Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD)
The Ontario System requires students to earn at least 30 credits to receive the Ontario Secondary School Diploma. A credit is the successful completion of a course for which a minimum of 110 hours has been scheduled. The 30 credits must be distributed as follows:
Compulsory Credits [Total of 18]
- 4 credits in English (1 credit per grade)
- 3 credits in mathematics (1 credit in Grade 11 or 12)
- 2 credits in science
- 1 credit in Canadian history
- 1 credit in Canadian geography
- 1 credit in the arts
- 1 credit in health and physical education
- 1 credit in French as a second language
- 0.5 credit in career studies
- 0.5 credit in civics
- GROUP 1: 1 additional credit in English, or French as a second language**, or a Native language, or a classical or an international language, or social sciences and the humanities, or Canadian and world studies, or guidance and career education, or cooperative education***
- GROUP 2: 1 additional credit in health and physical education, or the arts, or business studies, or French as a second language**, or cooperative education***
- GROUP 3: 1 additional credit in science (Grade 11 or 12), or technological education, or French as a second language**, or computer studies, or cooperative education***
** In groups 1, 2, and 3, a maximum of 2 credits in French as a second language can count as compulsory credits, one from group 1 and one from either group 2 or group 3.
***A maximum of 2 credits in cooperative education can count as compulsory credits.
Elective Credits [Total 12]
- 12 credits selected from available courses
Under special circumstances and with the approval of the principal, substitutions may be made for up to 3 of the compulsory credits using courses from the remaining courses offered that meet the requirements for compulsory credits.
Students who wish to attend an Ontario University must take appropriate courses in their senior years. Students must check the university admission requirements for the program they wish to enter.
STUDENTS MUST ALSO COMPLETE 40 HOURS COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT AND PASS THE ONTARIO SECONDARY SCHOOL LITERACY TEST SET BY THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION.
Community Involvement Activities
As part of the Ontario Secondary School Diploma requirements, a student must complete a minimum of 40 hours of community involvement activities. These may take place in a variety of settings, including businesses, not-for-profit organizations, public sector institutions, and informal settings.
Students may not fulfill the requirements through paid work, co-op education, or by assuming duties normally performed by a paid employee. The activities must take place after school, on weekends, or on school holidays.
Students must seek permission from the guidance office to do a particular activity before commencing the activity. For further information on the recording of such activities, please speak with our coordinator in the guidance office.
Please note that students may start accumulating community hours in the summer prior to starting grade 9.
The Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT)
As part of the Ontario Secondary School Diploma requirements, students must pass the provincial secondary school literacy test, usually taken in Grade 10. The test is based on the Ontario Curriculum expectations for language and communication, particularly reading and writing, up to and including Grade 9.
Test results identify students who have not demonstrated the required skills, and show areas where they need remediation after school hours. Students who are not successful in the first attempt will write the test again with the next group.
Students who have had two opportunities to write the OSSLT, and have failed at least once, will be allowed to take the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Course as a means of acquiring the literacy requirement to graduate. A score of 50% is needed to pass.
Ontario Secondary School Certificate
A student who leaves school before earning the Ontario Secondary School Diploma may receive the Ontario Secondary School Certificate, on request, if he/she has earned at least 14 credits distributed as follows:
- 2 credits in English
- 1 credit in mathematics
- 1 credit in science
- 1 credit in Canadian geography or Canadian history
- 1 credit in physical and health education
- 1 credit in the arts or technological education
- 7 elective credits
