Where to Study Fashion in Canada

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Have you been in love with fashion your whole life? Is your idea of fun designing new clothes, taking apart old clothes and giving them a brand new life, or keeping an eye on the latest trends? If you’re a fashion lover and you’ve taken an interest in pursuing it as a career, keep on reading below for a list of places in Canada where you can study fashion. All schools and institutes mentioned have different programs and experiences to offer with different budgets in mind, with no school being any better than the other. 

George Brown College School of Fashion - Toronto 

Located in the Casa Loma Campus of George Brown College in downtown Toronto, this school offers a number of programs to help enter the fashion industry. The institution offers a practical focus on fashion, rather than theoretical, which helps to create real-world knowledge. They offer a one-year ‘International Fashion Management’ post-graduate certificate program, as well as multiple two-year programs, including ‘Fashion Techniques and Design’ and ‘Fashion Management and Fashion Business Industry’. These three programs will earn you an Ontario College Diploma. 

As these programs have a business and industry aspect to them, potential careers include product development, buying, purchasing agents, social media, marketing, etc. For the ‘Fashion Techniques and Design’ diploma, graduates can look for careers in areas such as assistant and technical designers, stylists, patternmakers, sample makers, and so on. 

Requirements: To apply and get accepted to these programs, you must have either Grade 11 or 12 Math and Grade 12 English courses completed. For the post-graduate program, graduates with an overall average GPA of 2.7 are eligible for admission. 

Toronto Metropolitan University (previously known as Ryerson) - Fashion at The Creative School

Also located in downtown Toronto, TMU’s Fashion programs at The Creative School have been around since 1948 and helped create many successful careers. The school offers a four-year Bachelor of Design and a Master of Art in Fashion. 

Requirements: To enter the programs, the school requires a portfolio, resume and a short essay in order to be considered for admission. These are all done through a mail-in submission and should have the applicant’s best work up to date.  Some potential career pathways through these three degrees include fashion design, textile design, advertising design, event management, and creative direction. 

Richard Robinson Fashion Design Academy - Ottawa

Located in downtown Ottawa, this academy provides a smaller environment for students to learn the industry and prepare them for the high standards that will come their way. They offer programs such as Fashion Designer and Couturier programs, as well as multiple part-time courses. The Fashion Designer program is a 2-year program which would earn the student a diploma. 

The Couturier program is a type of post-grad program offered to students who successfully completed the fashion designer diploma with a minimum of 75% average. Part-time classes are offered for all levels and are done on evenings and weekends, with small class sizes. Some of these part-time classes include haute couture, fashion sketching, textiles, hat making, etc. The school also offers fashion summer camps for children, which teach them sewing, fashion sketching and textiles manipulation. Some future careers from these programs include becoming a clothing or costume designer, fabric designer, couturier, trophy designer, museum exhibit designer, visual merchandiser, etc. 

Requirements: The Fashion Designer course requires a high school diploma or equivalent, as well as some sewing experience. An interview with the school Director and an admissions exam must be successfully completed before admission is granted to the program. The Courtier program is only open to graduates of the Fashion Designer program, and the part-time classes are open to everyone. 

LaSalle College - Montreal

LaSalle College has an excellent program for individuals interested in the fashion industry as the school has many partnerships with fashion companies and brands globally. They offer programs in fashion design and fashion marketing, which are both 2-3 year-long programs. Both programs are DEC, meaning they are diplomas of college studies. They are also offered in both English, and French or as a bilingual option.  Some career opportunities include patternmaker, modeller, fashion coordinator, sales agent, fashion show coordinator, product manager, etc. 

Requirements: A high school diploma is needed to apply, with these courses or equivalent, including French or English, Mathematics, Physical Sciences and History.

Kwantlen Polytechnic University - Richmond

Located in Richmond, British Columbia, the hands-on fashion program at this university gives students an idea of how tough the industry can really be. This school is competitive with only thirty seats per year for their two-year-long Fashion Marketing Diploma. They also offer a four-year Bachelor of Design in Fashion and Technology. The diploma is 2-years long, and the Bachelor of Design is a full 4-year program. Graduates of these programs have moved on to work with companies such as Aritzia, Lululemon, and Nike. These programs will give students the skills to work in freelance designing, textiles, teaching in the fashion industry, working in small design houses and many other career paths. 

Requirements: A high-school diploma with grade 12 English is required, with a minimum grade of B for the degree program and a C+ for the diploma program. The degree program requires a submitted portfolio to review along with an orientation session, while the diploma program requires a letter of interest.  

These are just a couple of schools where you can study fashion and related topics in Canada. While there are so many more schools and programs to choose from, it depends on the quality and content they teach. If you’re interested in a future in fashion, what qualities in a program do you look for? Let us know in the comments below!