The best high schools in Ottawa move quickly. The earlier your child is prepared, the better positioned they will be — whether they are entering a competitive public programme, a top Catholic school, or one of Ottawa’s selective independent schools.
How Ottawa’s School System Works
Ottawa’s school landscape is more complex than most Canadian cities because it operates across four publicly funded school boards — a direct consequence of Ottawa’s bilingual character and Ontario’s separate school system.
Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB) is the largest board, serving English-language public school students across Ottawa and the surrounding region. It administers over 140 schools from Kindergarten to Grade 12.
Ottawa Catholic School Board (OCSB) is the English-language Catholic board, publicly funded and serving Catholic families across the city. It has a strong academic reputation and consistently produces competitive provincial assessment results.
Conseil des écoles publiques de l’Est de l’Ontario (CEPEO) is the French-language public board, serving francophone families in east Ontario.
Conseil des écoles catholiques du Centre-Est (CECCE) is the French-language Catholic board, serving francophone Catholic families.
For families relocating to Ottawa or new to Ontario’s school system, the distinction between the English and French boards, and between public and Catholic, matters practically — enrolment eligibility differs between them. Catholic board enrolment requires Catholic registration, and French-language board enrolment requires meeting the criteria of Section 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (essentially, one parent must be a rights-holder).
For a fuller explanation of how Ontario’s publicly funded school system is structured, see our Canadian school system explained guide. For detail on the Catholic separate school system specifically, see our Ontario Catholic schools parent guide.
Best Public High Schools in Ottawa
Ottawa’s public secondary schools are administered by the OCDSB. Academic quality varies across the board, with the strongest performers concentrated in established west-end and central Ottawa neighbourhoods. Several schools also offer optional programmes — IB, arts, and French immersion — that are open by application regardless of catchment.
Lisgar Collegiate Institute is consistently Ottawa’s most academically recognised public high school, and one of the strongest public secondary schools in Ontario. Located in the Centretown neighbourhood, it has a long history of producing exceptional academic results, including strong performance in mathematics competitions, and a consistent record of graduates entering competitive university programmes. Its Fraser Institute ratings are among the highest of any public secondary school in the region.
Bell High School in Nepean is one of Ottawa’s most consistently well-rated west-end public secondary schools, with strong academic outcomes and a loyal community.
Merivale High School and Colonel By Secondary School in the south and east ends of Ottawa respectively are well-regarded within the OCDSB, with Colonel By particularly noted for its academic programme and competitive results.
Glebe Collegiate Institute in the Glebe neighbourhood has a strong academic reputation and an active extracurricular culture, drawing from one of Ottawa’s most educated and engaged parent communities.
Sir Robert Borden High School and Canterbury High School (the latter a specialist arts school) serve different ends of the academic-arts spectrum within the OCDSB. Canterbury in particular is worth noting for artistically inclined students — it is one of Ontario’s stronger specialist arts secondary programmes.
Optional programmes within the OCDSB, including the IB Diploma Programme offered at a small number of Ottawa schools, are accessible by application and worth researching separately from catchment-based enrolment.
Best Catholic Schools in Ottawa
The Ottawa Catholic School Board has a strong reputation across the city, with several of its secondary schools consistently earning strong Fraser Institute ratings. For eligible families, OCSB schools offer competitive academics at no tuition cost.
St. Francis Xavier High School in Nepean is one of the OCSB’s most consistently top-rated secondary schools, with strong provincial assessment results and a well-regarded academic culture.
All Saints Catholic High School in Kanata serves Ottawa’s west-end growth communities and has built a solid academic reputation since opening.
Notre Dame High School and Holy Trinity Catholic High School in Kanata and the western suburbs are well-regarded within the OCSB for both academic outcomes and school community culture.
St. Peter Catholic High School in the east end and Archbishop Denis Murphy Catholic School serve Ottawa’s eastern communities with strong Catholic academic programmes.
