ACE Distance

More About ACE

Tell me more about ACE.

The Academic and Career Entrance (ACE) program is a high school equivalency program for adult learners delivered by Ontario’s Community Colleges. It prepares you to apply for and succeed in community college postsecondary programs and apprenticeship training. It is recognized as an OSSD (grade 12) equivalent by Ontario’s community colleges and by the Apprenticeship Branch. ACE courses have been evaluated by the Ministry of Education and are determined to be “highly comparable” to Senior Level college stream courses.

The ACE Certificate is recognized as an OSSD equivalent by a growing number of employers when hiring and promoting staff. Major employers such as the OPP, Proctor and Gamble, CP Rail, Revenue Canada, Tembec, VALE INCO and many municipalities and regional hospitals recognize the ACE Certificate.

Since 1964, the ACE Program has been delivered in community college classrooms around the province. It was formerly referred to as Basic Training for Skills Development – BTSD IV and Ontario Basic Skills. Now you have the choice to participate in this academic upgrading program online or in a classroom setting.

For more details about ACE go to www.collegeupgradingon.ca

What OSSD courses are ACE courses equivalent to?

The follow chart identifies the equivalency of ACE courses to the comparable OSSD courses:

How does online study work?

Online learning is a form of independent, student-paced study that offers an alternative to courses offered in a traditional classroom setting. You study from home or anywhere you can have access the Internet. Instruction and most tests and assignments are conducted online, via email. A few ACE courses may require a supervised final exam. In most cases, you upload completed assignments directly to the course site. All you need is reliable access to a computer with a modem and the Internet.

Your ACE Distance teacher and program advisor are available for academic support and consultation online. They will respond within 24 hours (weekdays).

Technical support is available to you 7 days a week, 24 hours a day through Embanet.



Is there a limit to the number of ACE Distance courses I can take?

Courses vary from 80 to 150 hours in length. Most courses are 120 hours long and require a minimum of 7 to 10 hours per week of study. To maximize your success and to avoid overloading yourself, you are only allowed to register in one course the first month. Once you have demonstrated through participation and progress that you are able to manage the demands of online learning you can enrol in a second course. You may enrol in as many courses as you require, but you may only participate in two courses at any one time.

If you are unsuccessful and do not withdraw from your ACE Distance course by thge withdrawal deadline, you will not be wllowed to take nother course for free.

Remember to set realistic goals based on the number of hours you are prepared to devote to your studies each week. John Lennon once said that life is what happens while we’re busy making other plans; you need to plan how you will deal with family, personal and job-related issues that may arise.