Canada School Route Passport
Follow the common Canadian route from early learning through elementary and secondary school, graduation, college or apprenticeship, university, and graduate study.
Early Learning
Selected stamp: Early Learning. Choose another stamp to update the route card.
The Canada education system is organized through 10 provincial and 3 territorial systems rather than one national ministry of education. Provinces and territories hold primary responsibility for school organization, curricula, assessment, graduation requirements, teacher regulation, and most postsecondary education. Pan-Canadian comparability comes from Statistics Canada, the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada, shared indicators, national assessment programs, and international studies rather than one uniform curriculum. [CMEC]
System Profile in Numbers
| Public elementary-secondary enrollment | 5.5 million | 2023/24 | [StatCan] |
| Public-school educator workforce | Just over 422,000 educators | 2023/24 | [StatCan] |
| Public college and university enrollment | 2.3 million | 2023/24 | [StatCan] |
| International college and university enrollments | 572,961 | 2023/24 | [StatCan] |
| PISA mean scores: Math / Reading / Science | 485 / 490 / 510 | 2025 | [OECD PISA] |
| Education investment, primary through tertiary | 5.5% of GDP | 2022 | [OECD] |
| New apprenticeship registrations | 101,541 | 2024 | [StatCan] |
| Households with 50/10 unlimited broadband access | 96.4% | 2024 | [StatCan] |
Reference years differ because school, postsecondary, finance, assessment, apprenticeship, and telecommunications datasets follow separate collection schedules.
Governance and Provincial Responsibility
The governance structure is based on jurisdictional authority. Each province and territory has one or more ministries or departments responsible for elementary, secondary, and postsecondary education. Some separate school education from colleges and universities. Others administer them within a single department. There is therefore no single national curriculum, national school diploma, or Canada-wide compulsory-school statute. [CMEC]
Local delivery is commonly handled through school boards, school districts, divisions, service centers, or equivalent authorities. Their powers differ by jurisdiction, but typical responsibilities include staffing, facilities, transportation, local administration, and implementation of provincial or territorial curriculum requirements. [Canada.ca]
CMEC provides the main forum for pan-Canadian cooperation among ministers of education. Its work includes international assessment, the Pan-Canadian Assessment Program, credential information, education indicators, and coordination on areas where comparable information is useful. It does not replace provincial or territorial authority over schools.
Education Stages and Compulsory Schooling
| Pre-elementary | Before Grade 1 | Program participation | Kindergarten age, duration, compulsory status, and other early-learning provision differ. |
| Elementary | Grade 1 to a jurisdiction-specific transition | Grade progression | Quebec normally has six elementary grades; other systems use different elementary and middle-school divisions. |
| Secondary | To Grade 12 in most jurisdictions; Secondary V in Quebec | Provincial or territorial secondary credential | Course requirements, examinations, and academic or vocational options differ. |
| College / Apprenticeship | Postsecondary or skilled-trades route | Certificate, diploma, apprenticeship certification, short-cycle credential | CEGEP has a distinct role in Quebec; apprenticeship systems are administered by jurisdictions. |
| University | Postsecondary | Bachelor’s, master’s, doctorate, professional degrees | Admissions, tuition, transfer, and degree authorization differ across provinces and institutions. |
The table describes common routes. Canada does not use one national grade sequence or school-leaving credential.
Compulsory schooling usually begins around age 5, 6, or 7 and continues to age 16, 17, or 18 depending on the jurisdiction. Quebec is structurally distinct because students normally complete Secondary V after 11 years of elementary and secondary schooling, then enter a CEGEP program before a typical university bachelor’s route. [StatCan]
Public elementary and secondary education is provided without tuition to eligible residents under provincial and territorial systems. Graduation requirements remain jurisdiction-specific, so comparable national outcomes are measured through common statistical definitions rather than one graduation rule.
