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What the Ontario Ministry of Education requires of a school, in one dated digest.

The Education Act’s rules for private schools, the inspection and credit pages, Growing Success and its 2026 updates, the student records, and the memoranda on the diploma, technology and AI: each document with its title, date and link, who it names, and what it requires.

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Opening and running a private school: the notice of intention, statistics, inspections, credit authority and what a website must say
Assessment and records: Growing Success and its 2026 updates, Ontario Schools, the OSR guideline and the OST manual
The memoranda on the diploma: online learning, community involvement, prior learning and the Ontario Scholar
Technology, safety and AI: the 2026-27 professional activity days, O. Reg. 52/26 on student data, and the code of conduct on phones
For each document, whether it names school boards, private schools or both

Updated 5 October 2026
38 official sources
PDF digest

Opening and running a private school.

The Education Act sets the rules every private school meets. The Ministry’s pages and manual add the requirements for a school that grants OSSD credits.

The law and the yearly filings 2 documents

Education Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. E.2

Government of Ontario, e-LawsConsolidated, current from September 22, 2026

Section 16. A private school is an institution that teaches five or more pupils of compulsory school age or older at any time between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. on a school day. It files a notice of intention by September 1 every year and statistical returns when the Minister asks; a return not made within sixty days of the request is an offence. The Minister may inspect, on request and for a fee, the instruction leading to the OSSD.¹
Private schools
Private schools: notice of intention to operate a private school

Government of Ontario, Ministry of EducationUpdated May 29, 2024

The notice of intention is filed in OnSIS by September 1 every year, and a new operator pays a one-time, non-refundable $300 fee in its first year. A school seeking credit authority sends its pre-inspection materials by September 1, December 1 or May 1, for courses starting in September, February or July. The authority to grant credits is given to the principal, for that school’s students only.²
Private schools

Credit-granting schools and inspections 7 documents

Private schools

Government of Ontario, Ministry of EducationUpdated October 2, 2026

Private schools are independent of the Ministry. A school that grants OSSD credits needs a principal in charge, a complete School Course Calendar, the Ministry’s course titles, descriptions and codes in its outlines, the Ministry’s assessment and evaluation policies, a procedure for reporting to parents, an attendance policy, and OSRs and OSTs kept to Ministry guidelines. It pays a fee for each inspection, may be inspected without notice, and must say on its website whether it can grant credits.³
Private schools
Private Schools Policy and Procedures Manual

Ontario Ministry of Education, Field Services BranchSeptember 2013

The rules for every private school, from the validation visit and the BSID to advertising: no school may state or imply that the Ministry approved or accredited its program, or that it is licensed by or registered with the Ministry. Then the extra rules for inspected and online schools. Published in 2013; the Ministry says it still reflects policy and has some outdated links and information.⁴
Private schools
Policy and Procedure: Denial and Revocation of the Authority to Grant Credits

Ontario Ministry of EducationEffective September 1, 2023

The grounds for refusing or revoking a school’s authority to grant credits, among them credits for courses scheduled for less than 110 hours and diplomas granted without every requirement, the steps of the procedure, and what follows a revocation, from losing the common course codes to returning blank diplomas. It replaces pages 28 to 31 of the 2013 manual.⁵
Credit-granting private schools
Appendix G and G.1 Pre-inspection Report Addendum for Online Schools (form ON00677E)

Ontario Ministry of Education, Central Forms Repository2023-2024 version

For a school that delivers credit courses online: inspector access to every course, how each course reaches 110 hours, a School Course Calendar on a public website, the attendance and acceptable use policies, teachers checking that the work belongs to the enrolled student, and the principal’s account of the proctored final exam.⁶
Online private schools
Private schools that cannot grant credits towards an Ontario Secondary School Diploma

Government of Ontario, Ministry of EducationUpdated July 15, 2026

The schools whose authority to grant credits was revoked, by school year, with the BSID, the address and the date the revocation took effect.⁷
Public list
Private school contact information

Ontario Data Catalogue, Ministry of EducationData files dated September 4, 2026; updated monthly

The Ministry’s list of private schools, with whether each offers credits, its principal and its contacts, in a file updated monthly, with a separate file of international private schools. The Ministry says the lists are not endorsements.⁸
Open data
Find an international school offering Ontario credits

Government of Ontario, Ministry of EducationUpdated July 10, 2025

A school outside Ontario grants OSSD credits under an agreement with the Ministry, which inspects it for the standard of instruction and the agreement; the principal is authorized after a satisfactory inspection.⁹
Schools outside Ontario

Assessment, reporting and the records.

