Authority

Career colleges must meet the legal binding requirements and be operated in accordance with this policy directive, including conditions specified by the Superintendent of Career Colleges (the superintendent).

Subsection 53(1)(a) of the Ontario Career Colleges Act, 2005 enables the superintendent to issue policy directives setting out standards for vocational programs or classes of vocational programs.

Subsection 53(2) of the Ontario Career Colleges Act, 2005 establishes that policy directives issued by the superintendent are legal requirements that are binding on all career colleges and every career college must comply with and operate in accordance with the policy directives.

Effective January 1, 2024

Definitions

Accreditor
An organization responsible for assessing a vocational program to determine quality and compliance with applicable professional standards and to review its eligibility for accreditation. A regulator may engage an accreditor to assess educational programs to determine suitability for a registration, certification or licensing process. See the list of programs and accreditors.
Accredited or approved
Where a vocational program completes all the assessment stages in the program assessment process and achieves the standard required for graduates to be eligible to apply for a license, registration or a professional examination. This includes any approval or accreditation status, including a conditional status, if it is valid for registration or licensing procedures.
Active pursuit
When an organization is participating in the stages of the accreditation review process in a timely manner and has addressed the relevant regulator or accreditor’s requests for cooperation, evidence or information.
Cohort
A group of students enrolled in the same vocational program with similar timelines for completion that have the same classes and training experiences which make up the program curriculum
Pending accreditation or approval
Where a vocational program has completed one or more of the stages in the review process and has been granted permission by the regulator or accreditor to proceed further. Assurance of program potential may come at different stages in the respective reviews and will therefore be specific to each program, regulator and accreditor.
Progressive review process
An accreditation or program review process which involves multiple assessment stages proceeding step-by-step, where the vocational program’s status moves from unaccredited or unapproved, through intermediate stages, to accredited or approved.
Regulator
An organization with legal authority to mandate entry to practice requirements for a profession or vocation and to mandate continuing competency in the public interest. Regulators may engage a third-party for accreditation or have an internal approval or accreditation process. See the list of regulators and programs.
Unaccredited
When the vocational program is not considered by the relevant regulator or accreditor to be pending approval or pending accreditation or approved or accredited.

Mandatory requirements

Programs that are subject to a regulator’s approval must either be one of the following:

  • approved by the regulator or accredited by the regulator’s chosen accreditor
  • be pending approval by the regulator or pending accreditation with the regulator’s chosen accreditor

In situations where approval or accreditation is only granted following a progressive review process, the career college must be engaged in active pursuit of approval or accreditation.

In accordance with subsection 23(4) of the Ontario Career Colleges Act, 2005 the Superintendent of Career Colleges may add conditions on program approval when authorizing a career college to deliver a program.

Career colleges must comply with any conditions specified by the superintendent.

Applications for program approval

Career colleges that deliver program(s) that are approved or accredited must submit an application that includes:

  1. Confirmation of the program’s approval or accreditation by the regulator or the accreditor chosen by the regulator.
  2. Details of the terms and maintenance schedule (with pertinent dates) of the approval or accreditation if applicable.

Career colleges that have program(s) which are pending approval or accreditation must submit an application that includes:

  1. A request from the career college for the superintendent to consider a program that is undergoing an approval or accreditation review. The letter must acknowledge each requirement of the Policy Directive for Career College Programs That Require Regulator Approval or Accreditation. The letter must include details of the possible consequences and the career college’s plans to manage risks to students if the approval or accreditation review is unsuccessful.
  2. Confirmation that the program is pending accreditation and proof that the career college is in active pursuit, according to the review process chosen by the regulator.
  3. All supporting documentation specified as conditions of program approval (for example, the enrolment package).

Conditions of program approval

Approved or accredited programs

The following conditions will apply for programs that have proof of approval or accreditation:

  1. The career college must maintain approval or accreditation as required by the regulator.
  2. The career college must share the outcome of any actions or reviews that are required by the accreditor or regulator with the ministry (for example, compliance reports, investigations, annual reports or follow-up site visits, assessments, examination results, third-party reviews etc.) This includes any notices that the career college has withdrawn from accreditation, lost its approval or accreditation status or allowed it to lapse or expire. The career college must share the information with the superintendent within 2 business days of receipt from the regulator or accreditor.
  1. The student contract template must be revised to add a separate signature line and the following student acknowledgement:

    Student acknowledgement:
    By signing below, I acknowledge that I am enrolled in a program which has been approved or accredited as required by the regulator of this profession. The approval or accreditation status is effective (DD/MM/YY-DD/MM/YY). I have reviewed the Policy Directive for Career College Programs That Require Regulator Approval or Accreditation and discussed with the career college how my entry into practice after graduation may be affected by the approval or accreditation cycle. I understand I may contact the regulator directly if I have additional questions.
  2. The career college must inform the superintendent when the program is being reviewed for renewal of approval or accreditation 30 days prior to the beginning of any review.

