Free Education in Canada

Canada is a prime destination for immigrants with one of the main reasons being free education in Canada. It does sound juicy when you hear that the country offers free education to children. This resource is rarely available to some people around the world, let alone it being free. Some people have the idea that it might just be a marketing gimmick so as to shine Canada on as a land of freebies to attract immigration.

Your road to Canada is shiny. And guess what, education is free for all children in Canada. You have to be a resident of the locality for your kids to be allowed a seat in their community’s public schools. The education system in Canada is amazing, with the kids coming out of school bright, happy and educated. Isn’t that what majority of the parents want for their children?

Education System in Canada:

The education system in Canada is unique, the way education is provided to the kids is different. You are informed on what your kids will be learning before they join the schooling system here. You get a tour of the school so you know where your children will be all day. The criteria for admission in the school is very simple, your child needs to be 4years old to be admitted. They attend school up until the age of 16 to 18 years depending on the province or territory you are based in.

The schooling system is divided in to Elementary (Kindergarten to Grade5), Secondary (Grade 6-8) and Senior Secondary School (Grade 9-11 or 12). It’s not free beyond these grades but you do get hefty discounts being a Permanent Resident or Citizen of Canada. Save up to until your children pass out of high school in Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP). They can then go on to Universities and Colleges without having to worry about paying their own fees and ensuring a living on their own. You can allow them to fend for themselves afterwards. Although the choice is yours!

Is Education Really Free??

Coming back to the core of the topic, free education in Canada is a privilege given to all permanent residents and citizens of Canada. If you have lived your life outside Canada, e.g. in U.A.E., you would know that education is a business that is very lucrative. People charge exorbitant amounts of money in yearly fees. Imagine paying AED 45,000 annually for KG-1 just so that your kid can attend a GEMS Academy School.

Schools have started to charge money for the premises that they are offering, the extra-curricular that they would be arranging, types of books on curricula, uniform that you will be wearing etc. Schools outside Canada are the cash cows on the BCG Matrix, where the actual meaning of education has been lost. There used to be times, when great education was cheap or free. When teachers used to teach children a skill or a trade without asking for anything in return.

In Canada, education is really free for your children from Kindergarten to Grade 11^th or 12^th depending on the province you are based in. Free means that you don’t have to shell out a certain amount of money monthly or annually for tuition. Books and all school supplies are provided by the school itself or you can get reference books as you need from the public libraries that are plentiful in each city.

Educationists Heaven:

People who have a nag of educating themselves will find themselves in heaven. Book lovers and readers will love it here. So many resources so many books, humongous media libraries etc. You definitely fall in love with the society you live in because of these resources that are available to you. I personally went ahead and got two library subscriptions, one in Toronto and other in Mississauga, a city where I live and a city where I work. Your kids will have an amazing time visiting libraries, they have so many free activities that you can register them to do.

You can register your children in libraries so that they can get books, DVDs, be a part of fun filled activities and loan out books to read etc. And guess what, all of it is free and online. Just click on Mississauga Library and Toronto Library to get an idea of what I am talking about.

Early Childhood Learning:

As my children are young, I got an insight to how education works in Kindergarten unlike my own experience. I still remember lugging a 10kg bag full of course books, stationary, notebooks etc. to school. I believe we were being trained as soldiers somewhat, I guess, or maybe not.

Any who, the learning method applied in Ontario, Canada is a mix of mental, physical and theory. Your children learn ethics, language, importance of time, listening, reading, mathematics, importance of space, making friends, dealing with the society, manners and especially bracing the weather. All of this is done not in different periods but in a general day-to-day schedule. They make learning fun for kids so that they want to go to school rather than find a way out of it.

I liked the way how they send children outside so that their bodies can brace extreme cold weather in Canada. Seeing the children from my backyard, I get an idea of how they are being molded to brace all types of weather and embrace the environment as a whole in its natural form.

The Spending:

While education is completely free, there are a few things that you will be spending on. The spending is so minimal that you don’t feel the grunt of it. You do get paid federal and provincial child benefit so save up and spend from it on them. This spending is getting your kids weather specific clothing, shoes, school specific healthy snacks and lunch. They do require you to have a few extra indoor and outdoor shoes sent to the school for safe keeping but in younger grades. Other than that, you are technically sending your children to school for free.

That’s a Wrap:

Sending your children to school and providing them with education is the best thing you can do to them. You are molding them for their own future. They will thank you once they grow up to become amazing people in the society. Instilling in them the basics and ensuring that they are educated is like a building with the strongest of foundations. Create one now so that they can brace the future with grace.

“A father gives his child nothing better than a good education.”

Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.S.)

My choice to migrate to Canada was to give my children a good future. And there is nothing better than free education in Canada to start it off with. Future is bright for people who seek one, so make the right choices and move forward. Canada is waiting for you. Before you leave, don’t forget to Like, Subscribe and Share. It might assist others on the road to Canada.

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