Assessment and reporting 3 documents

Growing Success: Assessment, Evaluation, and Reporting in Ontario Schools, First Edition, Covering Grades 1 to 12

Ontario Ministry of Education2010

The policy on assessing, evaluating and reporting achievement in Grades 1 to 12, in effect from September 2010: the achievement chart, final evaluation, the report cards, and the rules on cheating, plagiarism and late work. Teachers of online courses follow it on any learning management system. The Private Schools Policy and Procedures Manual says it applies to every Ontario school, private schools included.¹⁰
Boards and private schools
Growing success: assessment, evaluation and reporting (Kindergarten to Grade 12)

Government of Ontario, Ministry of EducationUpdated August 21, 2026

The updates that are not in the 2010 PDF. From 2026-27 the final mark in Grades 9 and 10 is 65 per cent classroom work, 20 per cent final evaluations and 15 per cent attendance and participation, and in Grades 11 and 12, 65, 25 and 10. Most secondary courses need a written exam. Private schools may continue to proctor exams online.¹¹
Boards; names private schools
Ontario Schools, Kindergarten to Grade 12: Policy and Program Requirements

Government of Ontario, Ministry of EducationPublished August 23, 2024; updated January 14, 2026

The requirements for the diploma and certificates, credits, course codes and records. One credit is granted for a course scheduled for at least 110 hours. Written for publicly funded schools; private schools that ask to offer credits must meet the same requirements on credit integrity, assessment and reporting. It replaced the 2016 document in August 2024.¹²
Boards and credit-granting private schools

The student records 2 documents

Ontario Student Record (OSR) guideline

Government of Ontario, Ministry of Education2000, revised 2020; page updated August 27, 2025

How the Ontario Student Record is set up, kept, used, transferred and destroyed. Report cards are kept five years after a student retires from school; the OSR folder, the OST and the office index card, 55 years. An inspected private school keeps OSRs to the Ministry’s guidelines.^13,3
Boards; inspected private schools
The Ontario Student Transcript (OST): Manual, 2013

Ontario Ministry of Education2013

How the Ontario Student Transcript is set up, kept, issued and stored: Grade 9 and 10 courses passed, every Grade 11 and 12 course passed or attempted, late withdrawals marked W, and notations such as P for a credit earned at an inspected private school by a student of a publicly funded school.¹⁴
Secondary schools

The memoranda on the diploma.

Policy/Program Memoranda are written for school boards. These name inspected private schools in their own lists of who they apply to, or are about them.

Memoranda that name inspected private schools 5 documents

Policy/Program Memorandum 167: Online learning graduation requirement

Ontario Ministry of EducationIssued February 1, 2022

Two online learning credits for the OSSD for students who entered Grade 9 in 2020-21 or later, unless they opt out or are exempted. All online credits earned at a school authorized to grant OSSD credits may count, and the memorandum lists inspected private and international schools among those schools.¹⁵
Boards and inspected private schools
Policy/Program Memorandum 129: Prior learning assessment and recognition (PLAR): implementation in Ontario secondary schools

Ontario Ministry of EducationIssued July 6, 2001

The challenge and equivalency rules for prior learning in secondary school. An inspected private school that chooses to use PLAR must have challenge policies consistent with provincial policy.¹⁷
Boards and inspected private schools
Policy/Program Memorandum 132: Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition for Mature Students - Revised Mandatory Requirements

Ontario Ministry of EducationIssued July 28, 2023

The revised mandatory PLAR requirements for mature students. Inspected private schools may choose to apply them.¹⁸
Boards and inspected private schools
Policy/Program Memorandum 118: Religious education programs offered in inspected private secondary schools

Ontario Ministry of EducationIssued April 28, 1993

Inspected private secondary schools may offer religious education courses toward the OSSD. Ontario Schools now treats them as locally developed courses that need Ministry approval, up to four credits.¹⁹
Inspected private schools
Policy/Program Memorandum 53: Ontario Scholar program

Ontario Ministry of EducationIssued April 14, 2009

A student is an Ontario Scholar with an aggregate of at least 480 marks over six eligible credits.²⁰
Boards and inspected private schools

Community involvement 1 document

Policy/Program Memorandum 124: Ontario Secondary School Diploma requirement: community involvement activities

Ontario Ministry of EducationIssued July 28, 2023

At least 40 hours of community involvement for the OSSD. The principal decides whether the requirement is met and records it on the OST. For a student who comes from home schooling, a non-inspected private school or outside Ontario with two or more years of secondary school, the principal sets the hours.¹⁶
School boards

The 2026-27 changes.

