Collegiate institute

The term collegiate institute originally referred to a distinct type of secondary school in several provinces in Canada.

In 1871, the province of Ontario set up two parallel secondary education systems that included collegiate institutes and high school.

[1] Collegiate institutes offered education in the arts, classics, and the humanities, including Greek and Latin, for university-bound students.

[2] Conversely, high school referred to secondary institutions that offered vocational and science programs for those planning to enter the workforce upon graduation.

[2] While the parallel school system was in place, secondary institutions could only be elevated to the status of a collegiate institutes when it reached the prescribed number of teachers, and students; and when it fully complies with the standards set the Department of Education (renamed the Ministry of Education in 1972).

Over time, high schools responded to students' needs and increasingly offered the arts courses that were essential for the workforce.

The term also saw use in Western Canada, with Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan adopting Ontario's parallel school system in the late-19th and early 20th centuries.