Abstract
The contemporary system of education in Canada is intertwined in the conflicts and compromises made in the formation of the country. A diversity of approaches to education exists based on provincial and territorial political mandates, policies, and priorities. With multiple jurisdictional authorities having exclusive control of education, the education system can be best thought of as a system of systems. Federal policies of multiculturalism and bilingualism, English and French, are present in the elementary, secondary, and postsecondary education systems. There are over 70 Indigenous languages spoken in Canada. Indigenous language revitalization, along with minority language revitalization, has become a national priority in education. People whose first language is neither English nor French make up just over a tenth of the population. Canada has one of the highest rates of immigration in the world. The most recent waves of immigration have added to the racial, linguistic, and cultural diversity of Canadian society, and thus influence programs and priorities in the education system. Currently, many provinces and territories are undergoing full system reviews and initiating educational reforms from kindergarten to secondary school. The cultural, historic, linguistic diversity along with the political landscape ensures that the education system in Canada will remain a system of systems.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alasia, A., Bédard, F., Bélanger, J., Guimond, E., & Penney, C. (2017). Measuring remoteness and accessibility: A set of indices for Canadian communities. Statistics Canada. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/18-001-x/18-001-x2017002-eng.htm
Anderson, B., & Richards, J. (2016). Students in Jeopardy: An agenda for improving results in band-operated schools. C.D. Howe Institute. https://www.cdhowe.org/sites/default/files/attachments/research_papers/mixed/Commentary_444_0.pdf. Last accessed 14 Feb 2020.
Baron, V. (2016). Education thoughts and acts: Decisions school leaders feel they need to make (Ph.D. dissertation). University of Calgary.
Cahill, E. (2016). Federal spending on primary and secondary education on first nations reserves. Ottawa: Report of Parliamentary Budget Officer. https://www.pbo-dpb.gc.ca/web/default/files/files/files/Publications/First_Nations_Education_EN.pdf.
Canadian Council on Learning. (2006). Lessons in learning: The rural-urban gap in education. Ottawa: Canadian Council on Learning. http://en.copian.ca/library/research/ccl/rural_urban_gap_ed/rural_urban_gap_ed.pdf.
Canadian Geographic. (2018). History of residential schools. indigenous peoples Atlas of Canada, Canadian geographic. https://indigenouspeoplesatlasofcanada.ca/article/history-of-residential-schools/
CAUT. (n.d.). Canadian Association of University Teachers. https://www.caut.ca
Central Intelligence Agency World Factbook. (2020). Country comparison: Net migration rate. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2112rank.html. Last accessed 12 Feb 2020.
Chiefs Assembly on Education. (2012). A portrait of first nations and education. https://www.afn.ca/uploads/files/events/fact_sheet-ccoe-3.pdf. Last accessed 14 Feb 2020.
Christou, T. (2018). Curriculum history and Canadian teacher education. In T. Christou (Ed.), The curriculum history of Canadian teacher education (pp. 1–6). New York: Routledge.
Conference Board of Canada. (2020). Why is immigration important to Canada? https://www.conferenceboard.ca/infographics/import-immigration.aspx?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1. Last accessed 12 Feb 2020.
Council of Ministers of Education, Canada. (2001). The development of education in Canada. Council of Ministers of Education, Canada and Canadian Commission for UNESCO . Toronto: CMEC. https://www.cmec.ca/Publications/Lists/Publications/Attachments/34/ice46dev-ca.en.pdf.
Council of Ministers of Education, Canada. (n.d.). Council of Ministers of Education, Canada. https://www.cmec.ca/299/Education-in-Canada-An-Overview/index.html. Last accessed 30 Sept 2019.
Duffin, E. (2020). Immigration in Canada – Statistics & facts. https://www.statista.com/topics/2917/immigration-in-canada/. Last accessed 12 Feb 2020.
EdCan Network. (2019). Trends in Canadian education 2018–2019. https://www.edcan.ca/wp-content/uploads/Trends-in-Education-1.pdf. Last accessed 14 Feb 2020.
Friedman, G. (2019, October 3). All the reasons why Canada needs immigration – and more of it. Financial Post. https://business.financialpost.com/news/economy/all-the-reasons-why-canada-needs-immigration-and-more-of-it. Last accesssed 12 Feb 2020.
Gagnon, E. (2020). Settling the West: Immigration to the prairies from 1867 to 1914. https://pier21.ca/research/immigration-history/settling-the-west-immigration-to-the-prairies-from-1867-to-1914. Last accessed 12 Feb 2020.
Howard, A., & Edge, J. (2014). Policies, laws, and regulations: Governing post-secondary education and skills in Canada. Ottawa: The Conference Board of Canada. https://www.conferenceboard.ca/temp/0ef6a2c1-fca2-4d1e-b785-a10e9d1c1f86/6611-SPSE%20Governing%20PSE-RPT.pdf.
Hussen, A. (2018). 2018 annual report to parliament on immigration. Ottawa: Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, Represented by the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship. https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/ircc/migration/ircc/english/pdf/pub/annual-report-2018.pdf.
Kitchenham, A., & Chasteauneuf, C. (2010). Teacher supply and demand: Issues in Northern Canada. Canadian Journal of Education, 33(4), 869–896.