At the elementary level, the OCSB consistently produces strong EQAO results, and several of its elementary schools appear near the top of Ottawa-area Fraser Institute rankings. For families with Catholic registration who are moving to Ottawa, the OCSB is genuinely worth including in the school selection process alongside public and private alternatives — the academic quality at the top of the board rivals many private options at no tuition cost.
Best Private Schools in Ottawa
Ottawa’s private school sector is smaller than Toronto’s but anchored by two nationally recognised independent schools that serve the city’s internationally connected and academically ambitious families.
Ashbury College is Ottawa’s most internationally recognised independent school. Co-educational, Grades 4–12, with both day and boarding options. Ashbury offers the IB Diploma Programme alongside the Ontario curriculum, has a notably international student body drawn heavily from diplomatic and government-connected families, and has a strong university placement record that includes regular acceptances to competitive programmes in Canada, the US, and the UK. It is the independent school most families in Ottawa reference as the benchmark.
Elmwood School is Ottawa’s leading independent school for girls, offering education from JK through Grade 12 with IB affiliation and a strong emphasis on leadership development alongside academics. Well-regarded in Ottawa’s parent community for both academic outcomes and school culture.
Lycée Claudel is a French-language independent school operating under the French government’s educational framework. It serves Ottawa’s diplomatic and francophone community, offering a French national curriculum alongside Ontario requirements. For families with French-language backgrounds or plans to return to France or francophone countries, Lycée Claudel is a distinctive and well-regarded option.
Turnpoint School and several smaller independent schools in Ottawa and Gatineau serve specific learning needs, including students with learning differences who have not thrived in conventional school environments.
The independent school market in Ottawa is genuinely smaller than in Toronto or Vancouver, which means the choice for most families is essentially between Ashbury, Elmwood, Lycée Claudel, and the public or Catholic boards. For families who are not specifically targeting these schools, Ottawa’s public and Catholic options are strong enough to be genuine competitors.
Best Elementary Schools in Ottawa
Ottawa’s elementary landscape — across all four boards — includes a range of strong schools, with performance varying significantly by neighbourhood and programme type.
Among OCDSB elementary schools, the most consistently high Fraser-rated schools are concentrated in established central and west Ottawa neighbourhoods. Hopewell Avenue Public School and Elmdale Public School in the Westboro and Glebe areas consistently earn strong ratings and have highly engaged parent communities. Devonshire Community Public School and several other centrally located schools are similarly well-regarded.
Among OCSB elementary schools, several schools in the west end and Kanata area earn strong Fraser ratings. The Catholic board’s elementary schools generally perform well in provincial assessments, and for Catholic families the board offers competitive academics with no tuition.
French-language elementary options through CEPEO and CECCE are available for rights-holders and are particularly relevant for francophone families or those wanting full French-language education from Kindergarten. Ottawa’s bilingual character means the French-language public schools are a genuine and well-resourced option, not a niche alternative.
Optional programmes at the elementary level — French immersion (both early and extended) across both the OCDSB and OCSB, gifted education streams, and arts focus programmes — can meaningfully change what a specific school offers beyond its overall Fraser rating. Identifying which school has the programme that fits your child is often more useful than choosing purely on overall rating.
How Ottawa Schools Are Ranked
The primary public ranking tool for Ottawa schools is the Fraser Institute’s annual Ontario school rankings, which rate elementary and secondary schools on a scale of 1 to 10 based on EQAO and OSSLT results. These are publicly searchable at compareschoolrankings.org and are updated annually in November.
A few important caveats when reading Ottawa’s school rankings:
Most Ottawa private schools do not appear. Ashbury College and Elmwood School — the schools most Ottawa families would consider the ‘best’ independent options — do not administer EQAO and therefore do not appear in Fraser rankings. Their absence from the rankings is a data limitation, not a performance indicator.
French-language schools are assessed differently. CEPEO and CECCE schools operate under different assessment frameworks and their Fraser rankings are not directly comparable to English-language school ratings.
