Canadian Education System

Do you have kids or plan on having some? Find out more on Canada's educational system 

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Canada's education system is always ranked in the top 10 worldwide, according the OECD's annual Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), which tests the acquired knowledge of 15 year old students (Canada is 7th in Sciences, 2nd in Reading, and 10th in Mathematics, out of 70 countries in 2016).

In Canada, there is no federal ministry of education, instead, each province and territory has its own system of education, although they are quite similar. For primary and secondary levels, education is generally free for residents. As Canada is a bilingual country, French language schools are available across the country.

Organization

The maximum 13 years education are divided into increments called grades (kindergarten and grades 1 to 12). Children usually start in kindergarten at the age of five and advance one grade per year until reaching grade 12 at age 18. Below is the grade structure that is used in most provinces and territories:

Age	Grade	School
2 to 5	-	Pre-school or Kindergarten
6 to 11	1 to 6	Elementary
12 to 14	7 to 9	Junior High
15 to 18	10 to 12	Senior High

Usually a student has one teacher for all major subjects during Elementary school.

Religion and Language

Ontario, Alberta, the Northwest Territories, and certain cities in Saskatchewan are exceptions in Canada, as they are the only ones still maintaining publicly-funded separate district school boards (usually Catholic but occasionally Protestant).

In Quebec, students must attend a French School up until the end of high school unless one of their parents previously attended an English-language school somewhere in Canada. Immigrants from other countries must attend a French school.

​Likewise, access to a French school in most other provinces is limited to children having at least one francophone parent, or a parent who is a Canadian citizen having received French-language primary instruction in Canada.

Choosing a Public School and Registration

Students usually attend a public school close to their home. If parents have a preference for a particular public school, it’s usually necessary to buy or rent a property in that school's area, although they can request that the child attends a school outside their area. Parents should check with their school district if this is possible.

For registration, parents usually need to produce proof of residence, proof of status in Canada, a passport, a birth certificate (or a certified copy) and details of their child’s medical history (immunisations against polio, DTP, MMR and tuberculin screening). It’s also necessary to provide past school reports from the child’s last schools. This is used to assign students to a class or grade and should be as detailed as possible.

Many towns provide bus transport to school, but it may only be provided for certain schools or ages only, and may also depend on the distance (no more than 5km, etc.).

School Hours

The school year in Canada usually runs from the first week of September until the end of June (ten months) and is divided into periods or quarters (terms/semesters).  

The school day in elementary schools is usually from 8.30 AM to 3 or 3.30 PM. In secondary schools, hours are usually from 8.30 AM until 2.30 PM. Extracurricular activities and sports are scheduled after school hours. Lessons in public schools are held from Mondays to Fridays and there are no lessons on Saturdays or Sundays. 

Examination and Grades

A ‘record file’ is opened for each student enrolling in a public school and there’s a continuous evaluation system throughout all grades.  The following grading system is used in high schools throughout Canada:

Grade	Classification	Score out of 100
A	Excellent	90 to 100
B	Good	80 to 89
C	Average / Fair	70 to 79
D	Poor	60 to 69
F	Fair	Below 60