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The Post-secondary Education Choice and Excellence Act, 2000, (PSECE Act), requires organizations wishing to offer programs or parts of a program leading to a degree, or to be known as a university, to have either a consent of the Minister of Colleges and Universities or an act of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. It describes the composition and authority of the Postsecondary Education Quality Assessment Board.
Regulations (279/02, 280/02, 281/02) established pursuant to the Act address the distinction between public and private applicants, financial protection for student tuition fees (including financial security and trust fund requirements), the protection of student transcripts (75-year retention, offsite backup copy requirements), the procedure for handling claims against the financial security, and the procedures for ministerial decisions, orders and appeals concerning amendments to consents, suspensions, revocations, cancellations, reinstatements, etc.
In June 2010, the Act was amended and regulation changes came into effect January 1, 2012. Regulation (391/11 made under the PSECE Act amended regulation 279/02. Regulation (392/11 revoked regulations 280/02 and 281/02. Prior to the regulation amendments, the PSECE Act required the Minister to refer all applications for consent to PEQAB for review and recommendation.
Amendments to the Act include expanding the discretion of the Minister to refer applications for consent to PEQAB or to another accrediting or quality assurance body (as may be described in regulation); reject an application without referral to PEQAB (or other body) according to prescribed circumstances and policy criteria; consider a prior quality assurance review as satisfying the requirement that the application be referred, and deem approval by such a body as satisfying the requirement that the Minister receive a recommendation.
The Minister's Guidelines and Directives for Applying for a Ministerial Consent elaborates on the procedures to be followed in applying for the Minister's consent, the standard terms and conditions of a ministerial consent, and contains an attestation form.
Questions about the PSECE Act, its regulations, or the Minister's requirements should be directed to the Universities Unit of the Ministry of Colleges and Universities.