Problem

Canada does not have a national post-secondary education framework which puts Canada at an economic disadvantage in the global knowledge economy.

Background

Canada, unique in the top 30 OECD countries, does not have a national education strategy supported by a national credential framework and accreditation system. The absence of a national strategy and the mechanisms necessary to facilitate better access, responsiveness and accountability puts Canada at an economic disadvantage in the global knowledge economy.

A large segment of those graduating with post-secondary credentials are doing so from institutes which offer applied business/technological and applied research skills to their students. Although there are three publicly-funded providers of post-secondary education in Canada -polytechnics, community colleges, and universities – there is limited transferability among them, inadequate prior learning assessment arrangements and in some cases systemic resistance to recognizing a wide array of credentials and pathways to post-secondary education.

Solutions

• Develop, in collaboration with provincial and territorial governments, a national education and training strategy which establishes common goals and objectives for post-secondary education and provides strategies that would best serve the interests of learners, society and the economy.

• Establish, in collaboration with provincial and territorial governments, national mechanisms to measure the effectiveness of Canada’s national education system.

• Encourage and support the development and design of a national credentials framework and accreditation system to enhance and facilitate the national transferability of credits, encourage student mobility and increase international recognition

Download this issue sheet [PDF]

In 2004, the Presidents of Polytechnics Canada member institutions signed a protocol on Mobility and Transferability adapted from the ACCC Pan-Canadian Protocol for the Transferability of Learning.

Highlights of this Mobility and Transferability for Member Institutions document are:

• The primary purpose for establishing Polytechnics Canada credit transfer agreements, protocols and polices is to increase opportunities for students to access post secondary education by facilitating mobility between member institutions.
  
• This protocol maximizes the recognition and transfer of learning acquired at another member institution through formal education and/or through documented learning achieved through workplace training and work and life experience.
  
• Transfer credit shall be awarded to students for credits earned that are related to the program of study in which the student will register.
  
• Course or program transfer credits shall be based on equivalency of educational achievement and of knowledge, skills, abilities, and outcomes recognizing that effective learning can occur under a variety of arrangements and conditions. This includes all forms of formal or informal learning such as self-study, work place education, training, and experience.
  
• Transfer credit not deemed to satisfy specific program requirements should be awarded whenever possible to fulfill other general requirements, such as transfer/open credits, professional options, and/or general education credits where appropriate.
  
• For those programs for which common national program standards and/or accreditation exists, students requesting transfer from one participating institution to another within the same program will be granted full recognition of prior credits earned whenever possible.
  

Download the full Mobility and Transferability for Member Institutions Protocol [PDF]

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