Frequently Asked Questions

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Step 1   

• We work with over 60 districts and over 300+ high schools across all provinces, in English and French Canada.
• It’s important to pick the right fit for your customers and the most popular regions or the ones people read about online are not necessarily the best ones. Reach out to the Canada team for recommendations on the top 2 districts for your student to apply to. We need their full name and date of birth as not all districts accept the same ages (students who are not yet 14, or who are over 18 and have graduated require special attention).
• We have 20 years of experience and will consider budget, academic goals, other interests like sports or music or arts, the student’s age, nationality, overall English abilities etc.
• Please tell us if your student wants a big city experience (students must be willing to travel 50 minutes to and from school and live in a multicultural family as many Canadians have another language and culture at home) or a smaller town experience with what parents often picture as more “traditional host families". From there we will give you a quote and our recommendations.
• In Canada you apply to district normally (and NOT a specific school) as generally it’s important for us and the district to review a student’s full needs before selecting the best school. Not all schools within a district accept international students.

 Step 2 – the Application   

• Once you have accepted our quote, the Canada team will send you a link with the application details.
• Please note you may ONLY apply to ONE district.

Step 3 – pay 10% deposit

Refundable minus CAD $500 if we cannot get your student into a Canadian school

• The Canada team will then share with you a conditional acceptance!

What is included in our program fees?   

• All program costs include application and support fees, school enrollment, selection and tuition, homestay costs with 3 meals per day (including students packing a lunch for school), orientations, supervision, custodianship, student medical insurance, one airport pick up and drop-off and access to our dedicated in-house student counselor and toll free emergency line from Canada). 

Overview - Accommodation supervision 

Educatius Canada/Educanetic Inc oversees their own homestay services in our most popular regions including Toronto (ON), Ottawa (ON), Burnaby (BC), Coquitlam (BC), on the island in BC in many locations, and in St John’s (NL) to name a few. This allows us to have full quality control through our own custodians who live a maximum of 75 minutes from your student.

In regions where this is not possible or where the districts have done this successfully directly for many years, the districts may also oversee homestay services directly (or they partner with a 3rd party provider). We carefully select our partners to ensure high-quality standards.

Whatever the set-up is for the region you select, students will have a local homestay contact/custodian and will be contacted a minimum of once per month (in-person or virtually depending on local Covid conditions locally).

Where Educatius Canada oversees this process in our key regions, our monthly contact logs can be requested and sent to you at any time - a benefit of using our own staff and services. For regions where the districts oversee this, they keep in touch with our Educatius Canada staff and will reach out when there are any challenges that require our or your/the parents’ support, but you will not receive reports every single month – unless there is an issue.

In regions where Educatius Canada oversees their own homestays, this gives an extra point of contact to your child/student, in addition to the school staff.

There is a stringent host family application process (which varies across provinces and districts). The process includes an interview, a home visit, an application, Criminal Record checks for adults living in the home full-time and training prior to the student’s arrival. We also review host family suitability with our school partners (if they provide the homestays) based on student feedback. Please note matching is not an exact science and moves are therefore sometimes necessary.

Students should speak to their local school homestay coordinator or custodian if they require any additional support to work through any challenges post arrival. It takes at least 2 weeks to get accustomed to a host family and a host family to a student so moves are generally considered after this timeframe.

Students have access to our toll-free emergency support line while in Canada if their custodian is not reachable or they require additional assistance/guidance. Where districts provide their own services, they also have an emergency protocol in place shared in the orientations/arrival guides with students upon arrival.

Reports cards and Monitoring of Academics 

Academic progress generally goes directly to students' and parents' email addresses/guardians back home from the schools or districts directly.

Unless there are academic challenges, this generally happens TWICE per school year at the end of each semester.

Each school also has a guidance counsellor for students to see regularly. Guidance counsellors are in touch regularly with Educatius Canada staff and we keep you updated with any information when it is shared with us.

Layers of support 

We have staff across Canada here to support you with everything from Academics to housing and we even have a certified Therapist on staff for emergencies and mental health additional support reachable Toll-free from anywhere in Canada.

