Niagara College in Welland, Ontario offers a 2-year accelerated diploma in dental hygiene. This allows you to obtain a 3-year diploma in 24 months (six semesters back-to-back, AKA “psycho-streaming”).
This has the following advantages:
- Working in your field 8 months sooner. Instead of working irrelevant, low-paying summer jobs over for summers, you are instead making grown-up money (click “Show Annual Salary” for Canadian figures) and making it sooner. You will also have more job experience.
- Stay at the same place for 2 years straight. No hassles with moving, subletting, wasting money letting a place sit empty over the summer, and/or trying to find a summer job in a strange town to squeeze value out of your lease.
If location is more of a factor for you or you would like at least one semester off, Durham College in Oshawa, Ontario offers a 2.5 year accelerated diploma in dental hygiene. They run you through three-semesters (12 months) of class, give you four months off (September to December), and then run you through another three-semesters (12 months) of classes. Thus you graduate 26 months after starting the program instead 24 months after at Niagara college. This might be a better choice if you can stay at home in a supportive and rent-free environment.