiring three to five years of postgraduate study and research as well as a dissertation.