“O Canada!” Anyone visiting the huge state in North America will quickly see why Canadians are so proud of their homeland.
Canada as a study country
The second largest country in the world in terms of area impresses with its fantastic, largely still almost untouched nature. On the almost 10 million square kilometers between the Atlantic and Pacific are the rough mountain ranges of the Rocky Mountains, dense forests, endless prairie and tundra landscapes and more rivers and lakes than anywhere else in the world. Most of the country is unpopulated. That is why you can still meet animals such as brown bears, wolves, caribou, lynx and bison in the vast expanses of forests and prairies.
Most of Canada’s 35 million inhabitants live in a 150 square kilometer wide belt that stretches along the southern border of the country. The country’s major cities are also located here. Toronto, Montreal, Québec Cité, Vancouver and the capital Ottawa are cosmopolitan metropolises that are primarily characterized by their multicultural population. The government of Canada strives to preserve the traditions and cultures of the immigrant groups, most of whom come from Europe and Asia. This policy has led to a peaceful multi-cultural society in which various festivals are celebrated all year round. So it’s no wonder that more and more young people are moving to Canada to study. There are really enough reasons for this.
Bilingualism
Another special feature of the country is its historically developed bilingualism. The national languages are English and French, with French being spoken particularly in the province of Québec, where 80 percent of the inhabitants are of French descent.
University landscape of Canada
The higher education system in Canada seems at first glance as colorful as the population of the country. This is primarily due to the fact that there is no superordinate state ministry of education. The responsibility for training and study rests with the ten provinces and three territories of Canada, a major country in North America listed on liuxers.
Ultimately, however, the individual universities have the power to decide on the amount of tuition fees, admission requirements and study programs. It is therefore very difficult to make a general statement on these points. That is why it always makes sense to clarify this in relation to the specific university of your choice.
quality assurance
A second look at Canada’s higher education landscape reveals that it shows far fewer differences than, for example, that of its southern neighbor, the USA. There are no such great differences in quality between the individual universities as there are in Canada. There are several reasons for this. For one, Canada invests a large amount in education compared to other OECD countries. On the other hand, the Canadian universities are in an increasingly intense competition with one another. This means that all universities in the state offer high-quality study programs through the bank, which are particularly characterized by their strong practical relevance. A control of the quality of teaching is offered by the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC), which regularly reviews the performance of the individual universities. The performance of the teachers is also checked in evaluations and class visits, which has further positive effects on the quality of teaching.
Types of universities in Canada
The higher education landscape in Canada is basically divided into universities and colleges. The universities offer the academic degrees Bachelor, Master and Ph.D. at. The colleges, on the other hand, traditionally offer vocational or preparatory courses leading to a certificate or diploma. In recent years, many colleges have also launched academic bachelor’s programs. These can often be recognized by the addition of Bachelor of Applied Sciences / Business. For these degrees, however, applicants should inquire about two things in advance:
Is the bachelor’s degree on offer sufficient to be admitted to a master’s degree at Canadian universities?
Is the qualification recognized in Germany?
About the study system and degrees
You can go to a university or college to study in Canada. The Canadian study system differs in part from the German system. In Canada, for example, in addition to the classic Bachelor, Master and Ph.D. degrees, there are other professional university degrees that are not recognized in Germany.
There are also one or two differences compared to Germany with regard to the grading system and the division of the academic year.
Classic university degrees: Bachelor, Master and Ph.D.
The study in Canada is divided into two sections. In the undergraduate section, students complete a bachelor’s degree, to which they can then add a master’s and doctoral degree (Ph.D.) in the graduate section.
The Bachelor’s degree in Canada lasts three to four years, with one year divided into two semesters or three trimesters. The first two to three semesters of the bachelor’s degree are usually a kind of studium generale. This serves to deepen general education and prepare for the actual subject. Only after this introductory period do the students specialize in their chosen major, the so-called major.
If you want to do a Master’s degree in Canada, you usually have to have a Bachelor of Honors. The honors degree is acquired in an additional fourth year of study in a three-year bachelor’s degree. In four-year bachelor’s programs, students write an additional thesis through which they earn the title of Bachelor of Honors.
The Master’s program in Canada as in Germany on one to two years created. The students have the opportunity to choose between a Master by Research and a Master by Coursework. The structure of the Master by Coursework is similar to that of the Bachelor’s degree: the students attend courses and lectures and regularly write homework and exams. The focus of the Master by Research, on the other hand, is largely independently carried out research work.
Thereafter, students can acquire the highest academic degree, the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.). The Doctoral Studies in Canada similar to the German doctoral program and take at least three years to complete.
