Ontario college applicants, students and graduates - Highlights and key data

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Connor

Report synthesizes Ontario public colleges’ learner pipeline—applicants, students, apprentices, continuing education participants, and graduates—using provincial and sector data sources. Highlights address pandemic-era challenges, shifts in enrollment and entry to college, and changes affecting labour-market outcomes. Key figures quantify applicant flows (direct vs non-direct), student participation by status (full-time, international, nursing, second career), apprenticeship training delivery, and post-graduation employment rates. Notes outline the data sources supporting the indicators.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages28

Reading Time1 h 11 min

AccessFree to download

Highlights

College activity

Numbers of Ontario college applicants, students and graduates

Applicants

Students

Graduates

Domestic learner demographics and characteristics

Level of education

Indigenous identity

Apprentices

Continuing education students

Graduates

Perceptions

Graduates

Key performance indicators

Notes on data sources

1 Highlights ................................................................................................................................1 2 College activity ........................................................................................................................2 3 Numbers of Ontario college applicants, students and graduates ...............................................3 3.1 Applicants ............................................................................................................................................... 3 3.2 Students .................................................................................................................................................. 5 Post-secondary-funded enrolment ....................................................................................................... 5 Nursing students .................................................................................................................................... 7 International students ............................................................................................................................ 8 Second Career students ......................................................................................................................... 9 3.3 Graduates ............................................................................................................................................. 11 4 Domestic learner demographics and characteristics ............................................................... 12 4.1 Level of education ................................................................................................................................ 14 4.2 Indigenous identity .............................................................................................................................. 15 5 Apprentices ...........................................................................................................................16 6 Continuing education students...............................................................................................19 7 Graduates ..............................................................................................................................21 8 Perceptions............................................................................................................................23 8.1 Graduates ............................................................................................................................................. 23 9 Key performance indicators ...................................................................................................25 10 Notes on data sources............................................................................................................26 1 HIGHLIGHTS • The global pandemic presented many challenges for colleges, college students and for graduates entering the labour market. • These challenges likely resulted in some students altering their learning goals and entry to college. As well, graduates entered a job market where many employers had shut down or were only offering minimal services. The impact on students and graduates is reflected in some of the data in this report. • Each year, there are approximately 500,000 students and clients in Ontario’s public colleges. More than 260,000 are full-time post-secondary students. • There were over 192,000 distinct applicants for the 2021-22 academic year. • Fifty-two per cent of new fall 2021 entrants to Ontario post-secondary institutions enrolled in a college. • In 2020-21, total funded, full-time equivalent (FTE) post-secondary enrolment in the colleges was 199,043 (including full-time, part-time and tuition-short programs) . • More than 100,000 international students were studying at Ontario's colleges in fall 2021. • Colleges delivered 82 per ce

FAQs

What major challenges did Ontario colleges and their learners face during the global pandemic?

The report notes many challenges for colleges, students, and graduates entering the labour market. It suggests these challenges likely led some students to alter learning goals and college entry timing.

How many distinct applicants were there for the 2021-22 academic year?

There were over 192,000 distinct applicants for the 2021-22 academic year.

What employment outcome is highlighted for graduates six months after graduation?

The report states that seventy-seven per cent of graduates in the labour force were working six months after graduation.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Connor