Authority

Clause 53(1)(a) of the Ontario Career Colleges Act, 2005, enables the Superintendent of Career Colleges to issue policy directives setting out performance indicators for vocational programs and governing the publication of information by career colleges respecting the performance indicators.

Subsection 53(2) of the Ontario Career Colleges Act, 2005 establishes that policy directives issued by the Superintendent of Career Colleges are legal requirements that are binding on all career colleges. Every career college must comply with and operate in accordance with the policy directive.

Subsection 49(4) of the Ontario Career Colleges Act, 2005 establishes that the Superintendent of Career Colleges shall publish such information respecting performance indicators and performance objectives for every career college as he or she considers appropriate.

This is a legal document and is binding on all career colleges. Every career college shall comply with and be operated in accordance with this policy directive.

Effective July 12, 2013

Key Performance Indicators

The Superintendent will calculate and publish the following key performance indicators (KPIs) for vocational programs provided by career colleges at the times and in the manner prescribed in the KPI Operating Procedure.

Graduation rate
The percentage of students that enrolled in a specific vocational program and successfully graduated from the program within the allowed time period.
Graduate employment rate
The percentage of graduates of a vocational program in the labour force who were employed within a defined time frame following graduation.
Graduate employment rate in the field of study
The percentage of graduates of a vocational program who were employed in a field related to their training within a defined time frame following graduation.
Graduate satisfaction rate
The percentage of graduates of a vocational program who were satisfied with their training experience within a defined time frame following graduation.
Employer satisfaction rate
The percentage of employers who were satisfied with the employee’s preparedness within a defined time frame following graduation.

Mandatory requirements

Under this policy directive, the Superintendent requires career colleges to:

  • participate in the calculation of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for vocational programs at the times and in the manner prescribed in the KPI Operating procedure
  • publish the Key Performance Indicators according to the KPI Operating procedure
  • audit student and graduate data at the times and in the manner prescribed in the KPI Audit Guidelines the ministry sends to career colleges
  • pay the fees for data administration as outlined in the KPI Operating procedure

Operating procedure for KPIs

The KPI Operating Procedure describes the information that the Superintendent will collect from career colleges for the purposes of calculating and publishing KPIs, pursuant to section 36.1 of Ontario Regulation 415/06 (O.  Reg.415/16). The Superintendent will issue the operating procedure to career colleges.

OSAP default rate

The Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) default rate is currently calculated by the ministry for students who attended OSAP-approved programs at career colleges. An OSAP loan is considered to be in default when no required payments have been made for 270 days. This data is calculated approximately two years after the loans have entered repayment.

Audit requirements

To provide the Superintendent with a level of assurance around the integrity of data provided by career colleges for the purpose of calculating KPIs, career colleges will be required to have their student and graduate data audited at the times and in the manner prescribed in the KPI Audit Guidelines developed and disseminated by the ministry.

Fees

To allow the ministry to ensure cost-recovery for services required to calculate and publish KPIs for vocational programs provided by career colleges, career colleges will be charged a KPI fee at the times and in the manner prescribed in the KPI Operating Procedure.

Enforcement

If a career college does not comply with the directive set out above, any of the following enforcement actions may be taken:

  • issuance of a Notice of Program Revocation
  • issuance of a Compliance or Restraining Order
  • application to a court for a Judicial Restraining Order
  • Proposal to Revoke or to Refuse to Renew Registration
  • Prosecution for offences under the Ontario Career Colleges Act, 2005

Contact

If you have questions, contact the ministry at:

Career Colleges Branch
Ministry of Colleges and Universities
77 Wellesley Street, Box 977
Toronto, ON M7A 1N3