What Will You Need to Graduate from High School

The Ontario Secondary School Diploma:

Issued by the Ontario Ministry of Education and states that the student has achieved the minimum requirements for graduation (30 credits)

The Credit System:

The Ministry of Education defines a credit as follows: “A credit is granted in recognition of the successful completion of a course for which a minimum of 110 hours has been scheduled (approximately 76 minutes per day/per semester).”

Ontario Secondary School Diploma Requirements:

In order to earn an Ontario Secondary School Diploma, a student commencing a secondary school program on or after September 1, 1999, must earn a minimum of 30 credits as follows:

Compulsory Credits (Total of 18)

• 4 credits in English (2 must be from the Senior Division)

• 3 credits in Mathematics (1 must be from the Senior Division)

• 2 credits in Science

• 1 credit in French as a Second Language

• 1 credit in Canadian Geography

• 1 credit in Canadian History

• 1 credit in Health and Physical Education

• 1 credit in the Arts

• 1 credit in Civics (0.5) and Career (0.5) Education

AND three credits, 1 from each of the following groups:

• 1 additional credit in English, French as a second language, or a Native language, or a classical or international language, or social sciences and the humanities, or Canadian and world studies, or guidance and career education or cooperative education**

• 1 additional credit in health and physical education, or the arts, or business studies, or cooperative education**

• 1 additional credit in science, or technological education, or cooperative education***

Elective Credits (Total 12)

Students may choose 12 courses based upon availability and timetable compatibility***

*A maximum of 3 credits in English as a second language (ESL) or English literacy development (ELD) may be counted towards the 4 compulsory credits in English, but the fourth must be a credit earned for a Grade 12 compulsory English course.

**A maximum of 2 credits in cooperative education can count as compulsory credits.

***May include up to four credits achieved through approved Dual Credit courses.

Additional Requirements

40 hours of community service**

Successful completion of the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test

**Please note that due to the current pandemic, community service hours for students earning their OSSD during the 2021-2022 school year have been reduced to 20 hours. The completion of the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test has been waived for the 2021-2022 school year ONLY.