As Ontario's community-based bilingual distance education and training network, Contact North | Contact Nord helps underserved residents in 1,300+ small, rural, remote, Indigenous and Francophone communities access education and training without leaving their communities.
We respond to 1.7 million+ requests per year from Ontarians and provide five local services:
- Information on available online programs and courses from Ontario’s 24 public colleges, 25 public universities, 9 Indigenous institutes, 76 district school boards, 200 literacy and basic skills providers, and 20 skills development training providers
- Help to register, information on financial options and referrals to other local support services
- Free use of computer workstations and high-speed Internet to complete their online courses
- Free use of web conferencing and videoconferencing platforms to connect to, and participate in, their live online programs and courses
- Supervision of written exams and tests
We generate 90,000 course registrations per year for Ontario’s education and training providers.
Our local staff in 78 online learning centres located in communities across Ontario deliver these services in English and French.
Our province-wide Student Information Hotline and our studyonline.ca / etudiezenligne.ca and e-channel.ca / apprentissageenligne.ca portals, which provide information and resources for students and prospective students.
Our portals support 1.7 million+ pageviews and 375,000+ visitors per year.
Read Contact North | Contact Nord’s Mandate and Mission Statement
Corporate Information
- Established by the Government of Ontario in 1986
- Incorporated as a not-for-profit corporation headquartered in Thunder Bay and governed by a volunteer Board of Directors comprised of individuals from Ontario’s public colleges, universities, district school boards, Indigenous communities, Francophone communities and public members
- Receives annual funding of $10.5 million from the Government of Ontario through the Ministry of Colleges and Universities continuously since 1986
