FAQ: Programs

Ontario's public colleges offer over 5,000 programs, ranging from one-year diplomas to 4-year degrees. See our Find a Program section to browse all programs offered or to search by area of study, college or credential offered.

In our Find a Program section, you can search programs and view specific details, such as credential, entry level, start date and more. You can also see whether a program is open, closed or waitlisted.

In our Find a Program section, you can see whether a program is open, closed or waitlisted by checking the Availability column.

• Open - The college is still accepting applications to the program.
• Closed - The program is already full for this start date.
• Waitlisted - The college has established a waitlist of applicants for this program, however you can still apply.

Keep in mind that if you apply to a program after the Equal Consideration Date, your application will be considered on a first-come, first-served basis.

A highly competitive program (also called an oversubscribed program or limited enrolment program) is one that consistently has more qualified applicants than there are seats available for the Fall start date. Because these programs are so competitive, applicants must apply before the Equal Consideration Date if they expect to be considered. For more information, see our Highly Competitive Programs page.

Entry semesters indicate the year and semester in which you want to start a program. For example, Semester 1 is the first semester of the first year, Semester 2 is the second semester of the first year, Semester 3 is the first semester of the second year, and so on.

When all available seats in a program are filled, qualified applicants may be placed on a waitlist.

Programs may become waitlisted or closed at any time during the application cycle. If you’re applying to a highly competitive program, or if you’re applying after the Equal Consideration Date, there is a higher chance that programs will become waitlisted.

If you’re applying to a waitlisted program, keep in mind that admission to the program is not guaranteed and the application processing fee is non-refundable.

If other applicants who were already accepted to the program decline their offer of admission or don’t register with the college, you may be offered a seat in the program.

The college may contact you directly with an offer, so be sure to keep your contact information up-to-date on your application. Offers for waitlisted programs are time-sensitive and it’s important that you respond as quickly as possible.

Contact the college you’ve applied to directly for details on receiving and confirming offers of admission for waitlisted programs.

Waitlisted applicants will not automatically be considered for later start dates of a program.

If you’re interested in applying to a later start date of the program, you will need to add it as a new program choice on your application. See the Online Application FAQs to learn more about updating your application.

Program waitlists are maintained by the colleges and are not available to ontariocolleges.ca. Contact the college you’ve applied to directly to ask if they can provide your approximate position on the waitlist. Note that not all colleges are able to provide this information.

It’s also important to keep in mind that applicant positions on the waitlist change regularly based on the number of qualified applicants.

Waitlist processes vary by college. Contact the college you’ve applied to directly to find out if accepting an offer of admission to another program at the same college or a different college will affect your placement on the waitlist.

You can find information on some apprenticeships on the Apprenticeships page in our Find a Program section. You will also be able to see some of the available apprenticeship programs. To find out more about apprenticeships visit the Employment Ontario website.

Some collaborative nursing programs require you to apply through ontariocolleges.ca, while others will require you to apply through the Ontario Universities' Application Centre (OUAC). You can view collaborative nursing programs in our Find a Program section. Check the program title or the Notes field in the program details to see application requirements.

Post-diploma programs (also called post-graduate programs) are programs that require a college diploma, college certificate or university degree for admission. You can view all the post-diploma programs in our Find a Program section.

To learn more about credit transfers and using ONTransfer.ca, visit our Transfer Credits page.