To participate fully in the society and workplace of the twenty-first century, today’s students will need to be able to use language skilfully and confidently. The Ontario curriculum recognizes the central importance of reading and writing skills in learning across the curriculum and in everyday life, and prepares students for the literacy demands they will face in their postsecondary endeavours. To ensure that they have the essential competencies in reading and writing that they will need to succeed at school, at work, and in daily life, students in Ontario must demonstrate those skills as a requirement for graduation.

The standard method for assessing the literacy skills of students in Ontario for purposes of meeting the literacy requirement for graduation is the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT), implemented in the 2001–2002 school year. The Ontario Secondary School Literacy Course has been developed to provide students who have been unsuccessful on the second test with intensive support in achieving the required reading and writing competencies, and with an alternative means of demonstrating their literacy skills.