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K-12 Grade School

For 13 years, from听the ages of five to 18, Canadian children are legally required to attend school from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday through Friday, from September to June.听Free听public schools are provided by the听provincial governments, and students attend 13 different grades for each year听in the system, starting听with Kindergarten, followed by grade 1, then grade 2 and so on until grade 12. These 13 grades听鈥� often called the听“K听to听12” years 鈥斕齛re usually separated into three phases: elementary school, middle school, and high school, meaning most Canadian children will attend at least听three different physical schools before completing their听mandatory years of education.

Elementary School

It鈥檚 difficult to firmly state when elementary school (or any other phase of grade听school) begins and ends in Canada, since every province has its own cutoff dates, often set by local school boards. In the majority of cases, however, the “elementary” years usually span from Kindergarten to around sixth or seventh grade.

Kindergarten classes are often听considered little more than glorified babysitting and exist mostly to help socialize very young children into a听classroom setting, with simple activities such as counting, singing, colouring, and games. Some parents will even put their kids into even simpler preschool classes when they鈥檙e still toddlers, though these are not mandatory.

As children grow older and more mature, the early numbered grades gradually educate students on basic concepts in the world of math, science, history, geography, and civics, but with a strong focus on 鈥渉ands-on鈥� learning and creative projects. In most elementary classes, all subjects are taught by a single, all-purpose teacher, with students usually progressing to a different teacher after completing a grade or two.

Middle School

In many provinces, middle school听(or junior high) is a fairly new invention, designed to help facilitate the transition from the easygoing climate of elementary school to the more structured and demanding world of high school. Kids usually attend middle schools听in their early teen years听鈥斕齩ften from around age 13 to 15 鈥� though again, it varies a lot from province to province.

Middle school introduces the concept of different subjects being taught by different teachers, with students moving from classroom to classroom after the conclusion of each lesson. The subject matter remains mostly the same as in elementary school, but now with considerably more detail and stricter standards of grading. The focus begins to shift from creative projects and group activities to written assignments and test-driven learning.

High School

High school marks the听most demanding phase of Canadian public education 鈥� both educationally and socially 鈥� and spans听the late teenage years. It听concludes with a fancy graduation ceremony at the end of grade 12, when most students are 18 years old.听Even once they鈥檙e well into adulthood, a lot of Canadians look back at their high school years with particularly vivid memories. For many, high school marks the听rite of passage from childhood to adolescence, and heralds the start of interest in 鈥渁dult鈥� activities听like dating, driving, and alcohol, along with all sorts of new emotions and personal drama.

In high school, classes听are now much more specialized and specific. Rather than simply 鈥渟cience,”听for example, students may take courses in听physics, biology, or chemistry, offering听much more emphasis on honing academic knowledge听in one particular direction. Written assignments and tests become significantly longer and more detailed, and teachers stricter and more demanding.

In order to successfully complete high school, and thus their entire grade school education, students must pass听provincial exams in several subjects. These are听written by the provincial government and intended to provide definitive assessment as to whether or not students have听learned everything the government considers important. Failing to get decent marks on provincial exams can make it quite difficult to get admitted into a good university, while failing to pass them听all is a pretty intense social taboo that can severely limit one鈥檚 ability to find decent work. With such high stakes, exam time is generally the most stressful period of a student’s听K-12 education.

Special Schools

Canada’s听provincial governments听are supposed to avoid endorsing any one religion over another, and for this reason any religious school must be privately-run. The exception is听Catholic听schools, which are publicly-funded in the provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Ontario,听a holdover from a time when Catholics were such a small and persecuted minority in Canada it was considered important for the government to protect their right to educate their children in their faith.听Today, it鈥檚 not uncommon for secular families to enroll their kids in Catholic schools simply because their educational and discipline standards are assumed听to be higher. In practical terms, the main difference between Catholic schools and non-Catholic ones is the former will include at least some religious studies classes as part of their mandatory curriculum.

A uniquely Canadian twist on traditional public education is French Immersion schooling, which is when a school in an English-speaking province teaches students entirely in French in order to help make them fluent in Canada’s second official language. Popular with highly ambitious parents who dream of their children getting high-paying government jobs, the programs tend to fill up extremely quickly and there are often long wait times before a student will even be considered.听In French-speaking Quebec,听English听schools are equally popular, but a child’s ability to enrol in one is severely limited by provincial laws designed to discourage their use. Only children of parents who were also educated in English are .

A very small fraction of Canadian parents opt their children out听of both public and private schools听and educate听themselves at home, in a practice known as homeschooling. This is perfectly legal, though homeschooled kids must still eventually pass government-mandated exams听in order to have their education officially recognized. Homeschooling tends to be most popular with religious Canadians, rural families, or those with very conservative or libertarian political beliefs.

Post-Secondary Education in Canada

After graduating high school, a minority of Canadian teenagers proceed to enrol in college or university听to continue their education for several more years. A college, in Canadian language, is usually a small community school mainly focused on vocational or trade training or granting university credits, while a university is an institution that grants degrees. It鈥檚 common to attend听college for a few years before enrolling in university, especially if one鈥檚 grades were not high enough to earn admittance immediately after high school.

Canadian universities, like universities elsewhere in the world, issue degrees in a vast array of subjects, including art, science, education, medicine, and law. Degrees are听sorted into three basic tiers: 叠补肠丑别濒辞谤鈥檚 (BA), 惭补蝉迟别谤鈥檚 (MA), and Doctorate (PhD). Broadly speaking, a BA will take at least four听years to earn and will require taking听a variety of fairly intensive classes that will require听writing several long research essays and exams in order to pass. A master鈥檚 degree or doctorate will take considerably longer and will require the additional step of re-applying听to the university鈥檚 graduate school program, which has much tougher standards for admission.

These days, more Canadians are attending college and university than ever before, both because most Canadian post-secondary schools have been physically expanding to accommodate greater numbers of students, and also because rising incomes and new student loan programs have made post-secondary education far more affordable 鈥� at least in the short term. A lot of respectable, white-collar jobs in Canada now require their employees to possess at least a BA, meaning the status is not nearly as elite as it once was. It鈥檚 currently estimated that听around听 hold at least some sort of post-secondary degree 鈥� a global high.

Top Canadian Universities

Every province in Canada has at least one 鈥済ood鈥� university, in the sense of being an institution of some reputation and prestige. There isn鈥檛 really a 鈥淐anadian Oxford鈥� or 鈥淐anadian Harvard,鈥� but there are at least 10 or so universities that comprise a fairly well-understood elite group of roughly equal status and acclaim. These include the and in British Columbia, the in Alberta, the , the , and in Ontario, and the in Quebec, and in Nova Scotia.