Pre-confederation, 1791-1866
The Constitutional Act of 1791 by the British House of Commons divided the old province of Quebec into two British colonies. The western colony became Upper Canada with John Graves Simcoe as its first head of state by fulfilling the role of Lieutenant Governor. Governor Simcoe was the first advocate for establishing educational institutions in the new colony to increase citizens' connection to Britain and prevent the incursion of influence from post-revolutionary schools in the United States. n 1797, the Duke of Portland agreed, on behalf of the British King, to the request from the Legislative Council and House of Assembly of Upper Canada for a portion of Crown Land to support the foundation of grammar schools and a college or university. Higher education preceded Canadian confederation with the establishment of private and sectarian universities in Ontario during the early 19th century. Initially, Ontario's first three universities were formed with religious affiliations. Established in 1827, King's College was associated with the Church of England through its first president John Strachan. The Presbyterian Church established Queen's University in 1841. In addition, the Roman Catholic Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate established the College of Bytown in 1848. In 1849, the government of Upper Canada decided to secularize King's College and the institution became the University of Toronto. In 1866, the College of Bytown completed its conversion to the University of Ottawa through incorporation by Royal charter from the government in London, England.
Post-confederation, 1867-1899
In 1867, section 91 of the Canadian constitution established that the government of Canada has responsibility for trade and commerce whereas section 93 conferred to each province responsibility for education. Higher education in Canada reflects this division of powers in Canadian federalism through the overlapping of interests and responsibilities between the provinces and the federal presence in higher education in Canada. In 1868, the province of Ontario withdrew financial support for religious universities. In 1874, the Canadian government established the first federal institution of higher education in Kingston, Ontario, the Royal Military College of Canada. In 1876, the Ontario Society of Artists founded the forerunner to the Ontario College of Art & Design at the Toronto Normal School. In 1878, Bishop Isaac Hellmuth founded the "Western University of London" with religious affiliation to the Anglican Diocese of Huron and later the institution became the non-denominational University of Western Ontario. In 1887, William McMaster founded McMaster University by merging Toronto Baptist College and Woodstock College. By 1899, there were seven higher education institutions established in Ontario.
Early 20th century, 1900-1945
In 1900, the Dominican Order established the Dominican College of Philosophy and Theology that later became the Dominican University College. In 1906, controversy over the role of the Ontario government and the leadership of the University of Toronto led to the Flavelle Commission that articulated a separation of powers, resulting in the widespread adoption of the bicameral model for university governance in Canada. In 1911, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada founded the Waterloo Lutheran Seminary that was associated with the development of the University of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier University. Higher education was a low-priority under the provincial government of Mitchell Hepburn due to the effects of the Depression but universities supported the national war effort through funding from the government of Canada. In 1942, the Ottawa Association for the Advancement of Learning established the non-denominational Carleton College that later became Carleton University. By 1945, there were three publicly supported secular universities, six denominational private colleges, and several vocational institutes.
Late 20th century, 1946-1999
In 1946, the government of Ontario established the Lakehead Technical Institute in Port Arthur (now Thunder Bay) that later became Lakehead University. In 1948, Howard Hillen Kerr persuaded the government of Ontario to turn the Training and Re-Establishment Institute for veterans into the Ryerson Institute of Technology. Over the following forty-five years, the institute expanded its vocational focus to become Ryerson University. In 1951, the provincial government hired a part-time consultant on higher education policy matters to support the Minister of Education given that no office in the government or agency had ever had full responsibility for the sector. In 1956, Premier Leslie Frost replaced the consultant with a committee of senior government officials who served two years before being replaced by civil servants from the government departments of economics, education and treasury who made up the University Committee. In 1957, Gerry Hagey, Ira Needles, and Rev. Cornelius Siegfried founded the Waterloo College Associate Faculties that later became the University of Waterloo. In 1959, the government of Ontario established York University and Murray Ross served as the founding president. By 1960, there were five publicly supported secular universities. In 1960, the government of Ontario established Laurentian University as a bilingual federation representing Roman Catholic, United, and Anglican religious affiliations. In 1961, the government expanded and changed the University Committee into an Advisory Committee on University Affairs consisting of civil servants and non-government members. In 1962, the government of Ontario formed the University of Windsor as part of turning Assumption University into a federated institution. By 1963, Ontario's post-secondary system consisted of 14 universities (with 35,000 full-time undergraduate students), seven institutes of technology (with just over 4,000 students), 11 teachers colleges, almost 60 hospital schools of nursing, and the Ontario College of Art. In 1964, the government introduced a Department of University Affairs within the Ministry of Education under Minister Bill Davis. In the same year, the provincial government founded Brock University named after Sir Isaac Brock, the University of Guelph through integrating three institutions, and Trent University. In the mid-1960s, the government of Ontario passed legislation to establish a new category of post-secondary institutions called Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology (CAATS) with an emphasis on vocational, technological, and general education. In 1966, the provincial government began to establish an applied arts college system with the Centennial College of Applied Arts and Technology as the first college. In 1967, the government of Ontario established twenty-three more CAATs. The universities retained a monopoly over the right to grant degrees and the government defined clear non-degree granting mandates for the CAATs thereby creating a binary system of higher education within Ontario. Also in 1967, the government of Ontario responded to citizens' interest to form Algoma College which became a university in 2008. In addition, the government formed Nipissing College in affiliation with Laurentian University. In 1992, the provincial government converted Nipissing College into Nipissing University. The 1995 Ontario general election provided a large majority for the new Mike Harris government. After 1995, the provincial government undertook actions that led to increased privatization within higher education, blurred boundaries in the binary structure, institutional differentiation, and the overall system's expansion. In 1996, the Ontario Ministry of Education and Training released the first review of higher education as a system.
Early twenty-first century, 2000-present
By 2000, there were a total of twenty public universities established in Ontario. In 2002, the government of Ontario created the University of Ontario Institute of Technology to increase supply and address a change in the Ontario Academic Credit system that created a double cohort of students entering post-secondary education. In 2005, the Honourable Bob Rae released a comprehensive review of postsecondary education entitled Ontario: A leader in learning, more commonly known as the Rae Report or Rae Review. Within four months of its release, the provincial government of Premier Dalton McGuinty implemented an investment plan for postsecondary education called "Reaching Higher" outlining its strategy until 2010. As part of this plan, the provincial government accepted a recommendation of the Rae Report to establish the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario as an independent advisory agency. On June 18, 2008, the provincial government converted Algoma University College into Algoma University.
In 2000, the Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Development authorized Ontario's Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology (CAATs) to offer a limited number of applied baccalaureate degrees under the Postsecondary Education Choice and Excellence Act, 2000.