“In Ontario, private schools operate as businesses or non-profit organizations independently of the Ministry of Education and in accordance with the legal requirements established by the Education Act. Unlike private schools in other provinces, they do not receive any funding or other financial support from the government. While all private schools in Ontario must meet the same general requirements, additional requirements are imposed on private schools seeking the authority to grant credits toward the Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD). The Ministry does not regulate, licence, accredit or otherwise oversee the operation of private schools. Parents/guardians and students must do their research before registering for private schools. Information on a particular school’s educational program, business practices and other policies should be obtained from the school directly, prior to registration.”
– Ontario Ministry of Education website: Private Elementary and Secondary Schools
About SchoolCred
SchoolCred.ca provides information about all private elementary and secondary schools in Ontario, with is a special focus on schools that offer the OSSD program. This website does not contain any information that is not already publicly available, nor does it identify “good” or “bad” schools. The data presented on this website is obtained from two main sources:
- Downloaded from the Ministry of Education website: SchoolCred.ca imports data from three webpages which are maintained by the Ministry of Education: active schools spreadsheet, revoked schools webpage, and the closed schools webpage. This data is automatically imported into SchoolCred.ca every month as new updates are released.
- Direct request to Ministry of Education: SchoolCred.ca obtains other data, such as enrollment and graduation numbers, directly from the Ministry of Education through a Freedom of Information request. This data is extracted from the Ontario School Information System(OnSIS), which is collected from public and private schools three times a year (October, March and June). This data is imported into SchoolCred.ca once per year.
SchoolCred.ca combines data from these sources, along with Google reviews, to produce a holistic view of each private school but it should be noted that these data sources are updated with different frequencies. Schoolcred.ca should NOT be used as a primary source of data for private schools in Ontario. Anyone looking for official data should consult the Ontario Ministry of Education.
To send comments, make suggestions, or report any data discrepancies (between SchoolCred.ca and Ministry data sources), please use the contact form which can be accessed in the top menu. School administrators that require changes to their school data should do so through the OnSIS portal and/or by contacting the Ministry of Education Private Schools and International Education Unit directly.