Canada · City guide

Toronto

Toronto breaks the expat-school rulebook. Public schools are free, genuinely good, and open to the children of work-permit holders — so the real question is not 'which international school' but whether the independent tier earns its CAD 30,000-48,000 a year, and how to work the public system like a local while you decide.

The first decision

Public, Catholic or private — in that order

Illustration of the Toronto skyline across Lake Ontario with a school campus in the foreground

Start from an unusual premise: the default answer is free. Unlike every Gulf, Asian or European market on this site, Toronto does not ask expat families to buy their way into decent schooling. Ontario’s publicly funded schools charge no tuition to any child aged 5-18 — explicitly including the children of work-permit and study-permit holders — and the system they enter is, by any honest global comparison, a good one. ↗

That reframes the whole search. The question is not “which international school” — Toronto barely has an international-school sector in the Gulf sense. The question is a three-way fork:

Public (TDSB) — free, catchment-by-address, with French immersion, public IB and alternative schools layered on top. The right answer for most families, most of the time.
Catholic (TCDSB) — also free and publicly funded, but with a Catholicity test at elementary and open access at secondary. A real option for Catholic families; a high-school-only option for everyone else.
Independent — CAD 25,000-48,000 a year for day students at the established schools, bought for selectivity, single-sex settings, guaranteed bilingual or IB-continuum programs, smaller classes, or boarding. Worth it in specific situations — and a poor default.

What actually tips families into the independent tier in Toronto is rarely curriculum — the public OSSD is a strong credential and IB exists inside the public system. It is usually one of four things: an exceptional child who wants the most selective peer group in the country (that is what UTS is for), a program the public system cannot guarantee at your address (full bilingual French-English at TFS, a guaranteed all-through IB at The York School), a single-sex or boarding preference, or a child whose learning needs outrun what a stretched public board can staff at your catchment school.

The public layer

Registration for newcomers: the Ontario rule and the documents

The rule arriving families need to know by heart. Ontario’s Education Act (s. 49(7)) prohibits school boards from charging fees to a child whose parent or lawful custodian is in Canada under a work permit — or is simply awaiting a decision on a work permit application. Section 49.1 and the Ministry’s Policy/Program Memorandum 136 go further: no child may be refused admission because of their own or their parents’ immigration status, and boards may not demand a work permit, SIN or proof of status as a condition of admission. ↗ ↗

The document list is short — and there are no attestation chains. For TDSB registration you need: proof of the student’s address (one Category A document — lease, mortgage statement, property tax bill or MPAC notice — plus one Category B document such as a utility bill or government correspondence), proof of immunization, and verification of the date of arrival for children not born in Canada. Permanent residents and refugee claimants register directly at the school. Children without immigration status are admitted under Policy P061, and the board states their information is not shared with immigration authorities. Unlike much of the world, nothing needs to be notarized, apostilled or stamped by an embassy. ↗

Placement is by address — so the address is the strategy. The TDSB’s Find Your School By Address tool returns your designated elementary and secondary schools, and two homes on the same street can feed different schools. Families who care about a particular school verify the exact address before signing a lease, and popular schools can be formally closed to out-of-area admissions under Policy P013. The one nuance in your favour: arriving mid-year is normal, and the board must place your child promptly — you do not wait for an admissions cycle. ↗

Choice inside the public system

French immersion, public IB, and the November deadline nobody tells you about

French immersion is the public system’s best-known prize — and it has a hard gate. TDSB Early French Immersion begins in Junior Kindergarten, and you must apply online in November: for September 2026 entry the window ran November 3-28, 2025. Late applications go to a central waitlist. There is a second entry point — Middle French Immersion at Grade 4, applied for during Grade 3 in January — and a sibling priority rule. The board has historically guaranteed an offer of placement in the program (not at a specific school) to all on-time applicants, which means your child may be placed at a French track school across town with a bus ride attached. ↗ ↗

The public IB option is the city’s best-kept secret. Five TDSB secondary schools — Monarch Park CI, Parkdale CI, Sir Wilfrid Laurier CI, Victoria Park CI and Weston CI — run the IB Diploma Programme in Grades 11-12, with a pre-baccalaureate program from Grade 9 that students apply for in Grade 8. It is academically selective and tuition-free: the board considered a $500-1,500 IB fee in 2019 and suspended it. A globally portable diploma for zero tuition is the single strongest argument against paying for a private IB school in this city. ↗ ↗

Beyond that, the public menu is deep. The TDSB runs 17 elementary alternative schools (mostly lottery admission), centralized arts, athletics and math-science programs at secondary, and gifted and special-education placements through board processes. High school information nights run October to January — treat Grade 8 as an admissions season in its own right, because the specialized public programs all have their own applications and deadlines. ↗

The Catholic layer

TCDSB: free, publicly funded — with a baptism gate at elementary

Ontario is one of the few jurisdictions in the world that fully funds a Catholic school system alongside the public one. The TCDSB teaches the same provincial curriculum, charges no tuition, and is a genuine third option for arriving families — with one decisive rule.

