Colleges in Ontario

The landscape of Colleges in Ontario is not flat but rather contains a hierarchy of institutions. Colleges in Ontario are loosely broken up into three distinct groups:

Degree Colleges (or Universities) – Offer professional programs such as Engineering, Medicine, Chemistry, Law, Pharmacy etc.

Community Colleges (Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology) – Offer vocational or trade programs such as plumbing, automotive, Network Administration etc. Community Colleges are publicly funded, and often have programs that lead to a technician or technologist diploma after two/three years respectively.

Private Colleges (or Career Colleges) – Offer Vocational or trade programs like Community Colleges but typically at an accelerated rate. In many cases programs last months not years.

There are 45 publicly funded colleges in Ontario (Degree and Community Colleges). There are over 400 Private Colleges in Ontario.