Photo: Northern Lights Graffiti from Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada · CC BY 2.0Most schools around Owen Sound score below the middle in Ontario: 6 of 8
The highest results belong to Keppel-Sarawak Elementary School and École élémentaire catholique St-Dominique-Savio. They come under 3 school boards. The 3 km around Owen Sound counts 7 elementary schools and 3 secondary schools, 5,435 students between them.
What stands out about Owen Sound’s schools
More Catholic schools
5 of 10 schools here are Catholic, against 34% in Ontario; Bruce-Grey CDSB and Conseil scolaire catholique Providence run them. Who runs them ↓
Results on the rise
At 4 tested schools out of 8, the three-year changes lean upward; Keppel-Sarawak Elementary School, École élémentaire catholique St-Dominique-Savio and East Ridge Community School gained most often. Results ↓
One big school
With 1,285 students, Owen Sound District Secondary School Secondary School is the area’s biggest. Every school ↓
Each finding compares the town’s schools with every school in its province.
How Owen Sound’s schools do on Ontario’s tests
EQAO’s Grade 3, 6 and 9 assessments and the literacy test, 2024-25: each school against every school in Ontario.
Its School Grade is C+: it compares these results with the other towns of the province.
The area’s schools by fifth of the province
Each school’s band is the average of its measures’ fifths. The mark shows an even fifth of the area’s schools.
| Measure | Schools | Middle here | Ontario |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 reading | 6 | 74% | 76% |
| Grade 3 writing | 6 | 56% | 65% |
| Grade 3 math | 6 | 59% | 65% |
| Grade 6 reading | 6 | 78% | 88% |
| Grade 6 writing | 6 | 77% | 86% |
| Grade 6 math | 6 | 37% | 51% |
| Grade 9 math | 2 | 47% | 55% |
| Literacy test (OSSLT), first try | 2 | 81% | 85% |
On Grade 6 math the area trails, 37% against 51% in Ontario. The area is ahead on 0 of 8 measures and behind on 7.
Every school’s results (8)
| School | Measure | Band |
|---|---|---|
| Keppel-Sarawak Elementary SchoolElementary · Grades JK–6 | G3 reading 70% · G3 writing 77% · G3 math 83% · G6 reading 89% · G6 writing 92% · G6 math 60% | Second fifth |
| École élémentaire catholique St-Dominique-SavioElementary · Grades JK–8 | G3 reading 87% · G3 writing 67% · G3 math 80% · G6 reading 93% · G6 writing 87% · G6 math 40% | Second fifth |
| East Ridge Community SchoolElementary · Grades JK–8 | G3 reading 71% · G3 writing 60% · G3 math 62% · G6 reading 72% · G6 writing 75% · G6 math 34% | Fourth fifth |
| Notre Dame Catholic SchoolElementary · Grades 1–8 | G3 reading 69% · G3 writing 42% · G3 math 49% · G6 reading 84% · G6 writing 78% · G6 math 55% | Fourth fifth |
| Owen Sound District Secondary School Secondary SchoolSecondary · Grades 9–12 | G9 math 49% · OSSLT 81% | Fourth fifth |
| St Mary's High SchoolSecondary · Grades 9–12 | G9 math 44% · OSSLT 80% | Fourth fifth |
| Alexandra Community SchoolElementary · Grades JK–8 | G3 reading 77% · G3 writing 52% · G3 math 55% · G6 reading 69% · G6 writing 53% · G6 math 23% | Fourth fifth |
| Hillcrest Elementary SchoolElementary · Grades JK–8 | G3 reading 77% · G3 writing 45% · G3 math 45% · G6 reading 62% · G6 writing 59% · G6 math 22% | Bottom fifth |
Ontario Ministry of Education, School Information Finder 2024–25 (EQAO results; N/R where groups are too small). Open Government Licence – Ontario.
The 3 boards that run schools here
Every board or service centre with a school in the area, and its schools.
| Board | System | Schools | Students |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bluewater DSBOwen Sound District Secondary School, East Ridge, Hillcrest, Keppel-Sarawak, Alexandra | English public | 5 | 3,340 |
| Bruce-Grey CDSBSt Mary's, Notre Dame, St Basil's Separate | English Catholic | 3 | 1,920 |
| Conseil scolaire catholique ProvidenceSt-Dominique-Savio, Saint-Dominique-Savio | French Catholic | 2 | 175 |
Boards as Ontario’s list names them (its short forms: DSB, CDSB, CS).
Where the 10 schools in and around Owen Sound are
Every school as a pin, coloured by system; each opens its own page.
Points from the provincial lists.
Schooling in English and French around Owen Sound
Each school by its language of instruction, with the share in Ontario marked.
The mark on each bar is the share of schools in Ontario.
In French: École élémentaire catholique St-Dominique-Savio and École secondaire catholique Saint-Dominique-Savio. The public ones of the 2 come under Conseil scolaire catholique Providence.
Section 23 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms gives French-speaking parents the right to French-language schooling for their children, through the French-language boards.