Elementary is gated, secondary is open. For elementary admission, TCDSB Policy S.A.01 requires proof of Catholicity: the child is baptized Catholic (or in an Eastern Rite church in communion with Rome), or a parent or guardian is Catholic and lives in Toronto — documented by a baptismal certificate or a parish letter; families in RCIA/RCIC preparation also qualify. Secondary schools, by contrast, are open to all Toronto residents regardless of religion, with non-Catholic and out-of-city applicants placed on lower-priority waiting lists where schools are oversubscribed. ↗ ↗

The practical read: Catholic families arriving in Toronto get a free, faith-based system most countries charge heavily for — use it. Non-Catholic families should treat TCDSB secondaries as a possible upgrade at Grade 9 if the local TDSB option disappoints, but plan elementary around the TDSB.

The independent layer

Named schools, sourced 2026-27 fees

Toronto’s independent sector is old, not-for-profit at the top end, and concentrated in midtown and North York — with boarding options at the edges. All figures below are from the schools’ own published schedules; one-time new-student fees are listed because they materially change year-one cost. The quality filter to apply first is CAIS (Canadian Accredited Independent Schools) accreditation — every school named here holds it.

University of Toronto Schools (UTS) — co-ed, Grades 7-12, affiliated with the University of Toronto and merit-selected by entrance exam; the closest thing Canada has to a super-selective day school. 2025-26 tuition $37,500 plus a $9,000 one-time enrolment fee; 2026-27 rises to $40,400 plus $9,500. Bursaries cover 5-100 per cent of fees. Notably, UTS enrols only citizens, permanent residents and children of work-permit holders living in the GTA — no study-permit international students. ↗
TFS — Canada’s International School — the bilingual French-English IB flagship, co-ed, pre-K to Grade 12. Current published schedule: $39,720 (JK/SK), $41,860 (Grades 1-10), $45,140 (Grades 11-12), plus a $10,000 one-time registration fee; the school does not date the schedule on its page, so confirm the year when you enquire. ↗
Upper Canada College (UCC) — boys, IB continuum, day and boarding, founded 1829. 2026-27 day tuition $44,940 (JK-Year 5), $46,730 (Years 6-10), $48,720 (Years 11-12), plus a $10,000 registration fee; international boarding $87,580-89,570. ↗
Branksome Hall — girls, IB, day and boarding on a ravine campus. 2026-27 day $45,140 (JK-Grade 10) and $49,210 (Grades 11-12); boarding $86,640-90,710; $9,500 initial registration fee. ↗
Havergal College — girls, day and boarding. 2026-27 day $45,670 across JK-Grade 12; boarding $83,485 (Canadian) / $87,485 (international); $9,500 registration fee. ↗
Crescent School — boys, Grades 3-12. 2026-27 tuition $46,270 all grades, lunch included, plus a $10,000 enrolment fee. ↗
Appleby College — co-ed, Oakville (west GTA), day and boarding. 2026-27 day $48,130 (Grades 7-8), $53,070 (Grades 9-10), $58,430 (Grade 11); international boarding $96,010; $8,500 enrolment fee. ↗
The York School — co-ed, full IB continuum (PYP/MYP/DP) in midtown. 2026-27 tuition $45,065 JK-Grade 12, with a $7,500 first instalment to hold a place. ↗
Bayview Glen — co-ed, Don Mills. 2026-27 tuition $32,000 (JK-Grade 5) and $36,000 (Grades 6-12), plus a $5,500 registration fee — materially cheaper than the midtown tier. ↗
St. Michael’s College School — boys, Catholic independent. Its admissions team quotes 2026-27 tuition of $27,000-34,000 — the value end of the independent market. ↗

Read the pattern, not just the numbers: the established day tier now clusters at $44,000-49,000 plus a $8,500-10,000 first-year registration levy, meaning year one at the top schools is a $50,000-60,000 decision per child. That is the bar the free public system has to clear — and for most children it clears it.

