The Canadian university education system is derived from the British system and has developed jointly with the United States in the North American region, giving rise to world-renowned institutions such as the University of Toronto, McGill University, and the University of British Columbia.

As a longstanding G7 industrialized country, Canada ranks among the top in terms of technology and education levels, producing many Nobel Prize laureates. Canadian university degrees are highly regarded in terms of prestige and international recognition. Canadian universities are generally public institutions, and although their academic rankings may vary, the disparity in resource allocation among schools by the education authorities is not significant. As a result, some universities may not rank highly globally but enjoy a strong reputation among local Canadians and employers.

Unlike the classification of "first-tier," "second-tier," and "third-tier" universities in China, Canadian universities are classified based on their institutional objectives and scale. This includes "Medical-Doctoral Universities," "Comprehensive Universities," and "Primarily Undergraduate Universities."

Medical-Doctoral universities have a long history of education, characterized by large-scale operations, a wide range of disciplines, and numerous programs. They possess advanced teaching facilities and often have independent medical schools. The objective of Medical-Doctoral universities is to cultivate high-end research-oriented talents, and they confer bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees.

Comprehensive universities also offer a significant number of research projects and have a wide range of course offerings. Their objective is to cultivate research-oriented and practical, multidisciplinary talents. They confer bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees.

Primarily Undergraduate universities primarily focus on undergraduate education, with only a few programs offering master's and doctoral degrees. They are smaller in scale, and their teaching is often conducted in small classes to facilitate teacher-student interaction.

The classification of Canadian universities does not directly correlate with the quality of education. The choice of university category depends on the student's academic interests and future career plans. Students who intend to enter the workforce directly after graduation tend to prefer comprehensive and primarily undergraduate universities. Those aiming for academic or research-oriented careers are more suited to attending Medical-Doctoral universities. The categorization of Canadian universities into three types primarily reflects differences in program offerings and research capabilities, rather than variations in teaching quality, especially within the Canadian public education system, where the differences in undergraduate teaching among the three categories are not significant.

There are three undergraduate admission pathways in Canadian universities:

1. Direct Application: Suitable for applicants with excellent language proficiency and a strong academic background in high school. Requirements: High school graduation, IELTS overall score of 6.5 or higher, some schools or programs may require additional supporting documents. Advantages: High application efficiency, eliminates the need for language study, and allows for a quick entry into undergraduate studies.
2. University Foundation Program: Suitable for applicants who do not meet the language requirements of universities or have relatively weak academic backgrounds but aim to apply to better universities for their undergraduate studies. Requirements: High school graduation, an average grade of 75% or higher in grade 12, IELTS score not lower than 5.5 overall. Advantages: An important pathway to apply to prestigious universities, completion of the foundation program earns corresponding credits and enables application to numerous top Canadian universities.
3. Dual Admission: Suitable for students whose academic qualifications meet the admission criteria of universities but lack language test scores or do not meet the language requirements. Requirements: High school graduation with an average grade that meets the admission criteria of the applied institution; an IELTS score not lower than 5.0 overall. Advantages: Allows students to study in Canada even without sufficient language scores, saving time and costs associated with taking language exams in their home country. Students can adapt to the Canadian learning environment in advance, making visa approval easier.

Undergraduate admission criteria for Canadian universities are based on the average grade in grade 12 (senior year) and standardized language test scores such as IELTS or TOEFL. Generally, for direct undergraduate admission, an overall IELTS score of no less than 6.5 is required, with individual bands not lower than 5.5. However, there may be variations in language requirements for specific programs.