For a long time, whenever I heard "go back to school," I pictured the same thing everyone does: three or four years full time, debt, putting my life on hold. With a business to run and a family, the answer was no. Not for lack of ambition — out of realism.
And then I enrolled in a college attestation program. Not at 18. In my thirties, with an already full schedule.
What I discovered along the way is that my picture of "going back to school" was completely wrong. Quebec's college network offers a whole range of programs designed for adults like you and me: short, online, in the evening, and — this is where it gets interesting for this blog — often subsidized to the point of costing about as much as a grocery run. Nobody had told me. So I am telling you.
Why we never think of it
I think there are two reasons, and I fell into both.
The first: in the Quebec mind, college is a life stage, not a tool. It is something you did (or did not do) between 17 and 20. When we look to build skills as adults, we think of private certifications at US$2,000 or online courses from gurus — not the institution twenty minutes from home.
The second, subtler one: when a course costs $30, you assume it cannot be worth much. I had that reflex too. Except that price is not the real price — it is crushed by funding from the Quebec government. You will notice a small asterisk on several courses: with the financial participation of the Government of Quebec. Our taxes already fund these programs. The $30 is just your share of the buffet.
What you actually find
Practically every college has a continuing education department. I recently went through the fall 2026 catalogue of Cégep Beauce-Appalaches — I use it as an example because its catalogue is representative, but Sainte-Foy, Ahuntsic, Montmorency, Vieux Montréal, Limoilou and the others offer equivalents. And since most courses are online, you are not limited to your region. Here is what caught my eye, with the real prices.
Office software, computing and artificial intelligence
- Excel (beginner/intermediate): 18 h, online, anytime — $90
- Excel (intermediate/advanced): 27 h — $135
- ChatGPT at work: from basics to advanced applications: 6 h — $180
- Microsoft Copilot: reinventing how you work: 4 h — $125
- Canva for business: 18 h — $90
Advanced Excel at $135 struck me. It is one of the most sought-after skills in administrative and financial job postings in Quebec, and the full course costs less than a tank of gas and a grocery run.
Accounting and finance
You know me: I believe that understanding your numbers is the foundation of everything.
- Understanding and analyzing your financial statements (ratios): 6 h — $30
- Calculating your cost price: 6 h — $30
- Small business accounting (part 1): 12 h — $60
- Taxation for the self-employed: 15 h — $75
- Acomba and payroll: 39 h — $195
The one on taxation for the self-employed is the course I would have taken at the very start of my business. I learned those notions the hard way, making mistakes that cost me a good deal more than $75. It is exactly the point of our article on learning personal taxation.
Marketing, web and social media
- Google Ads: paid search: 12 h — $60
- Email marketing: 6 h — $30
- Facebook for business: 6 h — $30
- Instagram to promote your business: 6 h — $30
- CapCut: video editing for social media: 9 h — $45
Computer-aided design, architecture and construction
- AutoCAD (beginner): 30 h — $150
- Revit, architecture stream (beginner): 60 h — $300
- SolidWorks, SketchUp: from $150 to $200
Those skills lead directly to well-paid technical positions in construction and engineering. A private Revit course easily sells for $1,500 elsewhere.
Management, human resources and languages
- Procurement management: the basics: 15 h — $75
- Leadership without formal authority: 7 h — $35
- Writing an effective job posting: 3 h — $15
- Business English and business Spanish in small groups
Insurance: a genuine career-change door
Here the scale changes. The catalogue includes the courses that prepare you for the regulatory exams of the Autorité des marchés financiers:
- Personal-lines damage insurance agent or broker: $1,000
- Life insurance qualification program (PQAP): $750
That is more than $30, yes. But for about $1,000, you prepare for an exam that opens a career where entry-level positions often sit around $50,000 to $60,000, with no university degree required. As an investment-to-outcome ratio, that is hard to beat. The same reasoning runs through our analysis of the high-paying jobs of 2030 in Quebec.
Prior learning recognition: when your experience already equals a diploma
The piece I find most unfairly overlooked: recognition of prior learning and competencies. If you have worked for years in a field — office administration, accounting, management, early childhood education, building inspection — you can have your experience recognized and earn a college attestation or even a full diploma without going back to a classroom. At your own pace, remotely. Registration at Cégep Beauce-Appalaches: $39.
I know people who have been stuck in the same position for years because they are "missing the paper," even though they have been doing the work for a decade. If that is you, this may be the most profitable paragraph in this whole article.
What it will not do, because I owe you honesty
I am not going to sell you a dream. That is not how this house operates.
A six-hour course will not double your salary next month. A continuing education certificate does not carry the weight of a full diploma or a bachelor's degree on a résumé, and some employers will barely glance at it. And there is a trap I watch for in myself: collecting courses can become a comfortable form of procrastination. You feel like you are moving forward, but you are postponing the moment you apply what you learned.
In my experience, the leverage works when the course is tied to a specific goal: a skill your employer is looking for that you can put on the table at your next review, a concrete tool for side income, the credential that unlocks the position above yours. The course is the tool. The strategy is the part you supply.
The math, as usual
Let us do the math coldly, because that is how we operate here.
Conservative scenario: you invest $200 and about thirty hours this fall — say, advanced Excel plus taxation for the self-employed. That skill lets you secure a raise of only $1,500 a year, or the equivalent in self-employed income.
"If you invest that $1,500 a year in your TFSA at a 7 % average return, over 20 years it becomes about $61,000. Starting from a $200 outlay and a few Tuesday evenings."
This is the kind of math I like: a tiny expense, already subsidized, that raises your earning power — the only variable in your financial plan with no ceiling. Our article on leverage without debt ranks skill among the most underestimated levers.
If you want to explore
Here is how I would go about it, and how I did go about it:
- Search "continuing education" and the name of a college. Any one of them — most courses are online. Cégep Beauce-Appalaches publishes its catalogue at cegepba.qc.ca/fc, and every college has the equivalent.
- Choose a single course, tied to a specific income goal. I learned that this is more effective than a basket of five good intentions.
- Check the funding conditions — several subsidized courses are aimed at workers, the self-employed and employees of small businesses, subject to conditions.
- Block the hours in your calendar before you pay. It has been my personal rule ever since I started juggling the business, my studies and the rest: what is not in the calendar does not exist.
Going back to college in my thirties, with a full life, is one of the most profitable decisions I have made. Not because it was spectacular — precisely because it was not. A few evenings, a few dozen dollars, and doors quietly opening. If you were waiting for a sign that it is within reach, here it is.
Informational content only — not official financial advice. The prices and schedules quoted come from the Fall 2026 catalogue of Cégep Beauce-Appalaches and may change; always check directly with the institution.