Early Childhood Education and Kindergarten
Kindergarten is integrated into the school route throughout Canada, although entry age, full-day provision, compulsory status, and earlier publicly funded programs differ. CMEC reports that about 97% of eligible children attend kindergarten nationally. [CMEC]
PISA provides another cohort-based measure of early participation. In 2022, 85% of Canadian 15-year-olds reported that they had attended pre-primary education for at least one year. This is a retrospective student measure rather than a current kindergarten enrollment rate, so it should be kept separate from administrative participation statistics. [OECD]
Elementary and Secondary Enrollment
Public elementary-secondary enrollment reached 5.5 million students in 2023/24. It increased by 125,200 students, or 2.3%, from the previous school year. Statistics Canada identified this as the largest annual public-school enrollment gain since the national series began in 1997/98. [StatCan]
Public Elementary-Secondary Enrollment
Canada-wide public-school student counts from 2020/21 through 2023/24.
Source: Statistics Canada Elementary-Secondary Education Survey releases.
| 2020/21 | 5.181 million |
| 2021/22 | 5.230 million |
| 2022/23 | 5.3 million |
| 2023/24 | 5.5 million |
Statistics Canada publishes some recent national totals rounded in its releases. The 2023/24 year-over-year increase was 125,200 students, or 2.3%.
The series moved upward after the 2020/21 decline. Public enrollment rose from 5.181 million in 2020/21 to 5.230 million in 2021/22, increased again in 2022/23, and reached 5.5 million in 2023/24. Alberta recorded 3.6% growth in the latest year and New Brunswick 3.4%, the two highest provincial increases reported in the national release. [StatCan]
French Immersion and Official-Language Programs
Language-of-instruction programs are a measurable part of school choice. French immersion accounted for 11.6% of public-school enrollment in 2023/24, down from 11.7% in 2022/23 and from a recent peak of 12.3% in 2020/21. Minority official-language programs are counted separately from immersion. [StatCan]
French Immersion Share of Public-School Enrollment
Published national shares for selected recent school years.
Source: Statistics Canada Elementary-Secondary Education Survey.
| School Year | French Immersion Share |
|---|---|
| 2020/21 | 12.3% |
| 2022/23 | 11.7% |
| 2023/24 | 11.6% |
The series measures French immersion as a share of public-school enrollment; minority official-language programs are a separate category.
From the 2020/21 peak to 2023/24, the immersion share declined by 0.7 percentage points. The national percentage does not describe every jurisdiction in the same way: the Northwest Territories moved from 11.8% in 2022/23 to 12.4% in 2023/24 while most reporting jurisdictions recorded lower shares.
Teachers and the School Workforce
Public elementary and secondary schools employed just over 422,000 educators in 2023/24. The Statistics Canada educator measure includes teachers, administrators, and pedagogical-support personnel within its reporting definition. It should therefore not be treated as a teacher-only headcount or divided into enrollment to create a pupil-teacher ratio. [StatCan]
The public-school educator workforce was 5.2% larger in 2023/24 than five years earlier. Educators aged 55 and older accounted for 13.8% of the workforce, compared with 12.9% in 2018/19, an increase of 0.9 percentage points. Statistics Canada also publishes full-time-equivalent educator measures separately from headcounts, so those units should not be combined in trend comparisons.
High School Graduation and Completion
Canada uses a true-cohort measure to compare secondary completion across provincial and territorial systems. On-time graduation means completing within three years of starting Grade 10, or Secondary III in Quebec. Extended-time graduation allows up to five years. This method follows the same entry cohort rather than dividing one year’s diploma count by another population estimate. [StatCan]
True-Cohort On-Time High School Graduation Rate
Canada-wide share completing within three years of entering Grade 10 or Secondary III.
Source: Statistics Canada Table 37-10-0221-01 and Government of Canada SDG reporting.
| 2016/17 | 80% |
| 2017/18 | 81% |
| 2018/19 | 81% |
| 2019/20 | 84% |
| 2020/21 | 84% |
| 2021/22 | 84% |
The true-cohort methodology follows students from Grade 10 or Secondary III. Some territorial observations are unavailable under the common method.
