The province of Ontario has 24 publicly funded colleges, known as Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology (CAATs). In 2003, five CAATs (Humber, Sheridan, Conestoga, Seneca, and George Brown) were designated as Institutes of Technology and Advanced Learning.
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Map of Ontario, Canada
Most Ontario colleges were founded between 1965 and 1967, after Ontario's Minister of Education, the Honourable William Grenville Davis, tabled Bill-153 on May 21, 1965, to create a post-secondary educational system different from that of universities. The Ontario Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology Act, 2002, indicates that the purpose of Ontario public colleges is to offer “career-oriented, post-secondary education and training to assist individuals in finding and keeping employment, to meet the needs of employers and the changing work environment and to support the economic and social development of their local and diverse communities.”
In 2000, the Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Development authorized colleges to offer a limited number of applied baccalaureate degrees under the Postsecondary Education Choice and Excellence Act, 2000. In 2012-2013 approximately 74 degree programs were offered by 12 Ontario colleges.
Public colleges
Colleges marked with (FR) are French language schools.
Private colleges
Ontario has over 400 private career colleges. These colleges are regulated by the Private Career Colleges Act, 2005, (S.O. 2005, c. 28, Schedule L). under which they must be registered and approved by the Superintendent of Private Career Colleges.