Assessment from 2026-27 2 documents

Putting Student Achievement First Act, 2026, S.O. 2026, c. 4 (Bill 101)

Government of Ontario, e-LawsAssented to May 7, 2026

Amends the Education Act. Among other things, it lets the Minister set policies and guidelines on assessing student achievement in board schools and require boards to follow them.²¹
School boards
Ontario Putting Student Achievement First as Students Return to School

Ontario Newsroom, Ministry of EducationSeptember 8, 2026

The Ministry’s announcement of the 2026-27 changes: classroom work 65 per cent of final grades, final evaluations 20 per cent in Grades 9 and 10 and 25 per cent in Grades 11 and 12, written final exams in most courses, and attendance and participation in the mark.²²
Publicly funded schools

Technology, safety and AI.

AI and student data 3 documents

Mandatory Professional Activity Days for the 2026-27 School Year

Ontario Ministry of Education, memorandum from the Minister and Deputy MinisterMay 15, 2026 (Appendix A updated July 10, 2026)

Boards must hold the mandatory professional activity days on set topics, one of them cyber safety and artificial intelligence: learning the LUMI AI tool in the Virtual Learning Environment and the board’s approved AI tools, and how to use them safely with students. Educators must understand their duties under privacy law, including safeguarding student data when they use educational technology and AI tools.²³
School boards
O. Reg. 52/26: Digital technology affecting individuals under age 18 (Enhancing Digital Security and Trust Act, 2024)

Government of Ontario, e-LawsIn force July 1, 2026

A school board gives written notice when a student’s personal digital information will be disclosed to the owner or operator of a software application it uses or acquires for students: to the parent of a student under 16, and to the student at 16 or 17. The notice names the information, the authority, the purpose and the application.²⁴
School boards
Ontario Strengthening Safeguards for Children’s Personal Information

Ontario Newsroom, Ministry of Public and Business Service DeliveryMay 9, 2024

The announcement of the legislation that became the Enhancing Digital Security and Trust Act, 2024, including protections for student data, and of work on safeguards for responsible AI in the public sector, schools included.²⁵
Public sector

Conduct, phones and remote learning 4 documents

Policy/Program Memorandum 128: The Provincial Code of Conduct and School Board Codes of Conduct

Ontario Ministry of EducationIssued June 27, 2024; in effect September 1, 2024

The Provincial Code of Conduct, virtual learning included. No personal mobile devices during instructional time except in the circumstances it lists; boards restrict access to social media on school networks and devices; from 2024-25 report cards tell students and parents about classroom distractions, including from devices.²⁶
School boards
Policy/Program Memorandum 164: Requirements for Remote Learning

Ontario Ministry of EducationIssued August 13, 2020

For an extended interruption to in-person learning: a daily schedule of 300 minutes of learning, synchronous time by grade, devices and internet access, and updated cyber security and privacy protocols.²⁷
School boards
Policy/Program Memorandum 144: Bullying prevention and intervention

Ontario Ministry of EducationIssued November 25, 2021

Every board has a bullying prevention and intervention plan, and cyber-bullying through social media, messaging and gaming is within it.²⁸
School boards
Policy/Program Memorandum 9: Duty to report children in need of protection

Ontario Ministry of EducationIssued January 7, 2019

Explains the duty, under the Child, Youth and Family Services Act, to report at once to a children’s aid society any reasonable suspicion that a child is or may be in need of protection. The Act’s duty applies to any person.²⁹
Any person

Other memoranda, for school boards.

These name school boards in their lists of who they apply to. A private school is not named in them.

Memoranda written for school boards
Memorandum	Issued	What it requires
PPM 155: Diagnostic assessment	January 7, 2013	Teachers use diagnostic assessment during the year, choosing tools from the board’s list.³⁰
PPM 157: Copyright-protected works	June 21, 2013	Fair dealing guidelines; a use outside them needs written permission and any fee.³¹
PPM 166: Anti-sex trafficking protocols	July 6, 2021	Boards establish and follow a protocol for suspected sex trafficking.³²
PPM 168: Reading instruction and early reading screening	July 28, 2023	Early reading screening in Year 2 of Kindergarten, Grade 1 and Grade 2.³³
PPM 169: Student mental health	June 17, 2024	A three-year mental health and addictions strategy and a one-year action plan.³⁴
PPM 170: Communication with parents	June 6, 2024	Published parent information and service standards for answering parents.³⁵
Student school attendance confirmation	September 17, 2026	Rollcall protocols for Kindergarten to Grade 8 when students move between locations.³⁶

The Ministry keeps every active memorandum in its index, Education in Ontario: policy and program direction.³⁷

Tutoring centres.

