Located in Gatineau, Heritage College is the only public and tuition-free English-language college in western Quebec. The college is located 15 minutes from downtown Ottawa, in the heart of the National Capital Region, which borders the scenic Gatineau Park. The school began as a campus of Cégep de l’Outaouais with seven students but became autonomous in 1988, with 900 students. Heritage offers pre-university and technical programs, both of which lead to a college diploma and entry into the labour force.

 

The Centre for Continuing Education offers one-year programs that lead to attestations of college studies and recognition of acquired competencies (which provide academic credit for skills and knowledge gained through practical experience), evening and weekend courses, and workshops. Technical programs include accounting and management technology, computer science, early childhood care and education, electronics technology, graphic and web design, nursing, and hotel and restaurant management. Pre-university courses include commerce, liberal arts, science, social science and visual arts.

 

Heritage has men’s and women’s teams in basketball and soccer, and women’s rugby and volleyball teams. Extracurricular activities include a drama club called the Bacchus Players, which stages a play every year, and SQUAD, a social justice movement that aims to raise awareness for social, animal, environmental, human and political rights.