ABOUT CANADA
Studying in Canada would be a beautiful experience for anyone, literally, since Canada is ranked as the BEST PLACE in the world to LIVE. Because of its access to education, high life expectancy and low crime rates, Canada is a very attractive destination for students throughout the world.
Of more attraction to Indian students is the fact that Canada welcomes immigrants with open arms. Thus, those who complete their education can decide upon staying back and complete the immigration process to enjoy the best life in the world! As a country of immigrants, Canada places a high-demand on multicultural diversity.
Canada is a bilingual country with two official languages – English and French. Most of the French-speaking inhabitants live in Quebec. However, almost all non-Quebec based universities offer education instruction in English only.
REASONS TO STUDY IN CANADA
- The United Nations ranked Canada as the best place in the world to live! This assessment was based upon Canada’s achievements in terms of educational attainment, life expectancy, national income and general quality of life. It also included Canada’s abundance of fresh water, comfortable population density, low incidence of violent crime and a health care system that is a model for the world.
- Internationally recognized degrees. Canada boasts a wide range of quality educational institutions for both degrees and diplomas in technical and professional disciplines. Over 106,000 international students attend Canadian colleges and universities. This means that you can meet people from around the world as well as people from your own country.
- Work permit to work in Canada after graduation. International students who have graduated from a Canadian university or college have the opportunity to work in Canada for up to 3 years after they receive their degree or diploma. International students can work off campus too.
- A safe, stable country. Canada is a peaceful, politically stable, and safe country. They have laws that protect the rights of their citizens and the country is relatively unaffected by natural disasters.
- Excellent health care. Compared to other countries, medical insurance is inexpensive in Canada yet the services that Canadian hospitals provide are among some of the most advanced and accessible in the world.
- Nature and four distinct seasons. While Canada has big cities, it also preserves a huge amount of unsettled land and a thriving national and provincial parks system. The temperature varies a great deal in Canada. Certain cities almost never have snow in the winter while other cities may get a lot.
EDUCATION SYSTEM IN CANADA
The education system in Canada encompasses both publicly-funded and private schools, including: community colleges / technical institutes, career colleges, language schools, secondary schools, summer camps, universities and university colleges. Canadian universities are largely public funded and as a result, are of a consistently high quality, regardless of location or area of study. At the same time, they (the universities) retain a high degree of academic autonomy.
Education is a provincial responsibility under the Canadian constitution, which means there are significant differences between the education systems of the different provinces. However, education is important to Canadians, and standards across the country are uniformly high. There are more than 175 post-secondary institutions that offer various programs such as Certificate, Diploma and Bachelor’s, including vocational and adult-education. These institutions are known as Community colleges, Technical Institute, University College and ce`gep. All these colleges are members of the Association of Canadian Community colleges.
Undergraduate programs are of 4 years duration, except in Ontario, where there is three-year Bachelor degrees and three-year Master’s degrees. In the other parts of Canada, post-graduate programs (Master’s) are of two years duration. A degree form a Canadian university is recognized world-wide and as a result, international students who graduate from Canadian universities enjoy successful and prosperous careers.
ADMISSION
Admission requirements vary from one university to another. However, as a general rule, Canadian institutions prefer applicants with very good academic background and decent scores in TOEFL or IELTS for admission. A four-year Bachelor’s degree is required for admission into M.S/MBA programs, with a minimum of mid-B grades (around 70%).
For those with a three-year degree, admission into PG diploma program is possible with a minimum score of around 240 in TOEFL. Ph.D programs generally require five years to complete full-time. They usually require a combination of course work, original research and a thesis, which must be defended by oral examination.
One important factor is time. Most institutions have a January deadline for September intake. Hence, it would be in your best interest to apply at the earliest.
Main intake every year commences in September and ends in May. Some universities that run on the semester system conducts courses even in the Summer, and have intake in January (winter) June to August is the period of vacation. All the programs in all fields of specialization are available for study in Canadian institutions at all levels.