The Education Act defines a private school as an institution that teaches five or more pupils of compulsory school age or older at any time between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. on a school day.¹
The Child Care and Early Years Act treats care in a program whose main purpose is to help children with academic studies, such as tutoring, as an exempt circumstance. So is care in a program a private school runs only for its own pupils aged 4 or older. The Ministry says it does not pre-approve programs or grant formal exemptions.³⁸

A digest, not the documents. Each entry sums up an official document in a few lines and links to it, and the document itself is what applies. Many are written for school boards; each entry says who it names.

Nothing here is legal advice. For a decision about your school, read the document, and where it matters, ask the Ministry or a lawyer.

Where Elevate Grade fits

Answer staff from the school’s own policies, with the source.

Marlo sits inside the school’s Moodle. Staff ask about policy, deadlines and live records, and every answer comes with its source attached, from the documents and courses the school chooses.

Try Marlo

Sources

Every fact above is numbered to one of these official sources. Each was read on the day shown, and the resource was updated on 5 October 2026. Check the source before you rely on a detail: rules and guidance change.

Education Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. E.2, Government of Ontario, e-Laws, Consolidated, current from September 22, 2026.Read 5 October 2026
Private schools: notice of intention to operate a private school, Government of Ontario, Ministry of Education, Updated May 29, 2024.Read 5 October 2026
Private schools, Government of Ontario, Ministry of Education, Updated October 2, 2026.Read 5 October 2026
Private Schools Policy and Procedures Manual, Ontario Ministry of Education, Field Services Branch, September 2013.Read 5 October 2026
Policy and Procedure: Denial and Revocation of the Authority to Grant Credits, Ontario Ministry of Education, Effective September 1, 2023.Read 5 October 2026
Appendix G and G.1 Pre-inspection Report Addendum for Online Schools (form ON00677E), Ontario Ministry of Education, Central Forms Repository, 2023-2024 version.Read 5 October 2026
Private schools that cannot grant credits towards an Ontario Secondary School Diploma, Government of Ontario, Ministry of Education, Updated July 15, 2026.Read 5 October 2026
Private school contact information, Ontario Data Catalogue, Ministry of Education, Data files dated September 4, 2026; updated monthly.Read 5 October 2026
Find an international school offering Ontario credits, Government of Ontario, Ministry of Education, Updated July 10, 2025.Read 5 October 2026
Growing Success: Assessment, Evaluation, and Reporting in Ontario Schools, First Edition, Covering Grades 1 to 12, Ontario Ministry of Education, 2010.Read 5 October 2026
Growing success: assessment, evaluation and reporting (Kindergarten to Grade 12), Government of Ontario, Ministry of Education, Updated August 21, 2026.Read 5 October 2026
Ontario Schools, Kindergarten to Grade 12: Policy and Program Requirements, Government of Ontario, Ministry of Education, Published August 23, 2024; updated January 14, 2026.Read 5 October 2026
Ontario Student Record (OSR) guideline, Government of Ontario, Ministry of Education, 2000, revised 2020; page updated August 27, 2025.Read 5 October 2026
The Ontario Student Transcript (OST): Manual, 2013, Ontario Ministry of Education, 2013.Read 5 October 2026
Policy/Program Memorandum 167: Online learning graduation requirement, Ontario Ministry of Education, Issued February 1, 2022.Read 5 October 2026
Policy/Program Memorandum 124: Ontario Secondary School Diploma requirement: community involvement activities, Ontario Ministry of Education, Issued July 28, 2023.Read 5 October 2026
Policy/Program Memorandum 129: Prior learning assessment and recognition (PLAR): implementation in Ontario secondary schools, Ontario Ministry of Education, Issued July 6, 2001.Read 5 October 2026
Policy/Program Memorandum 132: Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition for Mature Students - Revised Mandatory Requirements, Ontario Ministry of Education, Issued July 28, 2023.Read 5 October 2026
Policy/Program Memorandum 118: Religious education programs offered in inspected private secondary schools, Ontario Ministry of Education, Issued April 28, 1993.Read 5 October 2026
Policy/Program Memorandum 53: Ontario Scholar program, Ontario Ministry of Education, Issued April 14, 2009.Read 5 October 2026
