Centennial College

Established in 1966, Centennial College is Ontario’s first public college primarily serving the eastern portion of the Greater Toronto Area through five campuses. It has a record of exemplary teaching, innovative programming and extensive partnership building. It is recognized as one of the most culturally diverse post-secondary institutions in Canada. More than 100 ethno-cultural groups are represented and 80 languages are spoken on campus. Centennial offers more than 300 diploma, certificate and degree programs on a full- and part-time basis in business, media and performance arts, community and consumer services, engineering technology, health care and transportation. These programs promote experiential learning with laboratory instruction, co-op education and industry placements. Centennial welcomes 26,000 full-time students and 19,000 part-time learners annually.

Centennial strives to be an internationally recognized education leader that places strong emphasis on global citizenship and social equity through its distinctive Signature Learning Experience. The SLE imparts an understanding of diversity, equity and social justice issues, and gives students cultural competencies that prepare them for a changing world. Likewise, Centennial’s Global Citizenship and Equity Learning Experience (GCELE) provides opportunities for students to travel overseas to develop leadership skills while working on service projects to instil positive social change in underdeveloped regions.

Fast Facts

• Centennial ranked 9th in Canada’s Top 50 Research Colleges (2016) report from Research Infosource, and has received $14 million in research grant funding over seven years, projects that have involved a total of 1,170 students and 443 faculty members.
• Centennial received $4.3 million in research funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) and Ontario Research Fund (ORF) to investigate electrically actuated landing gear in collaboration with France’s Safran Aerospace.
• Centennial College is ranked second in Canada in terms of number of paid student research opportunities.
• There are 25 nationally accredited engineering technician/technology programs at Centennial, the highest number of programs in Ontario recognized by the Canadian Technology Accreditation Board (CTAB).
• Centennial led the six GTA colleges in student (76.5%), graduate (78.5%) and employer (94.1%) satisfaction, according toKPI surveys conducted in compliance with the Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Development.
• Centennial supports the largest number of international students of any public college in Canada.
• Suzhou Centennial College (SCC), which launched in 2016, is the first Canadian college approved by the Chinese government to deliver Canadian credentials in China.
• Centennial College began construction of its Downsview Park Aerospace Campus in 2016 and is set to open in the fall of 2018; the campus, located adjacent to Bombardier Aerospace, will be home to the college’s Aircraft Technician students and new programs in aerospace engineering technology.