In Canada, education, including higher education, is a constitutional responsibility of the country's 10 provinces and 3 territories. The universities, which at this time are located only in the provinces, derive their authority from provincial legislation.

Each Canadian university is autonomous in academic matters including the determination of its own quality assurance policies and procedures. In addition, as the result of their longstanding commitment to a common framework of standards across provincial jurisdictions, Canadian universities have a shared understanding of the value of each other's academic credentials.

Robust institutional quality assurance policies and processes are the foundation of the Canadian higher education quality assurance regime. These policies may stand alone, and some may be based in legislation. They may operate in an environment which includes another level of quality assurance, for example the policies and processes that provide a second level of quality assurance in the higher education systems in the provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. For some programs, institutional policies may be supplemented by standards of professional accreditation.