Doing Your Research

Do you know what programs you’d like to take and where you’d like to take them?

If not, you can use the resources on the ontariocolleges.ca website to:

• Browse or search for college programs.

• Use the College Map to find a campus near you.

• Check the college websites for more details about their programs and admission requirements.

• Attend a college recruitment event to meet people from different colleges.

Search for a specific program

• Go to ontariocolleges.ca.

• In the banner, select Programs.

• To search for a specific program, enter a name or topic in the Program Search field (e.g., “paramedic”).

• Select Program Search. A list of programs will be displayed.

• Use the filters to refine the search results.

Using our example above, you might want to see only those Paramedic programs that take less than one year to complete.

• Examine the filtered list.

In the example, the search results include only paramedic-related programs that take less than one year to complete. Each entry shows the corresponding availability (Open, Closed, or Waitlisted) and at which college campus the program is offered.

• When you find a program, select the Website link to view program details on the corresponding college website. Take some time to review the information – particularly the details about admission requirements.

Explore the programs by category

If you don’t know exactly what programs you want to apply for, but have ideas about the type of career or industry you’re interested in, you can check out the different categories of programs on the Find a Program page.

For example, if you’re interested in engineering, you can explore the Engineering & Technology programs.

• In the Explore by category section, select a category.

For each category, related programs are organized into subcategories.

• Select a subcategory; for example, Bioinformatics.

A page opens with information about the field of study you selected and a list of all the related programs.

• Use the filters to refine the list of programs.

• Select Website to go to the program information on the college website.

Explore Programs by College

If you’d like to attend a college that is in a particular area of Ontario, or one that is close to your home, you can:

• Use the map on the website to see which colleges are in your preferred area.

Once you’ve identified a college, you can browse the list of programs that are offered.

• In the Explore by college section, select a college. For example: Humber.

A page opens with information about the college, a map of its location, and a list of all the available programs.

• Use the filters to refine the list of programs.

• Select Website to go to the program information on the college website.

What are Highly Competitive Programs?

Many of the programs that start in the fall have more qualified applicants than there are seats – these are considered “highly competitive” programs. For more information, go to the Highly Competitive Programs page.

Are you curious about which programs are highly competitive? You can see a list on the Find a Program page of ontariocolleges.ca.

Interested in Learning About Trades?

Many colleges offer programs in the skilled trades. If you’re considering learning a trade, the College Trades website provides information and resources to help you discover what’s available and choose a path.

Attend College Events

There are several resources that you can use to learn about the colleges, events they are hosting, and the programs they offer. For a complete list of Events, go to the News and Events page on ontariocolleges.ca.

College Information Program (CIP)

The CIP Tour is an excellent opportunity to meet representatives from the colleges and get more information to help you make decisions about post-secondary education. For details and the tour schedule, go to the CIP Schedule page on ontariocolleges.ca.

Connecting with the colleges

We’ve posted resources from each of the colleges in one place. To learn more about virtual open houses, information sessions, and more, go to the College Recruitment page and select a college logo.