Admissions

The November-December season, entrance tests, and the bursary counter-move

Independent admissions run a full year ahead. UTS closes applications December 1 (early-bird November 1) and tests in December. UCC’s application fee is $200 until November 1 and $300 November 2-December 1. Havergal’s fee steps up after October 30. Crescent charges $225 by October 31, $275 to December 1, and $325 late. Assessments follow in December-February: entrance exams or SSAT at the selective schools, interviews and group tasks, offers in late winter. ↗ ↗

The selective tier is genuinely selective. UTS admits about 96 students into Grade 7 and about 22 into Grade 9, with no intake in Grades 8 or 12, via its own two-stage process — a written test, then MMI-style interviews and a group task. UCC, Branksome and Havergal assess at their main entry years. If you are landing mid-cycle from abroad, expect to wait for the next September at these schools, or to look at the less-pressured tier where rolling admission exists. ↗

Ask about money — the aid is real. UTS bursaries cover 5-100 per cent of fees; UCC runs one of the country’s largest school financial-aid programs; Havergal publishes entrance scholarships up to $25,000 in year one. Needs-based aid at this tier is assessed through third parties (usually Apple Financial Services) on a January timeline, separate from the admissions decision. A family that can clear the admissions bar but not the fee should still apply. ↗

Ontario context

EQAO, the OSSD, and the honest state of the public board

The credential is the OSSD — 30 credits, the provincial literacy requirement (usually the Grade 10 OSSLT), 40 hours of community involvement, and two online-learning credits. Universities admit on the top six Grade 12 university-track courses, which means consistent coursework matters more than any single exam — a gentler system than A-levels or the gaokao, and an easy one for arriving students to transfer into, since foreign credits are assessed toward the 30. ↗

The public system’s weaknesses are real and knowable. In 2024-25 EQAO testing, just 51 per cent of Ontario Grade 6 students met the provincial standard in math. Ontario caps no individual class in Grades 4-8 — only a board-wide average of 24.5 — and the TDSB’s provincially appointed supervisor in 2025 reversed a trustee attempt to cap upper-elementary classes at 32. Special-education resourcing is the pressure point parents raise most. None of this makes the public system a bad choice; all of it argues for choosing your catchment school deliberately. ↗

It is worth noting that Toronto’s independent schools reported increased enquiry for fall 2026 — partly on exactly these public- system concerns. Treat that as a signal to inspect your designated school carefully, not as a verdict on the system: outcomes vary far more between individual schools than between the public and independent sectors as a whole.

Parent ground truth

What Toronto families actually tell each other

Forum material is texture, not evidence — we attribute it as reported experience. The recurring themes across r/toronto, Canadian parent forums and local press:

“Check the school before the lease” is the first commandment. Catchment lines shift street by street, and parents repeatedly warn newcomers that a rental even one block wrong changes the designated school — verify with the TDSB address tool, not with the listing agent.
The French immersion November window catches families out every year — especially families who land in December or January with a four-year-old and discover the application closed weeks earlier. If immersion matters, the Grade 4 Middle Immersion entry point is the second chance.
Class size is the private-school argument that resonates. Local press quotes parents who moved children for classes of 14 versus 30+, and families of autistic or neurodivergent children describe public-board support as a postcode lottery. ↗
Parents who pay tend to say the same thing: the fee buys the peer group, the co-curricular depth and the certainty — not obviously better teaching than a strong public school. Many hedge with a hybrid: public elementary, then reassess at Grade 7 or 9, the natural independent entry points.

Sources and next steps

Where the numbers on this page come from

Every fee figure, rule and deadline above traces to our research dossier. Primary sources: the Ontario Education Act via legal commentary and PPM 136, the TDSB and TCDSB first-party policies, and each school’s own published fee schedule (UTS, TFS, UCC, Branksome Hall, Havergal, Crescent, Appleby, Bayview Glen, The York School). Secondary reporting: TorontoToday on EQAO results, class sizes and independent-school demand.

Fees and policies expire. This page was researched on 2 September 2026 and is re-verified each academic year — see our research standard for how claims are graded, and corrections if you spot something stale. Comparing Canadian cities? Our Vancouver guide covers the same decision on the Pacific — different province, different rules, same free-public spine.

Coverage priorities

What we investigate here

The first decision: when the free public system is the right answer (usually), and the specific situations where independent school fees buy something the public system cannot.