Programs pending approval or accreditation

The following conditions apply for programs that have proof of pending approval or accreditation:

  1. The name of the program must include the term pending approval or pending accreditation which identifies the program’s status to the public. The term must be used in all materials that reference the program, including the student contract (for example, Dental hygiene — pending accreditation).
  2. All students must be provided with an enrolment package, based on the template copy approved by the superintendent as part of the program application.

The enrolment package must include:

  1. Relevant information about the program’s approval or accreditation status. The template copy submitted to the superintendent must outline all the possible status levels relative to approval or accreditation. Career colleges may choose which language to include in the contract for each student based on the approval or accreditation status at the time the student is enrolled.
  2. Information pertaining to the approval or accreditation review process (steps and milestones of progress towards approval or accreditation and expected timelines, and when the process may involve students).
  3. The implications and risks to students of enrolling in a program under review for approval or accreditation, including how the status of the program may affect a student’s entry-to-practise in the vocation after graduation.
  4. Information on any benefits or advantages available to the student as a participant in a cohort which will be affected by the approval or accreditation review.
  5. Information on any risk mitigations the career college has put in place for students and details of refund entitlement.
  6. contact information for:
    • a staff member of the career college for students to inquire about the approval or accreditation process
    • the Superintendent of Career Colleges
    • the regulator imposing the requirement for approval or accreditation so that students may discuss concerns directly
  1. The student contract template must be revised to add a separate signature line and an acknowledgement must be signed by the student before enrollment is complete. A blank copy of a revised contract template must also be provided as part of the program application. The student acknowledgement must contain the following:

    Student acknowledgement:
    By signing below, I acknowledge that I am enrolled in a program which is not yet approved or accredited as required by the regulator of the profession. I have received and reviewed the enrolment package required by the Policy Directive for Career College Programs That Require Regulator Approval or Accreditation. I understand the implications and risks to students of enrolling in a program pending approval or accreditation, including how the status of the program may affect a student’s entry into practice after graduation. I understand I may contact the regulator directly if I have additional questions.
  2. The career college must provide the superintendent with a list of every student enrolled in any cohort while approval by the regulator or accreditation is pending.

    The list must include the student names, contact information, start and expected end dates of the program and confirmation that the enrolment package has been provided and acknowledged on the student contract.

    This list is required prior to the first start date of the program and must be updated as additional students are enrolled.

    The student names and information must be provided to the superintendent until approval or accreditation is achieved and the program’s name is changed to reflect the final approval or accreditation status.
  3. At each step of the progressive review process identified in the enrolment package the career college must provide proof to the superintendent of its progress towards approval or accreditation. For example, a copy of the acceptance letter, the date of site survey, the results of the site survey, a copy of the final results according to the process.

    The career college must also share the outcome of any notices or reviews received with respect to approval or accreditation, including any notices that it has been unsuccessful at meeting requirements, with the superintendent within 2 business days of receipt.

These conditions of approval will remain in effect until the career college submits confirmation of the program’s approval or accreditation to the superintendent. At that point, a program change request may be submitted to change the name of the program and to change the conditions of program approval to those applicable to vocational programs with approval or accreditation.

The superintendent may revoke program approval under subsection 24(1) of the Ontario Career Colleges Act, 2005 if the career college does not comply with these conditions of program approval or if the program does not meet the requirements of the regulator. In this circumstance, a career college must discontinue the program immediately upon notice of program revocation. Discontinuation of a program before a student has completed it renders a student eligible for a refund of fees paid. (See section 25 of Regulation 415/06 under the Ontario Career Colleges Act, 2005.)

Enforcement

Under subsection 24(1) of the Ontario Career Colleges Act, 2005, a career college's program approval may be revoked if the superintendent believes that the program fails to meet the applicable standards set out in the superintendent’s policy directives. If a career college does not comply with the directive set out above, any or all of the following enforcement actions may be taken:

  • issuance of a Notice of Revocation of Program Approval
  • issuance of a Compliance or Restraining Order
  • application to a court for a Judicial Restraining Order
  • proposal to Revoke or Refuse to Renew Registration
  • prosecution for offences under the Ontario Career Colleges Act, 2005

Programs and regulators

Learn about the regulators and accreditors of these vocational programs:

Dental hygiene

Denturism

Diagnostic medical sonography (or related specialty)

Early childhood education

Regulator and Accreditor/Approver: College of Early Childhood Educators

Medical laboratory technology

Paralegal

Regulator and Accreditor/Approver: Law Society of Ontario

Pharmacy technician