Canada Approval Quick Chart

Institutions must comply with requirements in provinces and territories where their students are located. Institutions that choose to offer activities in a Canadian province or territory must review and comply with requirements, if any, where their students are located while participating in an online course, field experience, or other activities.

The chart below provides a start to institutional research by offering a snapshot of potentially relevant agency and regulatory information of which institutions should be aware of and review for applicability before offering activities or programming in Canada. There are eight columns of information.  You may need to scroll right to review each column.

In addition to Canada’s national data privacy law (The Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) three provinces also maintain a provincial data privacy law that you will find in the Notes column of this chart.

SAN will review this list on a periodic basis. If you want to let us know of any issues you have using these links, please let us know here. (Last reviewed 1/1/23)

Please note the following:

• Please note the date above for timeliness of the information. We will review periodically.
• The quick chart was developed to provide swift direction for agency and regulatory information potentially relevant to institutions offering activities or programming in Canada.
• The quick chart should not be considered to be or used as legal advice.
• Institutions should review requirements to determine applicability to the activities of the institution. Please note that just because an agency or law is linked here does not mean that those requirements will apply to your institution. Analysis of applicability must be done by the institution.
• SAN cannot verify the security of the website links offered in this resource.
• Find more detailed information for each province and territory (including links to select professional licensing agencies), please review A Guide to Higher Education Regulation in Canada.
• There could be additional relevant information, agencies, or requirements not listed here or in the Guide. This list is thorough but not exhaustive.