Expats relocating to Calgary with children of school-going age can rest assured that their educational needs will be more than catered for. The Alberta education system benefits from extensive government funding – and schools in Calgary are considered to be the best in the province.

Schooling in Canada is divided among the following levels of education: Elementary school (Kindergarten to Grade 6, about 5-12 years of age); Junior high school (Grades 7-9, about 13-15 years of age); and Senior high school (about 16-18 years of age).

Public schools in Calgary

The overwhelming majority (around 90 percent) of Canadian children attend public (or 'state-funded') schools. There is a standardised provincial curriculum that is taught in all public schools in Alberta, which you can view online. These schools have an excellent reputation – despite charging no tuition fees – and focus not only on excellence in 'book-learning', but offer extra-curricular activities and field trips, as well. Note that, in almost all cases, the school in which your child is placed depends on your residential location – schools will only accept a child from a different 'catchment area' if they have ample free space in the child's particular grade-level. This is something to bear in mind when choosing the neighbourhood or suburb in which you intend to live in Calgary.

The Calgary Board of Education – which administers state-funded schools in the city – is by all accounts a wonderfully helpful body, and expats are urged to direct any questions or concerns to them directly. One final note, is that while public education is basically free in Calgary, you will be required to pay in the region of C$500 a year to cover school uniforms, materials, field trips and the like.

Catholic schools in Calgary

The other major government-funded education system in the city is the Calgary Roman Catholic Separate School District. Historically, catholic public schools have enjoyed a better reputation than 'ordinary' public schools – though these perceptions are changing. There is, naturally, a greater focus on religion (and religious instruction) in the Catholic public school system – though in terms of the quality of education your child will receive, there is not much difference between the two. Note that in order to enrol your child in a Catholic school, either you or your spouse must be a (practising) Roman Catholic.

Enrolling expat children in Canadian schools

The public school board's admission office – which is located in the Kingsland Centre in central Calgary, and which deals with the enrolment of expat children – is open year-round but only on three days of the week, so scheduling a prior appointment is absolutely necessary. Following a brief interview, your child will be tested on basic language and numeracy skills, and will then be assigned to an appropriate grade. It's a good idea to bring along a copy of the curriculum from your child's previous school, to provide some context of their educational background. For your child to qualify for (free) public schooling, you'll need to take the following documents along to the interview:

• Your passport
• Your permit or visa for living and working in Canada
• Your child's passport
• Your child's birth certificate
• Documentation that demonstrates that your family resides/will reside in one of the Calgary Board of Education's catchment areas.

The Catholic School Board's admission criteria are much the same – with the added proviso that either you or your spouse must be a practising Roman Catholic.

Private schools in Calgary

A small minority (around 8 percent) of Calgary's children attend private schools. The tuition fees for these institutions (which include international and charter schools) can range from anywhere between C$3,000 to C$15,000 per year. Although these schools enjoy famous reputations, whether or not the quality of education they provide is commensurate to their fees is debatable – however, sending your kid to a private school in Canada certainly will win you (and them) prestige points, and scholarships are available for promising students. A big advantage of the private school system, though, is the opportunity to meet and interview your child's prospective teachers before enrolling them at the school. For parents with children who don't speak English or French, or who have special educational needs, the private school system might be worth investigating, as it simply boasts more resources than either of the public systems.

Tertiary education in Calgary

There are some very good tertiary education options for expats moving to Calgary. The University of Calgary, despite being a relatively young and small institution – it was established in 1966, and has about 25,000 undergraduate students – is gaining in reputation as a research-orientated, interdisciplinary academy. The 2010 Webometrics University Rankings rated the University of Calgary as the fifth-best in Canada, and gave it a worldwide ranking of 75th. Moreover, the university's Haskayne School of Business – offering fully-accredited MBA courses – is considered one of the very best in the country, if not North America on the whole. Finally, the University of Alberta (located in Edmonton, about three hours from Calgary) boasts a long, proud pedigree of academic excellence – it is consistently ranked as one of Canada's premier tertiary education institutions, and has produced 65 Rhodes Scholars and one Nobel Laureate in its 100-year history. The University of Alberta is the place to go if you're considering studying anything in the field of health sciences.

The Fraser Institute and public school rankings

An independent Canadian research group (read: think-tank), the Fraser Institute, has for many years been publishing rankings of Canadian schools. Many parents have used these rankings as a guide that can inform which neighbourhoods are associated with the best performing schools. It is important for expat parents to realise that this institution is widely pilloried as a right-wing, conservative body espousing libertarian and radical free-market ideologies – and that their findings, which are basically that rich neighbourhoods have the best schools – even if they have some truth to them, are heavily skewed by political bias. The bottom line is that even if the school you wish your child to attend scores low on the Fraser Institute's rankings, this does not necessarily mean that the quality of their schooling will be sub-par, at all.