The public layer: TDSB and TCDSB registration for newcomers — the Ontario rule that waives fees for work-permit children, the documents you actually need, and catchment-by-address placement.

Choice inside the public system: Early French Immersion’s November deadline, the five public IB schools, gifted and alternative programs.

The independent layer: named schools with sourced 2026-27 fees — UTS, TFS, UCC, Branksome Hall, Havergal, Crescent, Appleby, Bayview Glen, The York School — and CAIS accreditation as the quality filter.

Admissions mechanics: November-December application deadlines, entrance tests, SSAT, and the bursary systems most families never ask about.

Ontario context: EQAO results, the OSSD, university outcomes, and the honest state of the public board.

Research in progress

We publish clusters, not placeholders.

This city opens in full when its first connected group of school profiles, fee explainers, and admissions guidance has passed our evidence and editorial gates.

Read our publication standard →

Common questions

What families ask about Toronto

Can my children attend Toronto public school for free if I am on a work permit?

Yes. Ontario’s Education Act (s. 49(7)) prohibits school boards from charging fees to children whose parent is in Canada under a work permit — or even awaiting a decision on a work permit application. The same entitlement covers children of study permit holders and, under section 49.1 and Policy/Program Memorandum 136, children without any immigration status at all. You register directly at your local school with proof of address, immunization records and your child’s arrival date.

Is public school in Toronto actually good enough?

For most families, yes — that is the honest starting point. Ontario’s public system is well funded, teachers are certified and unionized, and the same OSSD diploma feeds the University of Toronto, McGill and Waterloo. The honest caveats: EQAO results are middling (51 per cent of Grade 6 students met the provincial math standard in 2024-25), class sizes in Grades 4-8 have no individual cap, and special-needs resourcing is stretched. Quality also varies by catchment — which is why Toronto families check the school before they sign the lease.

How do I register my child with the TDSB?

Find your designated school with the board’s Find Your School By Address tool, then register at the school with: proof of address (one Category A document — lease, mortgage statement or property tax bill — plus one Category B document such as a utility bill), proof of immunization, and verification of your child’s date of arrival in Canada if they were born abroad. Permanent residents and refugee claimants register directly at the school; work-permit families register the same way and cannot be charged tuition. No attestation chains, no embassy stamps.

What is the difference between the TDSB and the TCDSB?

Both are publicly funded and free. The Toronto District School Board is the secular public board; the Toronto Catholic District School Board is the publicly funded Catholic system. The catch: TCDSB elementary schools require proof of Catholicity — a baptismal certificate for the child or a Catholic parent — while TCDSB secondary schools are open to all Toronto residents regardless of religion. If you are not Catholic, the TCDSB is effectively a high-school-only option.

How do Toronto families get into French immersion?

The TDSB’s Early French Immersion starts in Junior Kindergarten and you must apply online in November — for September 2026 entry the window closed on November 28, 2025. Miss it and your child goes on a central waitlist. There is a second entry point at Grade 4 (Middle French Immersion, applied for in Grade 3). The program is free; placement in the program is the goal, and your child may be placed at a school other than your catchment school, possibly with a bus ride.

Can my child do the IB for free in Toronto?

Yes — five TDSB public secondary schools offer the IB Diploma: Monarch Park CI, Parkdale CI, Sir Wilfrid Laurier CI, Victoria Park CI and Weston CI. Students apply in Grade 8 for the Grade 9 pre-baccalaureate years and sit the diploma in Grades 11-12. It is academically selective but tuition-free — a genuinely remarkable option that most arriving families never hear about.

When is an independent school worth CAD 30,000-48,000 a year?

In our read, four situations: (1) a genuinely exceptional child aiming at the most selective university pipelines — UTS exists for exactly this; (2) you want a full bilingual French-English or full IB-continuum education the public system cannot guarantee at your address (TFS, The York School); (3) you want a single-sex environment or boarding (UCC, Havergal, Branksome, Crescent, Appleby); (4) your child needs support — small classes, learning specialists — that a stretched public board cannot deliver at your catchment school. If none of those apply, the public system plus tutoring and activities usually wins on value.

When should we apply to Toronto independent schools?

A full year ahead. The CAIS-tier schools cluster their deadlines in November and December for the following September: UTS closes December 1 (early-bird November 1), UCC charges $200 before November 1 and $300 after, Havergal’s application fee steps up after October 30, and Crescent’s fee rises after October 31 and again after December 1. Entrance tests and interviews run December through February. Mid-year entry from abroad is possible but rare at the selective schools.