OntarioLearn
OntarioLearn is a non-profit consortium of all 24 Ontario publicly-funded colleges, 2 Indigenous Institutes, and 1 Support Organization, offering nearly 1,200 shared online post-secondary courses and 550+ programs through a unified portal. Founded in 1994 and based in Guelph, Ontario, it serves adult learners, working professionals, and rural students province-wide.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1994
- HeadquartersGuelph, Canada
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What OntarioLearn does
OntarioLearn (legal name: OntarioLearn Online Collaborative Inc.) is a non-profit consortium founded in 1994 and headquartered in Guelph, Ontario, that aggregates online post-secondary courses from all 24 publicly-funded Ontario colleges, 2 Indigenous Institutes, and 1 Support Organization. Originally launched as Contact South in 1995-1996, the organization rebranded to OntarioLearn in 2000, incorporated as a non-profit corporation in 2011-2012, and reached full provincial coverage of Ontario's public college system by 2012-2013. Its core product is the OntarioLearn Portal — a single sign-on gateway connecting students to a shared inventory of nearly 1,200 online courses and 550+ programs spanning certificates, diplomas, post-graduate certificates, micro-credentials, and degree-level offerings. Courses are hosted across multiple learning management systems (Blackboard, Desire2Learn, Moodle, FirstClass) depending on the home college, with member colleges acting as both course developers and registering institutions.
The business model is a consortium funding structure: OntarioLearn is funded by its member institutions rather than through direct tuition capture. Course fees and tuition are set individually by each of the 24 colleges; students register with their preferred college and pay that college, while OntarioLearn coordinates shared infrastructure, quality assurance (using the Quality Matters rubric), technical support (delivered via Embanet Corporation on a 24/7 basis), and the portal layer. Ancillary services include virtual proctoring through B-Virtual, virtual tutoring through Tutor.com, digital textbooks via Kivuto/Texidium, the Ontario Colleges Digital Library, and the Ally accessibility tool. The customer base is individual Ontario college students — primarily adult learners, working professionals, rural and remote residents, students with disabilities, and internationally educated nurses — rather than enterprise accounts. Since inception, OntarioLearn has supported nearly 1 million cumulative course enrollments, with 73,000+ annual enrollments and a self-reported 90% retention rate and 78% course completion rate.
OntarioLearn firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- OntarioLearn
- Legal name
- OntarioLearn Online Collaborative Inc.
- Website
- https://ontariolearn.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1994
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- OntarioLearn is a non-profit consortium of all 24 Ontario publicly-funded colleges, 2 Indigenous Institutes, and 1 Support Organization, offering nearly 1,200 shared online post-secondary courses and 550+ programs through a unified portal. Founded in 1994 and based in Guelph, Ontario, it serves adult learners, working professionals, and rural students province-wide.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
OntarioLearn industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Online Higher Education
- NAICS
- Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (6113), Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (61131), Educational Services (611)
- SIC
- Services-Educational Services (8200)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Online Divisions of Traditional Universities (Hybrid/Extension) (EDAHALAB)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Online Community Colleges (2-Year, Degree/Transfer) (EDAHALAC)
Keywords
Where OntarioLearn is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Guelph
- HQ country
- Canada
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
OntarioLearn business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Others
Revenue model
- Course Enrollment Fees: OntarioLearn operates as a non-profit consortium funded by its member institutions. Students pay tuition/fees to their registering college for courses offered through the OntarioLearn platform. Course fees are determined by individual colleges.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels4 records
OntarioLearn product offering
Product offeringCore offering
OntarioLearn aggregates and delivers online post-secondary courses and programs from 24 Ontario public colleges, two Indigenous Institutes, and one Support Organization through a single shared portal. Learners search the directory and register with their preferred member college to take courses, accessing roughly 1,200 shared courses and 550+ programs delivered via integrated learning management systems.
Product overview
OntarioLearn is a consortium platform operated by OntarioLearn Online Collaborative Inc. that aggregates online post-secondary courses and programs from 24 Ontario public colleges, 2 Indigenous Institutes, and 1 Support Organization. The core offering consists of the OntarioLearn Portal (the unified student gateway), a directory of nearly 1,200 shared online courses, and more than 550 online programs leading to certificates, diplomas, and post-graduate credentials. The platform connects to multiple learning management systems (Blackboard, Desire2Learn, Moodle, FirstClass) depending on the hosting college. Support services include 24/7 technical support, virtual proctoring via B-Virtual Inc., virtual tutoring via Tutor.com, and the Ontario Colleges Digital Library. An accessibility tool (Ally) provides alternative formats for course materials. The consortium operates on a model where a 'host college' develops and teaches courses, which are then offered through 'registering colleges' across the network.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- OntarioLearn Online Course Directory and Portal
- Online Programs (550+ programs)
- RPN-BScN Pathway Program
- PSW-PN Pathway Program
- IEN Pathway Program
- Ontario Colleges Digital Library Access
- Digital Textbook Access (Kivuto / Texidium)
Quantifiable outcome
- 90% retention rate (higher than sector average)
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use OntarioLearn
Customer profileNamed customers1 record
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
OntarioLearn technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration11 records
Feature3 records
OntarioLearn partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and flagship.
