Public Education in Manitoba is provided free to all Canadian citizens and permanent residents aged under 21 years. As with the rest of Canada, education is a Provincial responsibility to administer. For education in Manitoba, students are legally required to attend school between the ages of 6 and 16 years, although most students continue until they are at least 18 years to receive a graduation diploma.

Under the initiative Schools for Choice students may apply for admission to any public school in the province. It is extremely important that you find out when the registration period is to ensure that your kids get the places at the schools you want. The registration normally takes place several months before the year starts (I.E. register in Feb. for September). Contact the particular school to find out the precise details. There may well be an administration fee charged to register your child!

Publicly funded elementary and secondary schools are administered by Manitoba's School Division/District Boards with the school year usually running from the beginning of September through to June 30th. However, there may be variations to this within different school divisions. Most schools close down for the months of July and August as well as breaks at Christmas and Easter.

There are a number of different types of schooling options available for education in Manitoba. The choices are Public, Independent, French immersion, Francais, and Private schools. Parents also have the option of home schooling their children. There are two languages of instruction available, English and French. French can either be taught as French Immersion (where French is the second language)or Francais (Full Time French).

Elementary and Secondary Schools

Kindergarten and Elementary Schooling generally starts at the age of 5 years, although some school boards have different age cut off dates. The student will attend 5 days of either morning or afternoon classes. Kindergarten has 400 instructional hours per year. It is normally part of the school that your child will attend in Grade 1 and is good preparation for full time school.

This age or younger is a very good time to think about saving for your child's post secondary education. Fee's for post secondary education are very expensive. There is a savings plan available in which the Federal Government will input a percentage of your contributions. These are called Registered Education Savings Plans (RESP).

Children start Elementary school at the age of 6 years (Grade 1) and stay there until they are 10 years old(Grade 4). There are certain subjects that are required in these grades; these include Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies, Art, Health and Physical Education. Middle school covers 11 to 14 years of age, grades 5 to 8. These grades cover the same subjects as the earlier grades. Senior 1 to senior 4, covers 15 to 18 year olds. This curriculum is based around a credit system. To Graduate from Senior 4, students need to achieve a certain amount of credits. Credits are given for different subjects and courses that the student can take.

Transfer From Abroad

Students who are coming to Manitoba from a different school system should submit an official statement of previous standing, such as a report card to the school they want to enroll in. You should also have the previous school records and transcripts, copies of course outlines and content. After considering a number of factors including the students age, records and test results they will be placed in the appropriate grade.

Post Secondary Education

There is a good variety of Post Secondary Education in Manitoba with plenty of high quality institutes to choose from including four Universities. Brandon University - which is located in Manitoba's second largest city - offers small classes, a compact campus and a diverse student population. College Universitaire de Saint-Boniface (CUSB) - located in Winnipeg. It is the only French language post secondary educational institute in Western Canada. Offering university and vocational programs and is affiliated with the University of Manitoba and offers U of M degrees.

University of Manitoba - also in Winnipeg is Western Canada's oldest university and one of the largest in Canada. It has 17 faculties and four schools offering a wide array of programs. The U of M also has a continuing education and distance education division.

The University of Winnipeg - is medium sized and offers undergraduate degree and pre-professional programs. The University also has courses through its continuing education and distance learning centres.

There are a number of Technical Colleges that offer a wide range of different programs. There are also technical training institutions and private vocational institutions.

Student Loans

As with all of Canada, the Post Secondary education in Manitoba is NOT free. Several years ago, the Canadian Government launched RESP's to help parents save for their children's future education needs. These are great if you start them early, but if your kids are about to start when you land it is too late. (see link above for more details).

The Manitoba Student Aid program is a scheme that provides supplemental financial assistance to eligible post secondary students with limited finances. The amount of assistance you receive is based on financial need. There is a maximum amount available to each student and not everyone will receive the maximum.

There are a number of different factors that will qualify you for a loan, but you must be a Manitoba resident, a Canadian citizen or Permanent resident and you must be enrolled or qualify to enroll as a full time post secondary student in an approved program at a designated school to be able to apply. There is both Federal and Provincial assistance available and both loans are interest free whilst you are a full time student and for six months after your studies end.