Malcolm MacLeod, G. E., & Blair, R. (1992). The Canadian education association: The first 100 years. Toronto: Canadian Education Association.
Manley-Casimir, M. (1993). Education in Canada: Seeking a common purpose. In P. Nagy & J. Lupart (Eds.), Is there a national role in education? (pp. 69–79). Toronto, Canada: A publication of the Canadian Education Association and The Canadian Society for the Study of Education.
May, B. (2018). Experiential learning and pathways to employment for Canadian youth: report of the standing committee on human resources, skills and social development and the status of persons. Ottawa. https://www.ourcommons.ca/Content/Committee/421/HUMA/Reports/RP10078738/humarp12/humarp12-e.pdf. Last accessed 14 Feb 2020.
Mitacs Canada. (n.d.). https://www.mitacs.ca/en
National Collaborating Centre for Aboriginal Health. (2017). Education as a social determinant of first nations, Inuit, and Metis health. National Collaborating Centre for Aboriginal Health. https://www.ccnsa-nccah.ca/docs/determinants/FS-Education-SDOH-2017-EN.pdf
O’Grady, K., Deussing, M.-A., Scerbina, T., Tao, Y., Fung, K., Elez, V., & Monk, J. (2019). Measuring up: Canadian results of the OECD PISA 2018 study. Ottawa, Canada: CMEC.
OECD. (2017). Promising practices in supporting success for indigenous students. Paris: OECD. https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264279421-en.
OECD. (2019). Education policy outlook 2019. Paris: OECD. https://doi.org/10.1787/2b8ad56e-en.
Public Policy Forum. (2013). Employment challenges for youth in a changing economy. Ottawa: Public Policy Forum. https://ppforum.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Report_ENG-Final_0.pdf.
Raptis, H. (2018). The Canadian landscape: Provinces, territories, nations, and identities. In T. Christou (Ed.), The curriculum history of Canadian teacher education (pp. 7–22). New York: Routledge.
Statistics Canada. (2011). Aboriginal languages in Canada, statistics Canada: Language, 2011 census of population. https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2011/as-sa/98-314-x/98-314-x2011003_3-eng.pdf. Last accessed 30 Sept 2019.
Statistics Canada. (2012). Linguistic characteristics of Canadians: Language, 2011 census of population. Statistics Canada. https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2011/as-sa/98-314-x/98-314-x2011001-eng.pdf. Last accessed 30 Sept 2019.
Statistics Canada. (2016a). Ethnic and cultural origins of Canadians: Portrait of a rich heritage. https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/as-sa/98-200-x/2016016/98-200-x2016016-eng.pdf. Last accessed February 12, 2020.
Statistics Canada. (2016b). 150 years of immigration in Canada. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/11-630-x/11-630-x2016006-eng.htm. Last accessed 12 Feb 2020.
Statistics Canada. (2018a). Elementary-secondary education survey for Canada, the provinces and territories, 2016/2017. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/en/daily-quotidien/181102/dq181102c-eng.pdf?st=8w81lCqx. Last accessed 14 Feb 2020.
Statistics Canada. (2018b). Changing composition of full-time academic teaching staff in Canadian universities. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/181115/dq181115b-eng.htm. Last accessed 30 Sept 2019.
Statistics Canada. (2019a, May 10). Labour force survey, April 2019. Statistics Canada. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/190510/dq190510a-eng.pdf. Last accessed 30 Sept 2019.
Statistics Canada. (2019b). Number of full-time and part-time educators, public elementary and secondary schools, by age group and sex. https://doi.org/10.25318/3710001001-eng.
Sumara, D., Davis, B., & Laidlaw, L. (2001). Canadian identity and curriculum theory: An ecological, postmodern perspective. Canadian Journal of Education, 26(2), 144–163.
Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. (2015). Honouring the truth, reconciling for the future: Summary of the final report of the truth and reconciliation commission of Canada. Ottawa: The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.
Usher, A. (2018). The state of post-secondary education in Canada. Toronto: Higher Education Strategy Associates. https://higheredstrategy.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/HESA_SPEC_2018_final.pdf.
Van Brummelen, H. (1983). Shifting perspectives: Early British Columbia textbooks from 1872 to 1925. BC Studies, 60, 15–28.
Van Dyk, L. (n.d.). Canadian immigration acts and legislation. https://pier21.ca/research/immigration-history/canadian-immigration-acts-and-legislation. Last accessed 12 Feb 2020.
Von Heyking, A. (2006). Creating citizens: History and identity in Alberta’s schools, 1905 to 1980. Calgary: University of Calgary Press.
Westheimer, J. (2017). Education that matters. The Canadian Journal of Education, 40(2), 1–15.
Woods, D. S. (1936). History of education in Canada. Review of Educational Research, 6(4), 377–382. https://www.jstor.org/stable/1167457.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Friesen, S., Jacobsen, M. (2020). The Education System of Canada. In: Jornitz, S., Parreira do Amaral, M. (eds) The Education Systems of the Americas. Global Education Systems. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-93443-3_37-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-93443-3_37-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-93443-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-93443-3
eBook Packages: Springer Reference EducationReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Education