Why we Initially Chose Public Schools

Many companies (approximately 70%) pay for ex-pats to utilize private schools in Canada. However, some do not. We decided to try the Ontario public system because:

1. Our company did not offer tuition re-imbursement and Private schools are an expensive investment for 3 children

2. We could find no objective information comparing Ontario vs. US elementary school quality though we checked extensively on the Web, with the US Embassy and with our company’s HR department, etc.

3. We assumed, incorrectly, that Canadian schools were at least as good and might even be better than US schools.

4. Our US teachers evaluated the printed Ontario Curriculum for Grades 6, 7 & 8, and due to the generalized descriptions, felt the Ontario Schools were adequate, though different. (Unfortunately, we didn’t review the Grade K-5 Curriculum which is done below and shows the issues we encountered.)

5. We consulted as many people as we could find who had some experience with Canadian schools but most were Canadians who couldn’t provide adequate comparisons