Academic Writing in Canada

Canadian colleges students complete academic assignments as a way of demonstrating their understanding of course content. Common academic assignments include research papers, reports, reflective responses, and presentations.

Your teachers will explain specific assignment requirements but, generally speaking, assignments for Confederation College courses must be submitted using the APA documentation system.  When submitting an APA-style paper, you must follow specific requirements for page formatting (margins, font, spacing, indentation). APA-style papers also must include citations and references to show where the information is from. Learning to write according to strict style conventions is an important skill as many companies expect employees to follow an in-house style guide for internal and external communications.

In addition, unless stated otherwise, written assignments should be organized into paragraphs. Each paragraph begins with a topic sentence, and the paragraph explores one topic in a highly organized way.  Writing should be plain, concise, and grammatically correct.

Your assignments will be graded on formatting and style as well as on content. Many instructors will also deduct marks for poor grammar and disorganization.

Writing accurately and in an organized way is essential to succeed in college, and good writing is also critical to succeed in business.