Putting Student Achievement First Act, 2026, S.O. 2026, c. 4 (Bill 101), Government of Ontario, e-Laws, Assented to May 7, 2026.Read 5 October 2026
Ontario Putting Student Achievement First as Students Return to School, Ontario Newsroom, Ministry of Education, September 8, 2026.Read 5 October 2026
Mandatory Professional Activity Days for the 2026-27 School Year, Ontario Ministry of Education, memorandum from the Minister and Deputy Minister, May 15, 2026 (Appendix A updated July 10, 2026).Read 5 October 2026
O. Reg. 52/26: Digital technology affecting individuals under age 18 (Enhancing Digital Security and Trust Act, 2024), Government of Ontario, e-Laws, In force July 1, 2026.Read 5 October 2026
Ontario Strengthening Safeguards for Children’s Personal Information, Ontario Newsroom, Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery, May 9, 2024.Read 5 October 2026
Policy/Program Memorandum 128: The Provincial Code of Conduct and School Board Codes of Conduct, Ontario Ministry of Education, Issued June 27, 2024; in effect September 1, 2024.Read 5 October 2026
Policy/Program Memorandum 164: Requirements for Remote Learning, Ontario Ministry of Education, Issued August 13, 2020.Read 5 October 2026
Policy/Program Memorandum 144: Bullying prevention and intervention, Ontario Ministry of Education, Issued November 25, 2021.Read 5 October 2026
Policy/Program Memorandum 9: Duty to report children in need of protection, Ontario Ministry of Education, Issued January 7, 2019.Read 5 October 2026
Policy/Program Memorandum 155: Diagnostic assessment in support of student learning, Ontario Ministry of Education, Issued January 7, 2013.Read 5 October 2026
Policy/Program Memorandum 157: Use of copyright-protected works for education, Ontario Ministry of Education, Issued June 21, 2013.Read 5 October 2026
Policy/Program Memorandum 166: Keeping Students Safe: Policy Framework for School Board Anti-Sex Trafficking Protocols, Ontario Ministry of Education, Issued July 6, 2021.Read 5 October 2026
Policy/Program Memorandum 168: Reading Instruction and Early Reading Screening, Ontario Ministry of Education, Issued July 28, 2023.Read 5 October 2026
Policy/Program Memorandum 169: Student Mental Health, Ontario Ministry of Education, Issued June 17, 2024.Read 5 October 2026
Policy/Program Memorandum 170: School board communication with parents, Ontario Ministry of Education, Issued June 6, 2024.Read 5 October 2026
Student school attendance confirmation policy, Ontario Ministry of Education, memorandum from the Minister and Deputy Minister, September 17, 2026.Read 5 October 2026
Education in Ontario: policy and program direction, Government of Ontario, Ministry of Education, Updated October 20, 2025.Read 5 October 2026
Child Care and Early Years Act, 2014, S.O. 2014, c. 11, Sched. 1, Government of Ontario, e-Laws, Consolidated, current from May 7, 2026.Read 5 October 2026

Questions about this resource.

Anything else, write to support@elevategrade.com.

Do the Ministry’s memoranda apply to private schools?

Most are written for school boards and name boards in the list of who they apply to. Some also name inspected private schools, among them PPM 167 on online learning, PPMs 129 and 132 on prior learning, PPM 118 on religious education and PPM 53 on Ontario Scholars. Each entry in the digest says who the document names.

What does a private school file every year?

A notice of intention to operate, by September 1 every year, under section 16 of the Education Act, and statistical returns when the Ministry asks for them. A new operator also pays a one-time, non-refundable fee of $300 in its first year.

Can a private school say the Ministry approved it?

No. The Private Schools Policy and Procedures Manual says a private school may not state or imply that the Ministry approved or accredited its program, or that the school is licensed by or registered with the Ministry. The Ministry’s private schools page adds that a school must say on its website whether it can grant OSSD credits.

Is a tutoring centre a private school?

The Education Act defines a private school as an institution that teaches five or more pupils of compulsory school age or older at any time between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. on a school day. The Child Care and Early Years Act treats a program whose main purpose is academic help, such as tutoring, as an exempt circumstance. The Ministry says it does not pre-approve programs or grant formal exemptions under that Act.

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