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Education in Canada
Education in Canada is for the most part provided publicly, funded and overseen by federal, provincial, and local governments. Education is within provincial jurisdiction and the curriculum is overseen by the province. 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. Canada has a large number of universities, almost all of which are publicly funded. Established in 1663, Université Laval is the oldest post-secondary institution in Canada. The largest university is the University of Toronto with over 85,000 students. 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.
According to a 2022 report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Canada is the most educated country in the world; 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. Canada spends an average of about 5.3 percent of its GDP on education. The country invests heavily in tertiary education (more than US$20,000 per student). As of 2022[update], 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.
The mandatory education age ranges between 5–7 to 16–18 years, contributing to an adult literacy rate of 99 percent. 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, 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.
Section 15(2) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms permits governments to implement programs aimed at improving the conditions of disadvantaged groups, even if these programs involve differential treatment based on race, gender, or other protected grounds.
Several school boards, including the Toronto District School Board (TDSB), have implemented identity-based data collection to assess achievement gaps among racialized students. These practices are designed to inform supports targeted toward specific demographic groups under the protection of Section 15(2).
Critics have raised concerns about the transparency and methodology of these data practices. In some cases, it is unclear whether white students are included as a comparison group or fully represented in calculations measuring educational harm. Currently, there is no federal or provincial legislation that explicitly governs the inclusion or exclusion of demographic groups in school board-level education data. This has led to public debate regarding the fairness and legal scope of equity-focused interventions.
The Canadian Education Statistics Council (CESC) works in collaboration with provincial and territorial departments that are responsible for education and training, on the Pan-Canadian Education Indicators Program (PCEIP). The CESC includes both the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada (CMEC) and Statistics Canada. The CESC submits an annual report, Education Indicators in Canada: An International Perspective, "supports the comparison of educational systems in Canada's provinces and territories with member [OECD] countries".
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) coordinates the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) that is intended to evaluate educational systems—OECD members and non-OECD members—by measuring 15-year-old school pupils' scholastic performance on mathematics, science, and reading.
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Education in Canada
Education in Canada is for the most part provided publicly, funded and overseen by federal, provincial, and local governments. Education is within provincial jurisdiction and the curriculum is overseen by the province. 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. Canada has a large number of universities, almost all of which are publicly funded. Established in 1663, Université Laval is the oldest post-secondary institution in Canada. The largest university is the University of Toronto with over 85,000 students. 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.
According to a 2022 report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Canada is the most educated country in the world; 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. Canada spends an average of about 5.3 percent of its GDP on education. The country invests heavily in tertiary education (more than US$20,000 per student). As of 2022[update], 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.
The mandatory education age ranges between 5–7 to 16–18 years, contributing to an adult literacy rate of 99 percent. 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, 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.
Section 15(2) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms permits governments to implement programs aimed at improving the conditions of disadvantaged groups, even if these programs involve differential treatment based on race, gender, or other protected grounds.
Several school boards, including the Toronto District School Board (TDSB), have implemented identity-based data collection to assess achievement gaps among racialized students. These practices are designed to inform supports targeted toward specific demographic groups under the protection of Section 15(2).
Critics have raised concerns about the transparency and methodology of these data practices. In some cases, it is unclear whether white students are included as a comparison group or fully represented in calculations measuring educational harm. Currently, there is no federal or provincial legislation that explicitly governs the inclusion or exclusion of demographic groups in school board-level education data. This has led to public debate regarding the fairness and legal scope of equity-focused interventions.
The Canadian Education Statistics Council (CESC) works in collaboration with provincial and territorial departments that are responsible for education and training, on the Pan-Canadian Education Indicators Program (PCEIP). The CESC includes both the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada (CMEC) and Statistics Canada. The CESC submits an annual report, Education Indicators in Canada: An International Perspective, "supports the comparison of educational systems in Canada's provinces and territories with member [OECD] countries".
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) coordinates the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) that is intended to evaluate educational systems—OECD members and non-OECD members—by measuring 15-year-old school pupils' scholastic performance on mathematics, science, and reading.