Canadian International School of Hong Kong

What the school is

The Canadian connection and diploma requirements

The Ontario diploma is part of the school’s Canadian connection. The Education Bureau profile also records admissions priority for debenture holders or potential holders, then siblings, then Canadian citizens or passport holders. Priority does not by itself guarantee a place. The same profile records not-for-profit status and roughly 198 teachers; that total is not a class-size figure.

The IB Diploma and OSSD have different subject, assessment and completion requirements. Ask how the school combines them, which pupils pursue both and how the workload fits your child’s plans. Neither qualification guarantees university admission. Secondary descriptions also discuss an expanding English-Chinese bilingual programme in the Lower School; confirm the provision for the intended grade and entry year.

An attributed parent review describes former teachers still working at the school when the parent returned to enrol her children. That is one account of continuity, not a schoolwide staff-retention measure. School guides describe the Early Years Centre’s bilingual and technology provision.

Academics in practice

Application costs and assessments

Secondary reporting lists application fees of HK$1,800 for Nursery or HK$2,350 for EY1–Grade 11, plus HK$1,650 if selected for assessment. It describes grade-specific deadlines and assessments generally between November and April.

At the reported top secondary tuition of HK$261,500, adding the HK$43,000 annual capital levy gives HK$304,500 before other charges. A new eligible student’s HK$12,500 entry fee would bring that subtotal to HK$317,000. The HK$80,000 reservation deposit needs its credit and refund terms established separately; do not assume it is an additional annual cost. Do not add the levy to a Nursery tuition example, since Nursery is exempt.

Admissions and cost

The annual levy, deposit and existing debentures

The official page requires pupils from EY1 upward to pay a non-refundable HK$43,000 annual capital levy or have qualifying debenture coverage; Nursery is exempt. It lists a one-time non-refundable HK$12,500 entry fee for new EY1-and-above pupils, waived for returners within two years, and an HK$80,000 reservation deposit for 2026–27. Ask how that deposit is applied to fees and what happens if the pupil does not join.

The Education Bureau lists Capital, Gold Corporate and Canadian Consulate debentures. Published sources say the school no longer issues new debentures and administers transfers of existing instruments. Secondary surveys give indicative prices around HK$2.8 million for Capital and HK$10 million for Gold Corporate, rather than current transaction quotations. A tracker describes Capital Debentures as refundable on departure, but the instrument’s actual redemption and transfer terms must be obtained from the school.

CDNIS and Chinese International School (CIS) have different capital instruments. The HK$15 million Corporate Nomination Right described in the CIS material belongs to CIS and should not be used to explain CDNIS’s charges. For any proposed transfer, identify the issuing school, instrument class, nomination rights and applicable terms in the school’s records.

If the annual levy stayed at HK$43,000, six years would total HK$258,000 in non-refundable payments. This scenario is not a forecast of future levies or a break-even calculation against a debenture. A meaningful comparison also needs the purchase price, transfer fees, refund or redemption terms, nomination rights and potential resale restrictions. The school’s current documentation should govern that comparison.

The family experience

Campus arrangements and the school journey

The main campus occupies a multi-level building on Nam Long Shan Road, while the Early Years Centre is in Wong Chuk Hang. Visit the relevant site and ask how classrooms, play areas and specialist facilities are used by the intended year group. Opening hours of 7:30am–5pm are not the same as supervised childcare for that whole period.