About OntarioLearn

Our story

In 1995, seven Ontario colleges saw the need to make high-quality online education available to as many learners as possible. They realized that if they pooled their resources, they would be able to extend their reach, offering online courses and programs to students who would not otherwise have access to them. 

OntarioLearn is a popular choice for people who live in rural and remote areas, who have different learning styles or disabilities, who lead busy lives, working full- or part-time with:

• Convenient start dates scheduled up to 14 times per year. 
• Flexible study times— in your own space, on your own time.
• Accessible help desk support 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. 

OntarioLearn has adopted a continuous improvement model, working with member colleges to review course design and delivery. At OntarioLearn we boast a 90% retention rate and a student success rate of 89%, both higher than student achievement rates across the sector. 

From our early beginnings to today, OntarioLearn has grown to include all 24 of Ontario’s publicly-funded colleges, 2 Indigenous Institutes and 1 Support Organization with almost 1,500 shared online courses, over 650 online programs and on average, 80,000 student registrations each year (based on 2022-23).

Contact us

OntarioLearn is a virtual organization, managing infrastructure and operations to provide learners with a seamless experience across their online courses offered by our member colleges. 

Executive Director  Anne Renaud is responsible for implementing our strategic direction, managing contracts as well as recruiting and supervising our administrative staff.  

Administrator Heather Ryan is responsible for day-to-day operations and acts as our liaison with members and assisting with course setups and registrations.

IT and Business Efficiency Manager Rick Fortier is responsible for day-to-day technology operations, implementing new technology supports, and initiating business efficiencies.

Technical Administrator Aaron Smith provides support for learners, facilitators and administrators in the use of OntarioLearn’s Learning Management Systems, portal and other systems and reporting solutions.

Part-time Administrator Cindy Foley provides coordination support for the administrative team.

Our award-winning, seat-sharing model relies on the collaboration of our members to share best practices and uphold the highest standards. Select your registering college institution to reach the contact best able to help you with inquiries about programs, course examinations or final grades.

OntarioLearn at a glance

1994-1995 Four Ontario publicly-funded colleges share online courses and attract 365 student registrations 

1995–1996 Seven college partners launch Contact South sharing the delivery of online courses with 500 registrations

1997–1998 Contact South grows to 12 college partners and 1,500 course registrations

1998–1999 With continued growth, Embanet Corporation is selected as the OntarioLearn technical service provider

2000 Contact South changes its name to OntarioLearn

2000–2001 Membership increases to 22 partner colleges offering 285 shared online courses and registration reaches 11,314

2005–2006 OntarioLearn launches the Portal to streamline student access to courses and resources

2011–2012 OntarioLearn incorporates.  Membership expands to include Ontario’s two French-language colleges; registrations hit 65,964

2012–2013 All 24 publicly-funded colleges in Ontario belong to OntarioLearn, which reaches 69,838 registrations across 1,115 shared online courses

2013–2014 OntarioLearn inventory expands to 1,157 shared online courses; total course registrations climb to 72,926

2014–2015 OntarioLearn continues to grow, with a total of 73,059 registrations across 1,191 available online courses

2015–2016 OntarioLearn grew the number of courses in its inventory to 1,263, introduces a new quality assurance model, and initiated major upgrades to the portal and website

2016-2017 OntarioLearn introduces a new visual identity supported by brand guidelines, rolls out the upgraded portal and website, and expands partnership with Ontario Colleges Libraries and Learning Centres

2017-2018 OntarioLearn restructures and continues to grow with 76,050 course registrations

2018-2019 OntarioLearn expands into more partnerships with a focus on market demand programs and new business streams. Growth continues with 80,278 course registrations

2019-2020 OntarioLearn celeb rates 25 years of collaboration and expands quality assurance policies. Growth continues with 87,954 course registrations in nearly 1,500 courses

2020-2021 OntarioLearn celebrates Kenjgewin Teg and Seven Generations Education Institute joining our collaborative community. OntarioLearn pivoted to support members during the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic and achieved 105,864 registrations

2021-2022 OntarioLearn’s Board approves a new 2022-2025 Strategic Plan. 93,369 course registrations are achieved, a more realistic enrolment after the explosive growth seen during the pandemic

2022-2023 OntarioLearn continues to support new business streams including the Nursing Program Transformation Initiative (NPTI). There were 80,330 course registration.

How OntarioLearn operates

Student Orientation to OntarioLearn (video)

Students search for the online course or program they wish to take and identify an institution  that has chosen to pick it up. Registering institutions enroll and welcome students with credentials to log in to the Portal.  Once courses open, students log in to connect through to each course hosted on one of two Learning Management Systems: Blackboard or D2L/Brightspace.

Host institutions design, deliver, assign facilitators and maintain the quality of the online courses and programs they claim. Registering institutions qualify students to enroll in our online courses and programs, taking the lead on communications. To ensure high-quality experiences, OntarioLearn has a wide range of partners:

Examity Inc. (when indicated) provides online proctoring services at OntarioLearn rates for students to take exams remotely.

Heads of Libraries and Learning Resources (HLLR) advocates for excellence in Ontario’s college library services and resources.

Ontario Colleges Library Services (OCLS) supports Ontario colleges’ libraries and positive learning outcomes for students.

Buchanan Technologies provides help desk support 24-hour, 365-day in English; 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., Monday to Friday in French.

Quality Matters™ provides internationally recognized quality assurance tools and processes to evaluate design of online courses.

Tomahawk Technologies Inc. develops world-class software and solutions, including system applications for our Portal.