Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario (HEQCO) Information

The Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario (HEQCO) is an agency of the Government of Ontario, established to contribute to the improvement of Ontario's postsecondary education system. HEQCO is mandated to conduct research, evaluate the postsecondary education system and provide policy recommendations to the Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities on improving system quality, access and accountability. Through its evidence-based research, knowledge mobilization and engagement with leaders in the sector, HEQCO continues to explore the pathways to critically important student and system outcomes. As the only organization of its kind in Canada, HEQCO is building on the vision that led to its creation in 2005, as it evolves toward evidence-based solutions to the overarching challenges facing the Ontario’s postsecondary system. Ontario’s future economic health depends upon the province’s ability to restructure its economy from traditional manufacturing sectors to new and emerging industries and services. To be successful, the province requires a talented and highly educated citizenry; enhanced entrepreneurship, innovation and productivity; and discoveries, insights and new knowledge. Because of the students they educate, the discoveries and innovations they foster and the communities they support, these outputs of Ontario’s colleges and universities are instrumental to the future success and prosperity of Ontario. A high-quality postsecondary education system should provide Ontarians with the greatest opportunities for social mobility and economic success, act as a magnet to recruit the best talent to Ontario, create and support a robust economy and jobs grounded in an increasingly competitive knowledge-based worldwide economy, improve opportunities for regional economic and social development, and foster an engaged, socially aware and civic-minded Ontario population.