Running an Ontario private career college: the records and rules to get right

The rulebook

Career colleges in Ontario operate under the Ontario Career Colleges Act, 2005 and Ontario Regulation 415/06. Vocational programs must be approved by the Superintendent of Career Colleges before they are offered, registration is renewed every year, and communication with the ministry — registration, program approval and renewals — happens through PARIS, the Program Approval and Registration Information System.

Student contracts

Every student in a vocational program must sign a written contract containing the terms set out in section 20 of O. Reg. 415/06. A contract missing required terms can be voided by the student, and the college then owes a full refund. Colleges must keep copies of student contracts for at least three years after the student leaves.

Collecting fees and refunds

The fee rules are specific, and they are where complaints start:

• Only compulsory fees that have been published online can be charged or collected, and only in Canadian dollars.
• No fees can be collected before the contract is signed, except the lesser of 20% of total fees or $500 to process an application or run admission tests.
• A student who withdraws within two days of signing gets a full refund; after that, and before the program starts, a full refund minus the lesser of 20% or $500.
• Once the program has started, the refund depends on how much of the training the student had received when they withdrew.

Transcripts

Transcripts must include the student's period of attendance, the grade for each course and practicum, and a description of the grading system. So that students can get them for at least 25 years, colleges use an approved transcript service provider and transfer each transcript within 60 days of the student graduating, withdrawing or being expelled.

Outcomes and inspections

Colleges report Key Performance Indicators — graduation rate, graduate employment rate (overall and in the field of study), and graduate and employer satisfaction — and the results are published. Inspections are unannounced, so student and instructor records need to be current at all times, not assembled when an inspector arrives.

What your student information system should do

None of these rules is complicated on its own; the risk is keeping them all true for every student at once. In Cohort, the contract is generated from a template and signed electronically; invoices, payments and refunds sit on the student's account with a full history; attendance and grades are recorded against the enrollment, and the grades feed the transcript; graduation and withdrawal dates are recorded on the enrollment; and every change is logged with who made it and when, so an inspector's question can be answered from the record.

Cohort doesn't replace your approved transcript service provider or your PARIS filings, and this article isn't legal advice — check the Act, the regulation and the Superintendent's policy directives for your programs.

How to do it in Cohort

• Enrollment contracts & e-signature
• Required documents & compliance
• Take attendance (clock hours)
• Audit log — who changed what

Sources

• Government of Ontario — Operating a career college
• Ontario Regulation 415/06 (General)
• Ontario Career Colleges Act, 2005

General information, not tax or legal advice. Rules change — check the sources above and your accountant or advisor before relying on this for your college.