Academic ranks in Canada are the titles, relative importance and power of professors, researchers, and administrative personnel held in academia.
In most research-intensive universities, research produced by the individual constitutes the majority of tenure consideration, and pre-tenure faculty have a reduced teaching load.
Promotion to associate professor usually results in an increased administrative load and membership on committees that are restricted to tenured faculty.
Usually, this final promotion requires that the individual has maintained an active research program, and excellent teaching, in addition to taking a leadership role in important departmental and extra-departmental administrative tasks.
In some cases, Lecturers and Teaching Professors can have almost equivalent job security as tenure track positions after going through a parallel process of review.
The use of the unqualified title "professor" is used only in non-academic contexts to distinguish a person's role as different from that of a teacher at a high school and does not refer to any academic rank.
Retired faculty may retain formal or informal links with their university, such as library privileges or office space.
College professors may or may not have undergraduate and graduate degrees, but they typically have professional certifications and experience that qualify them for the position.