Education

The earliest Canadian schools, which were conducted by French Catholic religious orders, date from the early 17th century. Higher education was inaugurated in 1635 with the founding of the College des JКsuites in the city of Quebec. It was not until the transfer of Canada from French to British jurisdiction in 1763 that an educational system began to emerge that encompassed church, governmental, and private secular schools. The early 19th century saw the establishment of the large universities, beginning with McGill University in 1821 and followed by the University of Toronto in 1827 and the University of Ottawa in 1848. Since World War II ended in 1945, a notable expansion in higher education has occurred. Many new institutions have been founded, and the older universities have increased in size, scope, and influence. The federal and provincial governments fund the university system in Canada, and students pay only a small portion of the cost. Universities are still the predominant institutions offering higher education, but the number of non-university postsecondary institutions, particularly community colleges, has increased sharply in recent decades.

Elementary and Secondary Schools

Education is generally compulsory for children from ages 6 or 7 to ages 15 or 16, depending on the province in which they live, and it is free until the completion of secondary school studies. In the early 1990s Canada had more than 16,000 elementary and secondary schools, with a total enrollment of nearly 5.3 million students.

Specialized Schools

In the early 1990s Canada maintained 19 specialized schools for the blind and the deaf. These institutions together enrolled about 2400 pupils, who were instructed by some 575 teachers. Canada had several schools for mentally handicapped children. Nursing education, formerly concentrated at special schools attached to hospitals, has been transferred to community colleges, which numbered 203 in the early 1990s. Similarly, teacher training has been shifted from specialized institutions to colleges and universities.

Universities

In the early 1990s Canada had 69 degree-granting universities and colleges, which together enrolled some 572,900 full-time students.