Sheridan College offers Diploma in Early Childhood Education, a diploma in Early Childhood Education programme in Oakville, Canada. The programme runs for 2 years, delivered on campus. Teaching is in English. Tuition for international students is CAD 19,720 per year (CAD 4,763 per year for local students).
This diploma covers effective approaches for supporting how young children learn and develop, current theories of child development, the roles and responsibilities of an early childhood educator, curriculum theory and approaches, and age-specific programming spanning infants, toddlers, preschoolers and school-age children, alongside professionalism and advocacy in the field. Students complete three field placements across settings such as childcare centres, before- and after-school care, and kindergarten classrooms. Graduates are eligible to register with the College of Early Childhood Educators, required for practice in Ontario, and can continue into degree-level study such as a Bachelor of Early Childhood Leadership program.
Requirements
Admission Requirements: Academic (Ontario basis): an Ontario Secondary School Diploma or accepted equivalent carrying one Grade 12 English (ENG4C or ENG4U). Applicants aged 19 or over who are short a requirement may apply as mature students, and may be asked to sit Sheridan's English, math or science tests or to take free preparatory courses through Academic Upgrading. Eligible applicants are ranked on the average of their six highest senior-level credits, the required courses included. Sheridan stresses that strong English matters here because of the demands of early language development. An international applicant must present the equivalent of these Ontario courses from their own school system, and a credential assessment may be requested; a domestic applicant schooled outside Canada has transcripts assessed through ICAS or WES. English, where English is not your first language or your earlier study was in another language: Sheridan's certificate and diploma band - IELTS Academic 6.0 with no band under 5.5, TOEFL iBT 80 with nothing under 20 (or 4.0 with no section under 4.0 on the scale used from 2026), PTE Academic 58 with no section under 49, Duolingo 105 with no subscore under 85, CAEL 60 with no section under 50; a result must be no more than 24 months old on the first day of class. For field placement you must provide documentation such as criminal record checks and immunisation records directly to the placement before it starts, and at your own expense.
Application Details
Start Date:Sheridan runs three terms a year - Fall starting in September, Winter in January and Spring/Summer in May. For 2026-27 the Fall term ran 8 September to 18 December 2026, Winter runs 6 January to 16 April 2027, and Spring/Summer runs 3 May to 13 August 2027. On 6 September 2026 this program's own page listed September 2026 and January 2027 intakes at both the Davis Campus in Brampton and the Trafalgar Campus in Oakville, plus a May 2027 intake at Davis. Sheridan's Start date table also carries a separate Domestic and International status for each intake (Available, Waitlisted or Closed) that changes as seats fill, so check this program's page on sheridancollege.ca before you apply.
Application Deadline:Sheridan publishes no deadline of its own for this program; the dates below are the college-wide ones. DOMESTIC APPLICANTS (Canadian citizens and permanent residents) apply through ontariocolleges.ca, which opened the Fall 2027 application on 26 September 2026 - Sheridan says it starts receiving those applications in early October for the academic year that follows. The equal consideration date is 1 February: apply on or before it and your file is weighed alongside every other one received by then for a Fall-term start, so for the cycle now open that means 1 February 2027 for entry in September 2027. Sheridan still accepts applications after that date wherever a program has not filled, but they are handled in the order they arrive, which leaves little room in high-demand programs. First offers for a September start may go out from 1 November; programs that require a portfolio, audition or resume begin issuing decisions later in March, and offers for the Winter and Spring/Summer intakes are made on a rolling basis. Confirm a Fall offer at ontariocolleges.ca by 1 May, or by the date printed on an offer issued after that, then pay the tuition deposit three months before the term begins. INTERNATIONAL APPLICANTS apply instead through Sheridan's own International Application Portal, and Sheridan publishes no deadline for them - its Important Dates table carries only a note that the international dates are still to be posted. What limits an international application in practice is space: Sheridan tells international applicants to check that a program still has room before applying, and every program page shows a separate International status for each intake. Apply as early as you can and leave time for a study permit. Confirm the current dates at sheridancollege.ca and ontariocolleges.ca before you apply.
