Studying in Canada

Canada is one of the largest and most multi-cultural countries in the world. It is a unique and welcoming place characterized by its diverse landscape and ever-changing face of people - the Canadian Mosaic. From south to north, Canada reaches from the Great Lakes to the North Pole. From east to west, Canada reaches from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific. Over half of the 32-million population of Canada lives within 400 kilometers of the border with the United States. Canadian cities are some of the safest, most desired and best places to live, work, and study – people from all corners of the world feel at home in Canada. 

With the help of CBIE staff, Libyan students will be able to choose from 10,000 undergraduate and graduate degree programs available at the universities and colleges across Canada. To help students understand the education system in Canada and identify the best-suited program, CBIE prepared an introduction to the Canadian Higher Education System. 

Students have the opportunity to study within any of five major regions in Canada. This section of the website contains brief descriptions of the Regions and Provinces of Canada, focusing on their distinct geography, climate, population size, and university communities.

Canadian Higher Education System

Regions and Provinces of Canada

Canadian Higher Education System

By choosing to study in Canada, students will be exposed to Canada’s rich history of university education dating-back nearly 350 years. In that time, Canada has become characterized by a high standard of education for its 90 universities and degree-granting colleges. Canadian universities vary from the large, urban research-intensive universities with over 50,000 students, to the small, intimate liberal arts colleges with only a few thousand students enrolled. All universities are co-educational, meaning that students of both genders attend the same classes together.

In Canada, the education sector is run at the provincial level, meaning that each province and territory is responsible for the way its educational sector functions. Despite the fact that the structure of each province varies, the quality of education and the standards of the institutions are all fully recognized.

There are three main types of schools for academic studies:

• Universities: offer degree programs in the arts and sciences at undergraduate and graduate levels.

• University Colleges: offer both undergraduate degree programs and career-diploma and certificate programs.

• Colleges: are smaller institutions with undergraduate and sometimes graduate programs. 

Universities conduct nearly one third of all research within Canada with the majority of funding coming from the Federal government through three major research-granting councils: the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC).

Being a bilingual nation, students can expect to have the option to study in either of the official languages: English and French. Most French universities are located within Quebec and New Brunswick, but options to study in French exist in other provinces.

Academic Entrance Requirements: Universities and programs differ in their entrance requirements. There is no nationwide entrance exam. All universities do require proficiency in either English or French. International applicants are required to prove their proficiency in one of the two languages by writing either the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), the Canadian Academic English Language Assessment (CAEL), or the International English Language Testing System (IELTS).

Academic School Year: The average school year is divided into four terms or semesters: Fall (September-December), Winter (January-April), Spring (May-June), Summer (July-Aug). The majority of all courses are offered during Fall and Winter semesters. Taking courses in Spring/Summer semesters tend to be optional, with fewer courses being offered.

Academic Grades

The highest possible grade is A+. In order to pass a course and receive academic credit for that course, you must receive a passing grade (D and up). In most graduate programs (Master’s and PhD.), you must maintain a certain grade level in all your courses (typically above B-).

English and French as a Second Language Programs

English as a Second Language (ESL) and French as a Second Language (FSL) programs can be anywhere from three weeks to multiple years in length.  Libya-sponsored Students are given one year to complete their ESL training. ESL/FSL is offered everywhere in Canada by private institutions, colleges, and universities. ESL providers offer internationally recognized proficiency test (TOEFL/CAEL/IELTS).

Levels of Education

There are three successive levels of education within the Canadian system: bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees. Lower degrees tend to be prerequisite for higher degrees. The Scholarship offers opportunities to study at the undergraduate and graduate levels and train at the post graduate medical residency level.

Undergraduate Programs

Undergraduate (bachelor) programs are four years in length. Advanced (honours) degrees are typically a prerequisite for entrance into any graduate or medical program. Bachelor degrees are divided into business, computer science, engineering, humanities, liberal arts, mathematics, and science.

Graduate Programs

Master's

Master’s degrees are highly specialized programs of study and are usually prerequisite for attaining a Doctorate. A Master’s program tends to be a maximum of 2 years with options for doing course-work or engaging in research.

Doctorate (PhD)

Doctoral programs usually take anywhere from 4.5 to 5.5 years of study and research which often times includes the completion of a dissertation.

Postgraduate Medical Programs

Postgraduate medical residency training programs in Canada are accredited by The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. The Royal College ensures the highest standards for the training and evaluation of medical and surgical specialists in 65 specialty disciplines of medical, surgical and laboratory. As a graduate from a medical degree program outside of North America, doctors who are sponsored to undertake residency training in Canada are categorized as “foreign medical graduates (FMGs)”. As an FMG, doctors must be officially sponsored by a funding source from their country of origin.

Residency training prepares physicians for independent practice in a medical specialty. Residency programs can vary from two to seven years in length. Upon completion of residency training, a resident is expected to be a competent specialist and to be capable of assuming a consultant’s role in the specialty. Residents must demonstrate the requisite knowledge, skills, and attitudes for effective patient-centered care and service to a diverse population. In all aspects of specialist practice, the graduate must be able to address issues of gender, age, culture, ethnicity and ethics in a professional manner.

