College Profile / Stats
Established as a small community college in 1967, Conestoga has evolved to become one of Canada's leading polytechnic institutes. We provide a full range of education and training programs, from short courses through four-year degrees, as well as research leading to the commercialization of innovation for southern Ontario.
Our main campus in Kitchener (Doon) is conveniently located just off Highway 401 at Homer Watson Blvd (exit 275). The 138-acre Doon campus provides a broad range of full and part-time programs. Conestoga’s Waterloo campus is a centre of excellence for skilled trades and culinary training. The Guelph campus has emerged as a provincial leader in motive power trades, and the Ingersoll campus is home to Conestoga’s unique Powerline Technician program. Smaller campuses in Stratford and downtown Cambridge provide academic upgrading and career-focused programs.
In the fall of 2011, Conestoga will open Phase 1 of a new campus just south of the 401 across from Doon. This exciting new campus, developed with support from all levels of government, will eventually add another 1,000,000 square feet of learning space and house most of Conestoga’s Engineering Technology programs.
- Conestoga, established in 1967, is consistently ranked among the very best Colleges in Ontario for the quality of its programs and services, as well as student, graduate and employer satisfaction.
- Approximately 89 per cent of graduates are employed within six months of graduation.
- Conestoga is one of Canada’s leading polytechnic institutes and a founding member of Polytechnics Canada
- Full-time Students: 9,000
- Apprenticeship Students: 4,000
- Part-time Students: 35,000
- 40 per cent of all adults in the Waterloo Region have taken at least one course at Conestoga.
- Our graduates pump $1.4 billion into the local economy each year.
- 53 per cent of all healthcare professionals (excluding physicians) in Waterloo Region have been trained by Conestoga
- Conestoga offers more than 120 full-time diploma programs, 26 apprenticeship programs, 9 four-year bachelor degree programs as well as 2 collaborative degrees, 23 graduate certificate programs and more than 130 part-time programs.
- Conestoga has campuses in Kitchener, Waterloo, Guelph, Stratford, Cambridge and Ingersoll.
- Conestoga’s loan default rate is the lowest in the province at 8.4 per cent. We attribute this, at least partially, to the fact so many of our students get excellent jobs after graduation.
- Dr. John Tibbits, who joined Conestoga in 1987, is the longest serving President in the Ontario college system.