Who runs Owen Sound’s schools
Each level’s schools by system: English public, English Catholic, French-language, and independent or other.
By system, they split: English public 5, English Catholic 3 and French-language 2.
The provincial school lists: each school’s board, language and Catholic or public status.
How children get a place in Owen Sound
The neighbourhood school
The neighbourhood school is the one the board designates for the address; choice beyond it depends on space.
Catholic schools
The Catholic boards are as public as the others: free, with elementary schools that generally require a Catholic parent and high schools open to everyone.
French-language schools
French-language boards admit the children of rights-holders under section 23 of the Charter (a parent whose first language is French, or who was schooled in French in Canada), and may admit others through an admissions committee.
The provinces’ education acts and the boards’ own admission policies; check with the board for a given address.
The 10 schools in and around Owen Sound
High schools within reach of Owen Sound
Every secondary school within 15 km of the town, nearest first.
3 secondary schools are within 15 km: 1 English Catholic, 1 French Catholic and 1 English public. First by distance comes St Mary's High School, at 0.6 km.
| School | Board | System | Band | Students | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Mary's High SchoolSecondary · Grades 9–12 | Bruce-Grey CDSB | English Catholic | Fourth fifth | 1,035 | 0.6 km |
| École secondaire catholique Saint-Dominique-SavioSecondary · Grades 9–12 | Conseil scolaire catholique Providence | French Catholic | – | – | 1.3 km |
| Owen Sound District Secondary School Secondary SchoolSecondary · Grades 9–12 | Bluewater DSB | English public | Fourth fifth | 1,285 | 1.6 km |
Distances in a straight line from the town’s centre point.
Towns its size in Ontario
Similar-sized towns and their schools within 3 km, by population.
| Town | Population | Schools | Students | French | Nearest secondary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meadowvale | 37,821 | 54 | 27,150 | 5 | 0.8 km |
| … | |||||
| Agincourt South-Malvern West | 24,438 | 111 | 39,550 | 2 | 1.2 km |
| Milliken | 24,431 | 99 | 39,970 | 2 | 1.5 km |
| West London | 24,322 | 47 | 28,855 | 2 | 2.7 km |
| Springwater | 24,144 | 38 | 18,135 | 3 | 12 km |
| Owen Sound | 24,075 | 10 | 5,435 | 2 | 0.6 km |
| Newtonbrook West | 23,978 | 63 | 30,795 | 2 | 0.7 km |
| Huntsville | 23,948 | 7 | 2,890 | 0 | 1.3 km |
| Port Perry | 23,928 | 9 | 4,470 | 0 | 3.6 km |
| Essex | 23,872 | 7 | 2,715 | 1 | 13 km |
| … | |||||
| Mount Forest | 14,407 | 6 | 1,900 | 0 | 13 km |
229 out of 252 comparable towns have more schools. Schooling in French is on hand in 203 of the 253.
Populations from Statistics Canada; schools from the provincial lists, in or within 3 km of each town.
Schools in the towns around Owen Sound
Each town’s schools in or within 3 km of its outline; distances as the crow flies.
| Town | Schools | French | Catholic or independent | Nearest secondary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Owen Sound | 10 | 2 | 5 | 0.6 km |
| Georgian Bluffs 6.9 km | 13 | 2 | 5 | 6.4 km |
13 schools make Georgian Bluffs the best supplied neighbour.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Boards and systems. The board is the public body that runs a school; this province has English and French boards, each public or Catholic.
- The year. Schools as listed for 2024-25.
- Bands, not ranks. Each result is placed in a fifth of Ontario’s schools on the same measure; a school’s band averages its fifths. EQAO doesn’t report small groups, so no school is ranked to the place.
- What isn’t here. No ratings by inspectors, no enrolment trend: neither is published school by school.
- The kinds of school. The levels follow each school’s published grades: elementary below Grade 7 or 9, secondary above, all-grade when it runs the whole way.
- Which schools count. A school counts when it sits inside Owen Sound or less than 3 km beyond its edge.
Questions about schools in Owen Sound
Which boards run the schools in Owen Sound?
By number of schools: Bluewater DSB (5), Bruce-Grey CDSB (3) and Conseil scolaire catholique Providence (2).
How do I get a place at a school in Owen Sound?
Register with the board that runs the school: the address decides the designated school in each system, and the board can say which one it is.
Is there a French-language school in Owen Sound?
Yes, there are French-language schools: École élémentaire catholique St-Dominique-Savio and École secondaire catholique Saint-Dominique-Savio.
How many schools are there in Owen Sound?
Inside the town there are 9; another 1 sit within 3 km.
Sources: Ontario Ministry of Education, School Information Finder 2024–25 and school contact list (Open Government Licence – Ontario) · map tiles © OpenStreetMap contributors. Under the Statistics Canada Open Licence.
Adapted from Statistics Canada (Census of Population 2021, population estimates 2025, 2021 census boundaries) under the Statistics Canada Open Licence; this does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada. Neighbourhood names in some cities © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).