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.
Thompson Rivers University is a public teaching and research university offering undergraduate and graduate degrees and vocational training. Its main campus is in Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada, and its name comes from the two rivers which converge in Kamloops, the North Thompson and South Thompson. The university has a satellite campus in Williams Lake, BC and a distance education division called TRU-Open Learning. It also has several international partnerships through its TRU World division. TRU is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU) at the associate, baccalaureate and master's degree levels.
Aurora College, formerly Arctic College, is a college located in the Northwest Territories, Canada with campuses in Inuvik, Fort Smith and Yellowknife. They have learning centres in 23 communities in the NWT. The head office for Aurora College is located in Fort Smith.
Capilano University (CapU) is a teaching-focused public university based in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, located on the slopes of the North Shore Mountains, with programming that also serves the Sea-to-Sky Corridor and the Sunshine Coast. The university is named after Chief Joe Capilano Sa7plek (Sahp-luk) who was the leader of the Squamish people (Sḵwx̱wú7mesh) from 1895 to 1910.
The Institute of Indigenous Government, Canada's First Nations College, is a publicly funded post-secondary education institute located in Burnaby, British Columbia. Established in 1995, the institute was originally located in the Gastown neighbourhood of Vancouver. Its corporate owners, members, faculty, and students were made up of indigenous people from around the world, in the majority. In September 2007, the Institute of Indigenous Government became part of the Nicola Valley Institute of Technology; an aboriginal-run, private institute in Merritt, British Columbia, that was started in 1983.
Okanagan College is a public post-secondary institution with multiple campuses spread across the southern interior of British Columbia, Canada. The College was established in 1963 and grown to become one of the largest colleges in British Columbia outside the Lower Mainland and Victoria. It has roughly 5,000 full-time students per semester across four regional campuses. 1,885 international students from over 40 countries studied at Okanagan College in 2022-23, comprising 11% of its total student headcount. The College once had one of the fastest growing populations of Indigenous students of any college in the province; in the 2015-16 academic year Okanagan College delivered educational programming to 1,680 Indigenous students. However, the growth did not continue, in 2021-22 the Indigenous student headcount remained at 1,690.
Coast Mountain College (CMTN) is an accredited, publicly funded post-secondary educational institution that serves the communities of British Columbia's northwest region. CMTN offers field schools, college access, trades, university credit, health and human services programs. The college is a member of the University of the Arctic network, and Colleges and Institutes Canada (CiCan).
Nicola Valley Institute of Technology (NVIT) is the only public Indigenous post-secondary institution in the Canadian province of British Columbia, Canada. It started in 1983.
Higher education in Canada includes provincial, territorial, Indigenous and military higher education systems. The ideal objective of Canadian higher education is to offer every Canadian the opportunity to acquire the skills and knowledge necessary to realize their utmost potential. It aspires to cultivate a world-class workforce, enhance the employment rate of Canadians, and safeguard Canada's enduring prosperity. Higher education programs are intricately designed with the perspective of the learner in focus, striving to mitigate risks and assure definite outcomes.
Newfoundland and Labrador has had the same growing pains as other provinces in developing its own form of education and now boasts a very strong, although relatively small, system. The direction of Newfoundland and Labrador's policy has evolved rapidly since the late 1990s, with increased funding, participation rates, accessibility and transferability. Many of the directives the government has been acting upon in the past 10 years have been a result of recommendations that stemmed from a 2005 white paper: Foundation for Success: White Paper on Public Post-Secondary Education. It set the course for furthering the strategic directives of the provincial post-secondary education sector. Some of its recommendations aimed to:
Higher education in Manitoba includes institutions and systems of higher or advanced education in the province of Manitoba.
Historically, Saskatchewan's higher education system has been "significantly shaped" by demographics. In 1901, six years prior to the 1907 founding of a university in Saskatchewan, the urban population in Saskatchewan was 14,266 (16%) while the rural population was 77,013 (84%). One hundred years later, the proportions had changed significantly: urban population in 2001 was 629,036 (64%) while the rural population was 349,897 (36%). Over time the province's higher education system has changed significantly in response both to this demographic shift and to provincial politics.
Higher education in Alberta refers to the post secondary education system for the province of Alberta. The Ministry of Advanced Education in Alberta oversees educational delivery through universities, publicly funded colleges, technical institutions, and private colleges. These institutions offer a variety of academic and vocational pursuits. Students have access to post-secondary options through most regions of Alberta, and a developed articulation system allows for increased student mobility.
Higher education in British Columbia is delivered by 25 publicly funded institutions that are composed of eleven universities, eleven colleges, and three institutes. This is in addition to three private universities, five private colleges, and six theological colleges. There are also an extensive number of private career institutes and colleges. Over 297,000 students were enrolled in post-secondary institutions in British Columbia in the 2019-2020 academic year.
Higher education in Nunavut allows residents of this Canadian Arctic territory access to specialized training provided at post-secondary institutions. There are some unique challenges faced by students wishing to pursue advanced training in Nunavut, a vast territory stretching across Arctic Canada from Hudsons Bay to the north pole. The territory was split from the Northwest Territories in 1999, following a successful plebiscite which affirmed Inuit desires to establish an independent political jurisdiction. Covering one-fifth of Canada's area and over 60% of its coastlines, the territory had a population of 31,153 in 2010.
Maskwacis Cultural College (MCC) is a private post-secondary institution within the Four Nations of Maskwacis, Alberta, Canada. MCC offers programs from basic adult literacy, two-year college diplomas, to university transfer programs.
Iohahi:io Akwesasne Education & Training Institute is an Aboriginal-owned and controlled post-secondary institution for the Mohawks of Akwesasne.
Melanie Joy Mark, also known by her Nisga'a name Hli Haykwhl Ẃii Xsgaak, is a Canadian politician in the province of British Columbia. A member of the New Democratic Party (NDP), she served as the Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Vancouver-Mount Pleasant from 2016 to 2023. From 2017 to 2020, she served as Minister of Advanced Education and Skills Training; from 2020 to 2022, she served as Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport. Mark is the first First Nations woman elected to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, and the first First Nations woman to serve in the Cabinet of British Columbia. On February 22, 2023, Mark announced her intention to resign as MLA and cabinet minister, her resignation took effect April 14 of the same year.
Indigenous North Americas 
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