• Core subjects are offered at all Canadian schools (Math/Sciences, English, French, Geography/History, Social Studies etc). In addition to core subjects, there are “elective” classes and specialty classes that fall outside of the “traditional subjects” a student may study already in their home country. These can include subjects like introduction to business, psychology, robotics, mechanics, cooking and nutrition, fashion design, foreign languages, specialty music or physical education classes and more. While there aren’t “guaranteed” subjects at each school, our team and the local guidance counselor at school will work to meet your needs as best they can. Classes that can be taken may also have pre-requisites or require a certain level of English. Classes are selected with the assistance of local school staff. If you require specific classes, please list this in your application.
• Canada is also knows for sports and clubs including but not limited to sports like hockey, lacrosse, soccer, swimming, skating, basketball, volleyball, tennis, golf, track and field, football and more. For clubs there are debate clubs, chess, art clubs, music clubs, photography, robotics  and more. Students must tryout for all sports and must follow the school’s direction on availability and pre-requisites or other requirements.

Contact us at admissions@edcanada.ca and we will guide you to the program that best suits your student!

Graduation in Canada 

It is possible for students to graduate while studying in High School in Canada.

Students must meet all provincial requirements and the criteria varies by province.

Graduation is sometimes possible in 1 year, but the timeframe is not guaranteed.

It depends on the student’s level of English, overall motivation and ability to stay more than 1 year as needed. Although some students successfully graduate at the end of grade 12 (we have had many successful graduates over the years), meeting the requirements can take 18 months+ depending in the grade and English level of the student and how well they perform while they are in Canada.

If you wish to graduate, please list this in your application and the district will have you meet with a guidance counsellor post arrival to help you with the right path and credits to take while you are in Canada.

Convalidation 

As per the pricing terms and conditions, convalidation costs are not included in our fees

School districts can often support this request and charge anywhere from CAD $200-$500 for this service if they have it available

Please note that academic transcripts are available only AFTER the school year ends (this can be in July after you return home) and therefore convalidation final steps and submissions may need to be finalized from your home country.

We recommend you meet with your guidance counsellor upon arrival to determine what is possible and the steps required. You will likely also need to be in touch with your consulate about any fees they have for stamps, notaries, mailings etc. based on requirements.

Overall graduation and convalidations are generally possible in most regions though not always guaranteed. 

French immersion means studying most (or in some cases all) subjects in French at school. Science, Math, geography, Phys Ed etc. and other classes are often all taught in French, when in a French immersion setting.

Many Canadian students start French immersion when they are 6 years old so by high school, they have a very strong knowledge of French.

French immersion is provided in many schools across all provinces, not just in the province of Quebec.

This can be provided in an English-speaking school district where they have a French immersion program and there are also entirely French districts and programs available too.

Someone who already speaks French very well, is fluent in French or who already has studied other subjects in French for several years (including subjects like Math and Science in French) is the right candidate. French immersion is not a private program but requires a French language assessment in most cases to be accepted. Not everyone can just join such a program. It requires a lot of French knowledge in most cases to be considered, accepted and to be successful. 

What if I don’t qualify for French immersion but still want to learn or be exposed to some French in the community or in my homestay?

This is great! Many students are not ready for French immersion but have an interest in French. French as a class - since we are after all a bilingual country - is offered in every district in every province (not just in Quebec). We can ask for availability for such a class should you be interested, and you can join post-acceptance if there is space. There are many regions in Canada where one can have access and be exposed to the French-Canadian culture. Ottawa in Ontario, the province of New Brunswick, parts of Manitoba and different regions in Quebec for example all have excellent options. There are many options for French exposure in many different provinces, just ask us and we can also recommend an English school in a community where French is also present, or in some cases, we have French-speaking Regional Managers and staff in certain regions who also know host families who have a French presence at home. French is not a “guarantee” but can be requested and generally, we are able to get some strong exposure for those who are interested either at school, in the community, in the host family or in all of the above. Ask us and we would be happy to help guide you further!  

To learn more about our Program Costs and Terms & Conditions, please click here!

Depending on the region and program type (semester or full academic year), the costs will vary.