Canada is the world's second-largest country by total area, occupying most of northern North America. Extending from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, Canada shares land borders with the United States to the south and to the northwest.

Inhabited first by aboriginal peoples, Canada was founded as a union of British colonies (some of which were formerly French colonies). Canada gained independence from the United Kingdom in an incremental process that began in 1867 and ended in 1982 ; it remains a Commonwealth Realm.

Canada is a federal constitutional monarchy with parliamentary democracy . Comprising ten provinces and three territories, Canada is a bilingual and multicultural country, with both English and French as official languages at the federal level. A technologically advanced and industrialized nation, Canada maintains a diversified economy that is heavily reliant upon its abundant natural resources and upon trade - particularly with the United States, with which Canada has had a long and complex relationship.

In Canada, education is regulated by each separate provincial government through the individual ministries of education. The ministries of education oversee smaller bodies called boards of education or district school boards (such as the Toronto District School Board) which oversee the individual schools.

There are 10 provinces and three territories, each with their own way of organizing education, but there are some generalizations that one can make about Canadian education.

The Government of Canada plays an indirect but vital role in education. It provides financial support for post-secondary education, labour market training, and the teaching of the two official languages - especially second-language training. In addition, it is responsible for the education of Aboriginal peoples, armed forces personnel and their dependents, and inmates of federal correctional facilities.

The Canada Student Loans Program, which assists over 350 000 Canadian post-secondary students each year, represents the cornerstone of the Government of Canada's commitment to making post-secondary education accessible. The program provides loans and pays the interests on the loan while the student is in school. The Canada Student Loans Program also has a number of repayment options for borrowers who have difficulty making payments after leaving school.

In addition, in 1998, the Government of Canada introduced the $2.5 billion Canada Millennium Scholarships initiative to help Canadians gain access to post-secondary education and reduce student debt. Created in January 2000, the Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation, the independent body created to manage the fund and administer the scholarships, will assist some 100 000 Canadian students annually through its two scholarship programs. Bursaries averaging $3000 are granted to Canadian students on the basis of financial need and merit; Excellence Awards are granted to Canadians entering their first year of post-secondary studies who are committed to the pursuit of academic excellence and innovation, and demonstrate the capacity for leadership. Individuals can receive up to $19200 from the Foundation over a maximum of 32 months of study.

The Canada Education Savings Grant program was launched in 1998 to help offset the increasing costs of post-secondary education by supplementing Canadians' educational savings. Its purpose is to make post-secondary education more accessible to young Canadians. The Government of Canada provides a grant of an additional 20 percent on top of Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP) contributions, up to a maximum of $400 annually, until the child turns 17. This could add up to as much as $7 200 by the time a child is ready for post-secondary education. More than a million Canadians have received the CES Grant on their RESP contributions since 1998.


Post-Secondary Education

For most of Canada's history, post-secondary education was provided almost exclusively by its universities. These were mainly private institutions, many with a religious affiliation. During the 1960s, however, as the demand for greater variety in post-secondary education rose sharply and enrolment grew, systems of publicly- operated post-secondary non-university institutions began to develop. Today in Canada, some 200 technical institutes and community colleges complement about 100 universities, attracting a total post-secondary enrolment of approximately one million students. Student fees, owing to substantial government subsidies, account for only about 11 percent of the cost of Canadian post-secondary education.

Canada's universities are internationally known for the quality of their teaching and research. Examples include the neurological breakthroughs of Wilder Penfield at McGill University and the discovery of insulin at the University of Toronto by Frederick Banting, C.H. Best, J.J.R. Macleod, and J.B. Collip. Full-time enrolment in Canadian universities stands at over half a million, with enrolments at individual institutions ranging from less than a 1 000 to over 35 000. Women are well represented in the universities; they receive more than half of all degrees conferred.