- Embanet CorporationcoreTechnical services provider selected in 1998 to provide infrastructure and technical support for OntarioLearn. Embanet technical support team available 24 hours/day, 7 days/week to assist students with technical issues.
- Ontario Colleges Digital Library (OCDL)corePartnership with Heads of Libraries and Learning Resources (HLLR) and Ontario Colleges Library Service (OCLS) providing digital library resources and research materials for online students and faculty.
- Quality MatterscoreQuality assurance partner using the Quality Matters rubric to design and evaluate online courses. OntarioLearn is committed to applying Quality Matters standards for all course development.
- 24 Ontario Public CollegesflagshipAll 24 publicly-funded colleges in Ontario collaborate through OntarioLearn to offer shared online courses. Each college can register students for courses developed by other member colleges, expanding access across the province.
- 2 Indigenous InstitutescoreTwo Indigenous Institutes participate in the OntarioLearn consortium, expanding access to Indigenous learners across Ontario.
Scale indicators8 records
Recent moves8 records
Expansion highlights5 records
OntarioLearn competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- edX: Global consortium-backed online learning platform offering university courses and credentials. Comparable as a large-scale shared-inventory online learning marketplace, though international and degree-oriented.
- Athabasca University: Canada's largest dedicated online university, offering undergraduate and graduate degrees fully online. Competes with OntarioLearn for adult online learners in Canada, especially those seeking credential-bearing programs.
- Western Governors University: Large-scale, competency-based online university serving adult learners across North America. Comparable to OntarioLearn as a non-traditional, fully-online post-secondary provider focused on working adults.
- Coursera: Global online learning marketplace aggregating courses and credentials from leading universities and companies. Comparable to OntarioLearn's online learning marketplace model at much larger, international scale.
- Royal Roads University: Canadian university with a strong online and blended learning portfolio for working professionals. Comparable as a Canadian online post-secondary provider targeting adult learners.
Direct peers
- BCcampus: British Columbia's shared online learning collaborative supporting the province's post-secondary institutions with open educational resources, technology, and program collaboration. Comparable as a Canadian provincial higher-ed consortium model.
- Open Universities Australia: Australian consortium model in which multiple universities share online courses and programs through a single marketplace. Highly comparable to OntarioLearn's shared-inventory, multi-institution consortium structure.
- eCampusOntario: Ontario government-funded consortium that aggregates online courses and programs from Ontario publicly-funded universities and colleges. Direct comparable to OntarioLearn in mandate and geographic scope, though focused on the university sector.
Regional players
- Campus Manitoba: Manitoba's e-learning consortium coordinating online course sharing across the province's post-secondary institutions. Direct structural analogue to OntarioLearn at a smaller provincial scale.
- Contact North | Contact Nord: Ontario-focused distance education and online learning access organization serving northern and rural communities. Operates in a similar Ontario online-learning access niche, though with a stronger regional access mandate.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
OntarioLearn social profiles
Digital presenceOntarioLearn compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance1 record
OntarioLearn financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
OntarioLearn leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles4 records
OntarioLearn funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
OntarioLearn M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about OntarioLearn
What does OntarioLearn do?
OntarioLearn aggregates and delivers online post-secondary courses and programs from 24 Ontario public colleges, two Indigenous Institutes, and one Support Organization through a single shared portal. Learners search the directory and register with their preferred member college to take courses, accessing roughly 1,200 shared courses and 550+ programs delivered via integrated learning management systems.
Is OntarioLearn a public or private company?
OntarioLearn is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was OntarioLearn founded?
OntarioLearn was founded in 1994. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is OntarioLearn based?
OntarioLearn is headquartered in Guelph, Canada, in the North America region.
How does OntarioLearn make money?
One revenue line is on record: course Enrollment Fees.
Who are OntarioLearn's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are edX, Athabasca University, Western Governors University, Coursera and Royal Roads University. Direct peers are BCcampus, Open Universities Australia and eCampusOntario. Regional players are Campus Manitoba and Contact North | Contact Nord.
Does OntarioLearn have an API?
No public API is recorded for OntarioLearn.
What industry is OntarioLearn in?
OntarioLearn's product category is Online Higher Education. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EDAHALAB, Online Divisions of Traditional Universities (Hybrid/Extension), with a secondary code of EDAHALAC, Online Community Colleges (2-Year, Degree/Transfer). Its NAICS code is 6113 and its SIC code is 8200.