The on-time national rate rose from 80% in 2016/17 to 84% in 2021/22, a gain of 4 percentage points. The extended-time rate for 2021/22 was 91%. In that year, the on-time rate was 81% for males and 86% for females; the extended-time figures were 89% and 93%. [StatCan]
PISA 2025: Mathematics, Reading, and Science
PISA 2025 is now the latest international assessment cycle for Canadian 15-year-olds. Canada recorded mean scores of 485 in mathematics, 490 in reading, and 510 in science, compared with OECD averages of 463, 461, and 482. Canada also scored 525 in computational problem solving, compared with the OECD average of 500. [OECD PISA]
OECD places an asterisk beside Canada’s 2025 results because one or more PISA sampling standards were not met. The estimates can therefore carry greater uncertainty than results from participants that met every sampling standard. Canada still scored above the OECD average in all three core subjects, but the sampling warning should remain attached to 2025 comparisons. [OECD PISA]
Canada’s PISA Performance Across Four Cycles
Mean scores in mathematics, reading, and science for 2015, 2018, 2022, and 2025.
Source: OECD PISA. Canada’s 2025 estimates carry an OECD sampling-standard warning.
| 2015 | 516 | 527 | 528 |
| 2018 | 512 | 520 | 518 |
| 2022 | 497 | 507 | 515 |
| 2025 | 485 | 490 | 510 |
Unit: PISA score points. Only actual PISA assessment cycles are shown.
From 2015 to 2025, Canada’s mathematics mean fell by 31 points, reading by 37 points, and science by 18 points. OECD reports that from 2022 to 2025 the declines were about 12 points in mathematics and 17 in reading, while science was about 5 points lower. The 2025 means were the lowest Canada had recorded in PISA for all three subjects. [OECD PISA]
| Domain | Canada: Level 2+ | OECD Average: Level 2+ | Canada: Level 5 or 6 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 74% | 65% | 11% |
| Reading | 78% | 69% | 9% |
| Science | 84% | 74% | 11% |
The baseline proficiency shares remained above OECD averages. Canada’s Level 2-or-higher share was 9 percentage points higher in mathematics, 9 points higher in reading, and 10 points higher in science. Compared with 2015, however, OECD reports that the share below Level 2 increased by 12 percentage points in mathematics, 11 points in reading, and 5 points in science.
PCAP 2023
The latest Pan-Canadian Assessment Program results were released in January 2026 from the PCAP 2023 administration. Approximately 31,500 Grade 8 or Secondary II students from more than 1,400 schools participated across the provinces. Science was the main assessment domain, with reading and mathematics also assessed. [CMEC]
PCAP Science Performance Over Time
Pan-Canadian Grade 8 / Secondary II mean science scores in PCAP science cycles.
Source: Council of Ministers of Education, Canada, PCAP 2023.
| 2013 | 500 |
| 2016 | 508 |
| 2019 | 505 |
| 2023 | 501 |
PCAP was postponed from 2022 to 2023. The science baseline was established in 2013.
The Canadian science mean was 501 in 2023, almost unchanged from the 2013 baseline of 500 after reaching 508 in 2016. In 2023, 89% of students reached at least the expected science level, compared with 92% in 2013, while 12% reached the highest PCAP science level. [CMEC]
Finance and Resource Allocation
OECD’s 2025 country note reports that Canada invested 5.5% of GDP in education from primary through tertiary levels in the 2022 reference year, compared with an OECD average of 4.7%. Government expenditure per full-time-equivalent student was USD 14,381 from primary through postsecondary non-tertiary education and USD 13,684 at tertiary level, including research and development in the tertiary measure. [OECD]
| Finance Indicator | 2015 | 2022 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Government expenditure per student, primary through tertiary | USD 14,689 | USD 15,436 | +USD 747, or 5.1% |
| Education share of public budgets | 11.6% | 10.4% | −1.2 percentage points |
Real government expenditure per student rose 5.1% from 2015 to 2022, while education’s share of public budgets moved from 11.6% to 10.4%. The indicators measure different relationships: one tracks spending per learner, while the other measures education relative to total public expenditure.
