Canadian Overview

Facts

What are some interesting facts about Canada’s education system?

Canada is a bilingual country, and the constitution recognizes French and English as its two official languages.  The minority language rights of French-speaking students living outside the province of Quebec and English-speaking students living in the province of Quebec are protected in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.  The Charter defines the conditions under which Canadians have the right to access publicly funded education in either minority language.

Sources

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Students attend public schools.

The majority of the schools in Canada are public. More than 90% of Canadian students attend public schools.

In addition to public schools, there are a number of private schools, as well as schools that operate under the authority of Indigenous communities in the provinces and territories. (see section 2 for more information)

In 2016, 91% of Canadians aged 25 to 64 had at least a high school diploma.  (See Source 1)

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Canadians between 25-60 have high school diploma.

 

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) evaluates the quality, fairness and efficiency of school systems worldwide.  The OECD gets its data by testing more than half a million students from over 70 countries in science, reading and math.  In 2016, Canada was among the world’s very best. Canada ranked 7th in Science, 3rd in reading and 10th in mathematics, for an overall ranking of 7th. (See Source 2)

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Science

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Reading

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Math

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Overall

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  • Source

    Source 1: Statistics Canada

    Education indicators in Canada: An international perspective, 2017

  • Source

    Source 2: RedLeaf

    Where does the Canadian education system rank globally?