OSSD Requirements and Community Involvement

OSSD REQUIREMENTS

What do you need to graduate?

Ontario's secondary school program is based on a credit system. In order to obtain a secondary school diploma, students must earn a total of 30 credit, complete the literacy requirement, and complete 40 hours of community involvement. In order to earn a credit, students must successfully complete the 110-hour course. 18 out of the 30 credits students complete must come from a compulsory list of subjects. The remaining 12 credits are optional, earned in courses that the student may choose for him or herself from those available at the school.

Students must earn the following compulsory credits to obtain the Ontario Secondary School Diploma:

  • 4 credits in English* 
  • 3 credits in mathematics
  • 2 credits in science
  • 1 credit in Canadian history
  • 1 credit in Canadian geography
  • 1 credit in the arts
  • 1 credit in health and physical education
  • 1 credit in French as a second language
  • 0.5 credit in career studies
  • 0.5 credit in civics

1 additional credit in English, or French as a second language, or a Native language, or a classical or an 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 French as a second language, or cooperative education**

1 additional credit in science, or technological education, or French as a second language, or computer studies, or cooperative education**

In addition to the compulsory credits, students must complete:

  • 12 optional credits***
  • 40 hours of community involvement activities
  • the provincial literacy requirement
*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.

Printable Diploma Requirements