CAEC

Overview

The Canadian Adult Education Credential (CAEC) is a high school equivalency credential for Canadian adults who do not have a high school diploma. It was developed through a working group of provinces and territories — led by Alberta, with Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador and the Northwest Territories — as a single, made-in-Canada replacement for the General Education Development (GED) test, which stopped being offered in Canada from May 2024. There is no single national CAEC office: each province or territory runs its own CAEC program for its own residents and issues its own high school equivalency certificate to candidates who pass. The credential is offered in English and French and is treated by employers and post-secondary institutions as equivalent to a high school diploma.

Who can apply

Across the provinces that offer it, a CAEC candidate must generally be at least 18 years old, not currently enrolled in high school, and not already hold a high school diploma or an equivalent credential. Candidates must also be a resident of the province or territory where they test; some provinces add their own conditions, such as requiring Canadian citizenship or permanent residency, while others allow homeschooled learners as young as 17 to apply. Adults who already passed one or more subjects of the 2002 Canadian Series GED can have those passes carried forward in place of the matching CAEC subject (this GED-credit arrangement runs until May 2027); a subject already passed, under either the GED or the CAEC, cannot be rewritten.

Exam pattern

The CAEC is made up of five separate subject tests, each marked on its own:

All five tests together run to roughly seven and a half hours, but testing centres do not schedule all five in a single sitting — candidates book and write each subject separately. Tests are written in person, on computer, at a designated testing or learning centre in the candidate's province.

Marking and results

Each of the five subject tests is scored on its own, and a candidate needs a minimum score of 55% to pass a test. A candidate earns the full CAEC only after passing all five subjects; there is no combined pass/fail score across the whole credential. A subject that was not passed can be rewritten, but provinces set their own limits on how often (for example, once a month, up to a set number of times a year) and charge a fee for each retake. A subject already passed cannot be rewritten again.

After the exam

Passing all five subjects earns the candidate their province's own high school equivalency certificate — for example, a Nova Scotia High School Equivalency Certificate or an Ontario High School Equivalency Certificate. These provincial certificates are recognised across Canada by employers and post-secondary institutions as the equivalent of a high school diploma, and candidates use them to apply for jobs, apprenticeships, and college or university admission.

Preparation tips

• Many provinces and community adult-learning organisations offer free CAEC preparation courses through local school boards, colleges, and literacy agencies — check with your province's adult learning office before paying for private prep.

• Since each subject is scored and can be retaken separately, focus extra practice time on your weakest subject rather than restudying everything at once.

• Practise the Mathematics test in both its modes: the first part without a calculator, the second part with one, each under its own time limit.

• Confirm your local testing centre's booking process, accepted ID, and available dates directly with your province's CAEC administrator, since these details are set locally.