10,000 University Programs to Choose From

It can be hard to search and find the university that offers the right program for you. To help you in your search, the Association of Universities and Colleges Canada (AUCC) has created a comprehensive database of over 10,000 university and college programs within Canada. This database is available at: http://oraweb.aucc.ca/dcu_e.html

Canadian Higher Education Statistics at Glance

• One of the highest rates of postsecondary education completion in the world

• More than 1.5 million students enrolled in universities and colleges

• More than 90 universities and colleges across Canada

• More than 10,000 undergraduate and graduate degree programs available across Canada

• Over 130,000 international students enrolled in schools across Canada

• Approximately 600 students are currently participating in the Libyan-North American Scholarship Program in Canada

For highlights and benefits of Canadian Universities and opportunities available to international students, please refer to AUCC Brochure in Arabic entitled “Canada’s Universities: a Guide for International  Students”. This document can be downloaded from:

http://www.aucc.ca/publications/auccpubs/brochures/reach_e.html     

Regions and Provinces of Canada

Canada consists of 10 provinces and 3 territories. This section contains basic introductory information on the geography and climate of these regions.

• Atlantic Canada: New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island

• British Columbia

• Ontario

• Quebec

• The Prairies: Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba

• The North: Northwest Territories, Yukon, Nunavut

Atlantic Canada

New Brunswick is the only province where both English and French are official languages. It is relatively sheltered from the oceanic effects that affect the other Atlantic provinces. No part of the province lies more than 200 km from the ocean. The province has cold winters and warm summers. The Southern portion of the province has a more moderate maritime climate, with milder winters and slightly cooler summers.

Newfoundland & Labrador is Canada’s easternmost province. It is divided into two parts: Labrador, on Continental North America, and the island of Newfoundland, where the majority of the population lives. Newfoundland is the most maritime of the Atlantic Provinces. St. John’s is Canada’s foggiest, snowiest, wettest, windiest, and cloudiest city and is greatly affected by its marine climate.

Nova Scotia has the largest population in Atlantic Canada. The province’s capital, Halifax, is the largest urban area in Atlantic Canada and is the region’s economic centre. The province is characterized by its large Gaelic, French, and African heritage and has an increasing Middle Eastern population within the cities. The climate in Nova Scotia resembles more so a continental climate than a maritime climate. Nova Scotia is Canada’s warmest province. It has a late and long summer, skies that are often cloudy or overcast, frequent coastal fog, and marked changes of weather from day to day.

Prince Edward Island (PEI) is Canada’s smallest province both in land size and in population. Nearly half of the province’s population is located in the capital of Charlottetown. Winters are cold with many storms and blizzards. Summers are warm and storms tend to increase near the beginning of autumn, which has heavy rainfall later in the season.

British Columbia (BC) is the western-most province in Canada. It is bordered by the Pacific Ocean on the west and the Rockies, Canada’s tallest mountains, to the east. Most of the 4.1 million inhabitants are concentrated within the metropolitan areas of Vancouver and Victoria. The capital of Victoria is smaller by comparison. BC has the mildest climate in the country. Summer temperatures in the province’s interior region are frequently Canada’s hottest while BC's southern coastal region offers the mildest winter temperatures in Canada. The majority of the province is mountainous and forested, and the islands in the west of the province are mostly covered by a temperate forest.  

With nearly half of Canada’s population, Ontario is the country’s largest and most populous province in Canada. Toronto, the province’s capital, is Canada’s largest metropolitan area.  Ottawa, another larger urban area, is the capital of Canada. Ontario is the only province in Canada to border four of the five Great Lakes, the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by surface.

Northern Ontario is the most sparsely populated region in Ontario. Northern Ontario is characterized in large part by its subarctic climate. This region has short, moderately warm summers and very long and harsh cold winters.

Southwestern Ontario is the southernmost region in Canada and is anchored around the cities of London and Windsor. Windsor is the southernmost city in Canada located south of Detroit, Michigan. London is situated half-way between Windsor and Toronto. Southwestern Ontario has a humid continental climate with warm, humid summers and cold winters. The Greater Toronto Area (GTA) has the largest population density in all of Canada.

Central and Eastern Ontario’s climate is characterized as a more severe humid climate than Southwestern Ontario with hot summers and long, cold winters. Total snowfall can be as high as three meters in some places.

Eastern Ontario is wedged between the Ottawa River and the St. Lawrence River bordered by Quebec to the east. This region is home to Ottawa, Canada’s capital.

Quebec is home to the largest concentration of French Canadians in Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking identity. Quebec is Canada's largest province by area, and s Canada’s second most populous province. Many universities offer programs of study in French as well as in English. Southwestern Quebec has a humid continental climate with humid summers and long, cold, and snowy winters. Central Quebec has a sub-arctic climate with short, moderately warm summers and very long and harsh cold winters – this region has some of the coldest temperatures in Eastern Canada.

The Prairies

Bordering the Rockies to the west, Alberta quickly drops into the Great Plains. It is the most populous and fastest growing province out of the three Prairie Provinces due in large part because of the oil boom in the north of the province. The population is mostly concentrated between the capital of Edmonton and the larger city of Calgary to the south.

Saskatchewan is centered in the heart of the Great Plains between Alberta and Manitoba. Saskatchewan is characterized by its great climatic extremes over enormous expanses of land. The population is concentrated around the two cities of Saskatoon and the capital of Regina.

Manitoba is the eastern-most prairie province bordering Saskatchewan to the west and Ontario to the east.  French is also spoken in Manitoba, and often universities offer studies in French. The eastern section in Manitoba by contrast is characterized by its wetlands, large rivers and lakes. High winds are a common feature of this region and winters can be severe.

For a list of universities and colleges where you can study language or academic programs, please see CBIE’s list of Member Institutions.