Founded in 1979, Columbia International College (CIC) is located in Hamilton, a peaceful port city, which is just 45 minutes’ drive from downtown Toronto and Toronto Airport.  Apart from the resourceful campus for learning and student residence, CIC also owns a 700-acre leadership training and outdoor education center, Bark Lake, offering wide range of outdoor activities and leadership training courses for students.  Students come from more than 100 countries and form a truly multicultural school community.  CIC is highly regarded nationally and internationally as a leading and innovative school in educating young people with exemplary education results.

CIC’s unique Total Care Education System is designed to nurture students in four areas essential to their growth and achievement.

1. Total Care Learning: A holistic approach to education, balancing in-class learning, individual study and experiential learning to make students more engaged in their education and maximize their academic potential. Total Care Learning focuses not only on what is learned but also how it is learned. In addition to the textbook contents, CIC teachers also teach students critical thinking, inquiry, collaboration, report writing and presentation skills which are highly important to their future study and career.

2. Total Care Development: Through the right mix of academics, extra-curricular activities and residential programs, CIC carefully nurtures each individual student as a whole person. CIC offers extensive opportunities for students to engage in leadership and character enrichment outside the classroom through leadership training, clubs, events, trips, athletic activities and community service which enabling them to develop a healthy social and emotional lifestyle.

3. Total Care Living: CIC provides 24/7 care and support for boarding students including comfortable and modern residence, delicious meals, after-school activities, weekend clubs and sports, in-residence tutoring, counselling, onsite clinic with nurses on duty and multilingual staff supporting students and their parents. By creating a supportive, healthy environment for students, Total Care Living fosters socialization, reduces stress and helps students be successful.

4. Total Care Communication: CIC keeps parents fully informed of their child’s development via the Total Care Student Tracker which is a centralized online information system. A Circle of Care team will update student’s latest status through weekly observations. Parents are able to track their child’s academic progress as well as social, emotional and physical needs at any time. A dedicated school liaison staff is assigned to each family for easy communication.

CIC’s Elite Pathway Partnership (EPP) Program is a 2-year program (Grades 11-12) tailor-made for students who demonstrate the most exceptional performance in Grade 10. The EPP program, the only officially recognized partnership program in Canada by the University of Toronto (UofT), is designed to prepare students comprehensively for the rigorous requirements for entry to the world’s best universities. This program offers academic, leadership and extracurricular opportunities beyond CIC’s high school program and far beyond regular high school. Students are able to participate in UofT campus activities, gaining UofT on-campus living and learning experience, receive early conditional admissions, and have the opportunities to receive admission scholarships from top universities.

Due to the success of the school’s education approach, CIC graduates are highly regarded by the top universities and receiving the largest amount of scholarships for admission into university every year.