free education through the end of high school through the public school system. When you move to Alberta, your children will have a choice of a several different schooling options, all funded by tax dollars and without fees. Aside from the main public school system, there are also francophone schools for education in French, as well as a Catholic school system. At the cutting edge, Alberta also has online/virtual education programs as well as alternative schools available as educational options. Some in the province elect to send their children to private schools, however the vast majority use the public schools which are of high quality.Albertas publicly funded postsecondary education system has a total of 24 institutions, including four universities with over 104,500 full- and part-time students in total. The provinces per student and per capita spending on basic education continues to be among the highest in Canada.Albertans pay on average 5000$ per year on tuition for post-secondary education. This rate is among the highest in Canada. However the Government of Alberta has several programs in place to help ease the burden and to help you save for your childs education after they complete high school. In 2005, the Alberta Centennial Education Plan was launched. The plan will contribute $500 to the Registered Education Savings Plan of every child born to Alberta residents in 2005 and beyond. The program is designed to give parents an incentive to start planning and saving for their childs post-secondary education as early as possible. In 2004, total assistance to Alberta students was about $439 million,Alberta Health CareUnder Canadian Law, all provinces and territories must provide universal, publicly funded health care to all citizens and legal residents of Canada. In other words, most basic health services in Canada are offered at no direct cost to the patient. Certain procedures that are not deemed necessary (such as elective cosmetic surgery and a number of dental care procedures, for example) are generally not covered, but the list of services paid for publicly varies from province to province. Alberta, like the rest of Canada, has universal, publicly funded health care. Approximately 3500$ per capita is spent each year on health care in the province, which is among the highest in Canada.Alberta HistoryAlberta joined Canadian confederation as a separate province in 1905. The province is named after the fourth daughter of Queen Victoria. Before it gained provincial status, Alberta had been governed as a region of the North-West territories. Until 1868 the provinces territory, along with other large portions of what today makes up Canada were controlled by the Hudsons Bay Company of Canada.Before the arrival of European settlers in the 1700s the indigenous First Nations of Alberta inhabited the area for over 8000 years. Many of these indigenous peoples were displaced by European settlement of the area, however indigenous communities remain and are an important part of Albertan history.Alberta entered Canadian confederation as a province along with its neighbour to the East, Saskatchewan, in 1905. In its early history Alberta was mostly a province of farmers, along with some mining. The