Levels in education[edit]

Canada outside Quebec[edit]

As the education system in Canada is managed by the varying provincial
governments in Canada, the way the educational stages are grouped and
named may differ from each region, or even between districts and
individual schools. The ages are the age of the students when they end the
school year in June.

 Early childhood education

 Junior Kindergarten or Pre-Kindergarten (ages 3–5) (Ontario only)[47]
 Grade Primary or Kindergarten (ages 5–6)
 Elementary education
 Grade 1 (ages 6–7)
 Grade 2 (ages 7–8)
 Grade 3 (ages 8–9)
 Grade 4 (ages 9–10)
 Grade 5 (ages 10–11)
 Grade 6 (ages 11–12)
 Grade 7 (ages 12–13) (outside Ontario, most provinces and
territories group grades 7, 8 and 9 into junior high, while others
include grade 5 or 6 through grade 8 into middle school)
 Grade 8 (ages 13–14) (in some parts of B.C. high school starts in
Grade 8)
 Secondary education
 Grade 9 (ages 14–15)
 Grade 10 (ages 15–16)
 Grade 11 (ages 16–17)
 Grade 12 (ages 17–18)
 Grade 12+ (ages 18–21) (Ontario only)b
 Tertiary education
 College: In Canada, the term college usually refers to a community
college or a technical, applied arts, or applied science school. These
are post-secondary institutions
granting certificates, diplomas, associates degree, and bachelor's
degrees.
 University: A university is an institution of higher education and
research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A
university is a corporation that provides both undergraduate
education and postgraduate education.
  Graduate school: A graduate school is a school that awards
advanced academic certificates, diplomas and degrees (i.e. master's
degree, Ph.D.)
Quebec[edit]
Main article: Education in Quebec

 Pre-school ((in French):Garderie); under 5

 Kindergarten ((in French):Maternelle); 5-6
 Grade School ((in French):école primaire, literally Primary school,
equivalent to Elementary School)
 Grade 1; 6-7
 Grade 2; 7-8
 Grade 3; 8-9
 Grade 4; 9-10
 Grade 5; 10-11
 Grade 6; 11-12
 High School ((in French): école secondaire, literally Secondary
school)grade names
 Grade 7/Secondary 1; 12-13
 Grade 8/Secondary 2; 13-14
 Grade 9/Secondary 3; 14-15
 Grade 10/Secondary 4; 15-16
 Grade 11/Secondary 5; 16-17
 College
 Pre-university program, two years (typically Social Sciences, Natural
Sciences, or Arts)
 Professional program, three years (e.g. Paralegal, Dental Hygienist,
Nursing, etc.)
 University (Usually requires a College degree (DCS (in French):'DEC) or
equivalent)
 Undergraduate
 Three years for most programs (or four years for Engineering,
Education, Medicine, and Law) leading to a Bachelor's degree.
Non-Quebec students require an extra year to complete the same
degree because of the extra year in college.
 Graduate (or postgraduate)
 One or two years leading to a Master's degree.
 three or more years leading to a Doctoral degree.

English schools in Quebec have the same grade system as French

schools, but with English names. For example, "elementary school" is not
called "école primaire" in an English school, but has the same grading
system.
Grade structure by province[edit]
The following table shows how grades are organized in various provinces.
Often, there will be exceptions within each province, both with terminology
for groups, and which grades apply to each group.

Elementary Junior High Senior High

Alber
ta
(sour Kind
ce) erga 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
rten

Britis Intermediat
Primary Secondary
h e
Colu
mbia
(sour Kind
ce)[not erga 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
in citation
given] rten

Early Years Middle Years Senior Years

Manit
oba[48 Kind
]
erga 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
rten

Middle
Elementary High School
New School
Brun
swick
(sour Kind
ce) erga 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
rten

Newf Prim Eleme

Junior High Senior High
oundl ary ntary
and
and
Labr Kind Lev Lev Lev
ador erga 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 el I el II el III
(sour rten (10) (11) (12)
ce)

Interm Junior Senior

North Primary
ediate Secondary Secondary
west
Territ
ories
Kind
(sour
erga 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
ce)
rten

Nova Elementary Junior High Senior High

Scoti
a
(sour Prim
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
ce) ary

Elementary Secondary

Ontar Juni
io[49] or Kind
Kind erga 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
erga rten
rten

Intermediate
Elementary Senior High
School
PEI
(sour
ce) Kind
erga 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
rten

Queb Primary Secondary School College

ec School

7 8 9 10 t
Gar Mat 11 se
(S (Se (Se (Se h
deri erne 1 2 3 4 5 6 (Se first co
ec c c c ir
e lle c V) nd
I) II) III) IV) d

Sask Elementar
Middle Level Secondary Level
atche y Level
wan
(sour
ce[perm Kind
anent
dead erga 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
)
link] rten

Junior Senior
Elementary
Secondary Secondary
Yuko
n
(sour
Kind
ce)
erga 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
rten

Notes:

 In British Columbia some schools may group together the higher

Elementary and lower Secondary Grades. These schools are referred to
as Middle Schools or Jr. Secondary Schools. Some Elementary Schools
consist solely of grades K-5. Likewise, some Secondary Schools may
only have grades 11 and 12. In addition, some school districts may use
just elementary (K-7) and secondary (8-12) schools. British Columbia
informally subcategorizes the Elementary level into "Primary" (K-3) and
"Intermediate" (4-6 or 7).
 In Ontario, the terms used in French schooling consist of Maternelle in
regards to Junior Kindergarten, Kindergarten is then referred to as
Jardin. This differs from Quebec's Maternelle which is the equivalent of
Ontario's Kindergarten.
 In Manitoba, grade-9 - grade 12 was for a short time referred to as
Senior 1-Senior 4;
 In Nova Scotia the terms for groups, and grades they apply to varies
significantly throughout the province. A common, but not universal,
organization is shown.
 In Quebec college is two or three years, depending on what a student
selects, based usually on what their post-secondary plans are. College
in Quebec overlaps what other provinces consider the boundary
between secondary education (high school) and post-secondary
education (college and university). "Sec I" = "Secondary Year One" =
"Grade 7"
 In Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, schools are now set up as
elementary schools with grades K-5, middle schools with grades 6-8,
and high schools with grades 9-12. However, high school graduation
requirements only include courses taken in grades 10-12.
 In Saskatchewan Elementary school is most often from k-8 and high
school from 9-12, High school graduation requirements only taken
grades 10-12 and require 24 credits to graduate.