The system of education in Montréal is governed by rules set at the Ministry of Education, Leisure and Sport. It’s based around school boards (Commission Scolaires in French) which run schools in the districts allocated to them.
Schools boards run either French Language or English language schools (with a few exceptions – see below), however the choice of school is limited. If you have been educated in English in Canada, your children can go to an anglophone school, otherwise you are obliged to go to a Francophone school.
Every school run by the school board is, in theory, as good as the next one. Therefore your child will go to the school closest to your home. Period. End of story. You have no choice. Therefore you have to buy a home in a good catchment area. Be careful though, catchment areas can be changed based upon changing school populations.
Of course, this means that the richer you are, the more you can afford a better home in a better area, and the better your child’s education will be. I hope you’re not short of cash….
There are some exceptions to this rule in some school boards. Québec has some alternative schools which offer an education, usually with more parental involvement, that is less standard. However, these schools are more open to selecting their intake. International schools can also select their intake and are very elite with an enriched curriculum.
Of course, if you don’t like the system, there is always the private sector. A private school will cost between $8,000 and $10,000 per year.
Top Ten Public Schools (Source: Le Journal de Montréal)
Ecole International de Westmount
College Saint Louis
Ecole d’Education Internationale
Royal West Academy
Vincent Massey Collegiate
Poly. Horizon-Blanc
St Thomas High School
Ecole Secondaire de Rochebelle
Ecole Pierre-Laporte
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For those who are interested in private school in Montreal there is a good variety of schools listed at Our Kids, Canada’s source for information on private schools. See background advice and a listing of several different kinds of Montreal Private Schools.