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The oldest private schools in Canada

Explore top private schools ranked by their age

Schools ordered by their founding date

Here, we present a list of the oldest private schools in Canada. If a school has been around for a long time, it has prestige and will have established a strong reputation with universities across Canada and worldwide. 

There’s far more to evaluating a school than its age or history, though. Age does not make it the best for your child. You also want to look at a school’s cost, community, culture, programs, and academics, among other things. Ultimately, find a school that’s the right fit for your child and family.

To help you out, we list schools by location and type. While combing through these lists, which can be filtered using our advanced search, make sure to check out our comprehensive school profiles. You can also compare schools in terms of various metrics, like academicsadmissionscourse pedagogiesspecial needs support, and more. Finally, we provide an invaluable advice guide, which contains detailed articles on different types of schoolschoosing a schoolapplying to schools, and many other topics.

School Location Grades Founded
1 King's-Edgehill School Windsor, NS 6 to 12 1788
2 St. John's-Ravenscourt School Winnipeg, MB K to 12 1820
3 Upper Canada College Toronto, ON SK to 12 1829
4 Bishop's College School Sherbrooke, QC 7 to 12 1836
5 Pickering College Newmarket, ON JK to 12 1842
6 Sacred Heart School of Halifax Halifax, NS JK to 12 1849
7 College Bourget Rigaud, QC PS to 12 1850
8 De La Salle College Toronto, ON 5 to 12 1851
9 St. Michael's College School Toronto, ON 7 to 12 1852
10 Albert College Belleville, ON PS to 12 1857
11 Sacred Heart School of Montreal Montreal, QC 7 to 12 1861
12 Trinity College School Port Hope, ON 5 to 12 1865
13 Bishop Strachan School Toronto, ON JK to 12 1867
14 Stanstead College Stanstead, QC 7 to 12 1872
15 Trafalgar Castle School Whitby, ON 4 to 12 1874
16 Rothesay Netherwood School Rothesay, NB 6 to 12 1877
17 Lakefield College School Lakefield, ON 9 to 12 1879
18 Trafalgar School For Girls Montreal, QC 7 to 11 1887
19 Ridley College St. Catharines, ON JK to 12 1889
20 Ashbury College Ottawa, ON 4 to 12 1891
21 St. Mildred's-Lightbourn School Oakville, ON JK to 12 1891
22 Carmel New Church School Kitchener, ON JK to 8 1892
23 Olivet School Etobicoke, ON JK to 5 1893
24 Havergal College Toronto, ON JK to 12 1894
25 St. Andrew's College Aurora, ON 5 to 12 1899


Frequently Asked Questions

What is the oldest private school?
King's-Edgehill School is the oldest private school. The school was founded in 1788.

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From OUR KIDS, Canada’s Guide to Private Schools,
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