Statistics Canada’s school-finance series adds a domestic measure. Total elementary-secondary education expenditure reached C$95.9 billion in 2022/23. Public elementary-secondary schools accounted for C$79.0 billion, including a record C$8.6 billion in capital spending. The financial release reports these figures in constant 2022/23 dollars. [StatCan]
Colleges, Universities, and Postsecondary Enrollment
Public college and university enrollment reached 2.3 million in 2023/24, up 5.8% from the previous year. Statistics Canada reported 611,718 Canadian student enrollments at colleges and 1,152,105 at universities. International enrollment reached 288,801 in colleges and 284,160 in universities. [StatCan]
| Canadian students | Colleges | 611,718 | 2023/24 |
| Canadian students | Universities | 1,152,105 | 2023/24 |
| International students | Colleges | 288,801 | 2023/24 |
| International students | Universities | 284,160 | 2023/24 |
Statistics Canada reports enrollment by program at the fall snapshot date. A student enrolled in more than one program can contribute more than one enrollment.
International enrollments increased by 103,953, or 22.2%, in 2023/24. For the first time in a decade, international college enrollment exceeded international university enrollment: colleges accounted for 50.4% of international enrollments and universities 49.6%. Statistics Canada notes that these data were collected before later federal changes affecting international study permits, which makes 2023/24 a useful pre-change reference year. [StatCan]
Postsecondary graduate output also increased. Canadian public institutions awarded 662,751 certificates, diplomas, or degrees in 2023, up 7.4% from 2022. Short-cycle tertiary graduates numbered 243,453 and exceeded bachelor’s-or-equivalent graduates, at 226,971, for the first time since 2014. The data illustrate the large role played by colleges and other short-cycle programs in Canadian tertiary education.
OECD attainment data show the same structural feature from another angle. Among Canadians aged 25–34, short-cycle tertiary attainment was 23.3% in the 2025 OECD country profile. Master’s-or-equivalent attainment stood at 14% in 2024, up from 11% in 2019. [OECD]
Apprenticeship and Skilled-Trades Training
Registered apprenticeship is another postsecondary route administered through provincial and territorial systems. In 2024, Canada recorded 101,541 new apprenticeship registrations, up 5.9% from 2023 and the highest annual total in the series beginning in 2008. A further 46,971 apprentices received certification in 2024. [StatCan]
Registered Apprenticeship Activity
New registrations and certifications, Canada, 2020–2024.
Source: Statistics Canada Registered Apprenticeship Information System. A change in Alberta administrative practices affects comparability from 2023.
| 2020 | 55,455 | 32,400 |
| 2021 | 72,714 | 46,668 |
| 2022 | 81,141 | 43,494 |
| 2023 | 95,841 | 46,521 |
| 2024 | 101,541 | 46,971 |
Statistics Canada advises that data from 2023 onward are not directly comparable with earlier years because of changes in administrative practices in Alberta.
Within the comparable 2023–2024 period, new registrations increased by 5,700, or 5.9%, while certifications increased by 450, or about 1.0%. The certification rate measured within the expected program duration was 19.9% in 2024, 1.1 percentage points above the previous cohort measure but still below the 2019 pre-pandemic level reported by Statistics Canada.
Digital Access and Learning Infrastructure
Household connectivity does not measure school technology directly, but it affects access to online learning, digital services, homework platforms, and remote education. In 2024, 96.4% of Canadian households had access to unlimited broadband service offering at least 50 Mbps download and 10 Mbps upload. Residential broadband subscriptions reached 13.8 million, up from 13.5 million in 2023. [StatCan]
Household Access to 50/10 Unlimited Broadband
Share of Canadian households with access to at least 50 Mbps download and 10 Mbps upload with an unlimited-data option.
Source: CRTC data published through Statistics Canada telecommunications indicators.
| 2020 | 89.7% |
| 2021 | 91.4% |
| 2022 | 93.1% |
| 2023 | 95.8% |
| 2024 | 96.4% |
Coverage refers to broadband availability, not household subscription or actual use.
National 50/10 unlimited broadband availability increased by 6.7 percentage points from 89.7% in 2020 to 96.4% in 2024. The latest national rate still does not imply identical access in every community, and broadband availability should not be used as a substitute for school-level device, network, or digital-learning data. [StatCan]
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