Neighbourhood demographics significantly influence ratings. Ottawa schools in higher-income, more educated communities consistently earn higher ratings — a pattern that reflects the compound effect of home environment on student assessment performance, not just school quality in isolation. A school that consistently outperforms demographically similar schools elsewhere in the province is doing something genuinely notable.
Trajectory is more informative than the current score. A school that has improved from 6.5 to 8.5 over five years is meaningfully different from one that has declined from 9 to 7.5. The historical trend on compareschoolrankings.org is worth reviewing alongside the current rating.
For a full explanation of how the Fraser school ranking system works and what it measures, see our Fraser school rankings guide. For Ontario-wide context, see our Ontario high school ranking guide and best high schools in Ontario.
How to Prepare Your Child for Ottawa’s Best Schools
Think Academy works with students across Ontario — including Ottawa — entirely online, which means geography is no barrier to the same structured, expert-led programme available to GTA families.
Mathematics is the most consistent differentiator. Across every type of school in this guide — public, Catholic, and private — strong mathematical performance signals academic readiness more reliably than almost any other indicator. Students who are working above grade level in mathematics are more competitive at optional programme entry points, more prepared for the pace of Ottawa’s top secondary schools, and better positioned for private school admissions where assessments include quantitative components.
Start preparation well before the decision point. For families relocating to Ottawa, the school admissions and enrolment calendar moves quickly — OCDSB optional programme applications, Ashbury and Elmwood admissions timelines, and Catholic board enrolment processes all have specific windows. Understanding where your child’s academic skills sit before the process begins, rather than during it, removes one significant stressor from an already complex transition.
For private school applicants, SSAT preparation matters. Ashbury College uses the SSAT for senior school admissions. Students targeting Ashbury entry at Grade 7 or Grade 9 should factor SSAT preparation into their timeline — ideally beginning 12 months or more before the application window.
For optional programme applicants, above-grade-level performance is the threshold. OCDSB gifted and enrichment programmes, and strong IB preparation at secondary level, favour students who are already working beyond the standard grade-level curriculum. Building that above-grade-level foundation in the elementary years is more effective than attempting to build it during the application process.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best school in Ottawa?
Among public secondary schools, Lisgar Collegiate Institute is the most consistently academically recognised. Among Catholic schools, St. Francis Xavier High School is one of the top-rated in the OCSB. Among private schools, Ashbury College and Elmwood School are Ottawa’s most nationally recognised independent schools.
Do I need to be Catholic to attend a Catholic school in Ottawa?
Yes, in principle — the Ottawa Catholic School Board gives priority to Catholic students. In practice, some schools accept non-Catholic students when space permits. Families should confirm eligibility directly with the OCSB. Enrolment requires Catholic registration, not just personal Catholic affiliation.
How do I apply to Ashbury College?
Ashbury accepts applications through its admissions office, typically for September entry with applications opening in autumn of the preceding year. The school uses the SSAT for senior school admissions. Families should contact Ashbury directly for current timelines and requirements.
Are Ottawa’s French-language schools open to English families?
Enrolment in French-language public schools (CEPEO) and Catholic schools (CECCE) is governed by Section 23 of the Charter — generally, one parent must have received their primary education in French in Canada. Families who do not qualify under Section 23 can access French immersion through the OCDSB and OCSB instead.
How do Ottawa schools compare to Toronto schools?
Ottawa’s public and Catholic schools are generally well-regarded by Ontario standards, with Lisgar Collegiate and the top OCSB schools competitive with strong Toronto-area schools. Ottawa’s private school sector is smaller than Toronto’s — Ashbury and Elmwood are strong schools but the depth of selection available in Toronto (UCC, Branksome Hall, BSS, Havergal, TFS) does not have a direct Ottawa equivalent.
See our related guides: Fraser school rankings guide · best high schools in Ontario · Ontario high school ranking guide · Ontario Catholic schools parent guide · Canadian school system explained
Whatever school your child is heading to in Ottawa — make sure they arrive ready.
