Approval of Education Programs

The College may approve post-secondary programs in early childhood education, or programs with course content relevant to early childhood education, offered by a Canadian post-secondary institution.

The College does not accept applications from post-secondary institutions outside of Canada.

Current programs approved by the College can be found on the Education Programs List. Graduates of programs on the education programs list are considered graduates of an approved program if the official transcript shows completion of program/graduation by the program approval end date.

Graduates of education programs previously approved by the College will also meet the education requirement if the official transcript shows completion of the program/graduation by the program approval end date. The list of education programs previously approved by the College can be found on the Education Programs page.

A post-secondary institution applies by submitting a complete application package accompanied by all the required supporting documents and applicable fees for each program. If the institution is applying for more than one program, separate application packages are required. Instructions on how to apply can be found in the Program Application Portfolio.

The review process is a document-based process to determine if the program is equivalent to the current standard used for the education requirement for registration with the College. (The current standard is a two-year diploma program in early childhood education from an Ontario College of Applied Arts and Technology). The criteria can be found in Section 3 of the Approval of Education Programs Policy.

The fee schedule can be found in the Program Application Portfolio. Fees must be paid in full.
The application fee is the same for all programs. The assessment fees vary and are based on the type and length of program.

All fees must be submitted with the application package. Applications without accompanying fees will not be reviewed.

Fees are not refundable.

Generally approval will be granted for either 2 or 5 years (See Section 4.4 of the policy). Programs will be required to report to the College on an annual basis in order to maintain their status.

A post-secondary institution that is approved is required to:

• Enter into an agreement with the College on communications, promotion, and marketing regarding the College’s approval of the education program(s);
• Submit an Annual Reporting Form and adhere to the application fee schedule
• Notify the College about any changes that may impact the program’s approval; and,
• Participate in program audits if required by the College.

A program will be issued a “not approved” decision if the program:

• Does not meet one or more of the minimum requirements,
• Does not meet one of more of the assessment requirements, or
• Could not be fully assessed under the policy because the College was given insufficient information to complete the assessment.

The post-secondary institution will be notified of the decision and provided with the opportunity to respond before a final decision is made. The outcome of that process constitutes the College’s final decision about the approval of the program.

Graduates from programs not approved by the College can still apply for registration through the College’s individual assessment of educational qualifications process. More information regarding the process can be found on the Individual Assessment of Educational Qualifications page.

A post-secondary institution may withdraw its application at any time by submitting a written request, signed by the institution’s authorized official. Contact the College at education-programs@college-ece.ca for information.