Photo: Gogerr · CC BY-SA 4.05 of Port Elgin’s 6 tested schools score in the lower two fifths in Ontario
The Catholic boards run 1 of its 7 schools, below the 34% in Ontario. The 3 km around Port Elgin counts 6 elementary schools and 1 secondary school, 2,975 students between them.
What stands out about Port Elgin’s schools
Results on the rise
At 4 tested schools out of 6, the three-year changes lean upward; Saugeen District Secondary School, St Joseph's School and G C Huston Public School gained most often. Results ↓
Every figure here sets the area’s schools beside the rest of its province.
How Port Elgin’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 B−: 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 | 5 | 70% | 76% |
| Grade 3 writing | 5 | 51% | 65% |
| Grade 3 math | 5 | 54% | 65% |
| Grade 6 reading | 5 | 74% | 88% |
| Grade 6 writing | 5 | 77% | 86% |
| Grade 6 math | 5 | 39% | 51% |
| Grade 9 math | 1 | 57% | 55% |
| Literacy test (OSSLT), first try | 1 | 88% | 85% |
Furthest from the provincial middle is Grade 6 math: 39% here, against 51% in Ontario. Across 8 measures: 2 above the middle, 6 below.
Every school’s results (6)
| School | Measure | Band |
|---|---|---|
| Saugeen District Secondary SchoolSecondary · Grades 9–12 | G9 math 57% · OSSLT 88% | Middle fifth |
| Northport Elementary SchoolElementary · Grades JK–8 | G3 reading 71% · G3 writing 51% · G3 math 75% · G6 reading 79% · G6 writing 77% · G6 math 39% | Fourth fifth |
| St Joseph's SchoolElementary · Grades JK–8 | G3 reading 70% · G3 writing 48% · G3 math 60% · G6 reading 86% · G6 writing 86% · G6 math 32% | Fourth fifth |
| Paisley Central SchoolElementary · Grades JK–8 | G3 reading 71% · G3 writing 59% · G3 math 53% · G6 reading 53% · G6 writing 80% · G6 math 53% | Fourth fifth |
| G C Huston Public SchoolElementary · Grades JK–8 | G3 reading 59% · G3 writing 59% · G3 math 54% · G6 reading 74% · G6 writing 59% · G6 math 35% | Bottom fifth |
| Port Elgin-Saugeen Central SchoolElementary · Grades JK–8 | G3 reading 48% · G3 writing 30% · G3 math 51% · G6 reading 74% · G6 writing 70% · G6 math 44% | Bottom fifth |
Ontario Ministry of Education, School Information Finder 2024–25 (EQAO results; N/R where groups are too small). Open Government Licence – Ontario.
Who runs Port Elgin’s schools
Each level’s schools by system: English public, English Catholic, French-language, and independent or other.
By system, they split: English public 6 and English Catholic 1.
The provincial school lists: each school’s board, language and Catholic or public status.
Where the 7 schools in and around Port Elgin are
Each pin is a school, coloured by the system that runs it, sized by its students where the province publishes them.
Points from the provincial lists.
Schooling in English and French around Port Elgin
English, French and other languages of instruction, beside the mix in Ontario.
The mark on each bar is the share of schools in Ontario.
A French-language school would mean a trip out of the area.
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.
The 2 boards that run schools here
The boards and their schools here.
Bluewater DSB runs the most, 6 of them, among 2 boards.
| Board | System | Schools | Students |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bluewater DSBSaugeen District, Port Elgin-Saugeen Central, Northport, G C Huston, Saugeen District Senior, Paisley Central | English public | 6 | 2,685 |
| Bruce-Grey CDSBSt Joseph's | English Catholic | 1 | 290 |
Boards as Ontario’s list names them (its short forms: DSB, CDSB, CS).
How children get a place in Port Elgin
Catholic schools
Families who aren’t Catholic can usually choose a Catholic high school, though rarely a Catholic elementary one.
The neighbourhood school
Where a family lives settles it: the board’s map ties every address to one school, and a seat anywhere else waits on spare room.
The provinces’ education acts and the boards’ own admission policies; check with the board for a given address.
The 7 schools in and around Port Elgin
High schools within reach of Port Elgin
Secondary and all-grade schools within 15 km, by distance.
The one high school within 15 km is Saugeen District Secondary School, at 1.5 km.
| School | Board | System | Band | Students | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saugeen District Secondary SchoolSecondary · Grades 9–12 | Bluewater DSB | English public | Middle fifth | 730 | 1.5 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| King | 29,077 | 70 | 35,320 | 3 | 5.3 km |
| … | |||||
| Downtown Yonge East | 18,251 | 70 | 21,045 | 4 | 0.2 km |
| DT Fairview | 18,209 | 57 | 26,565 | 1 | 1.2 km |
| Mimico-Queensway | 18,207 | 29 | 13,900 | 2 | 1.8 km |
| Listowel | 18,168 | 8 | 3,970 | 0 | 1.5 km |
| Port Elgin | 18,167 | 7 | 2,975 | 0 | 1.5 km |
| Credit Valley | 18,078 | 52 | 33,135 | 0 | 1.1 km |
| Downsview | 18,055 | 78 | 33,210 | 2 | 0.1 km |
| Greater Napanee | 18,016 | 6 | 2,820 | 0 | 1.5 km |
| Thornhill | 17,940 | 68 | 31,750 | 2 | 1.4 km |
| … | |||||
| Hintonburg-Mechanicsville | 10,966 | 47 | 15,445 | 14 | 1.5 km |
More schools than here: 325 of the 351 others. 277 of the 352 have a French-language school.
Populations from Statistics Canada; schools from the provincial lists, in or within 3 km of each town.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Which schools count. Schools inside Port Elgin and those within 3 km of its outline: a family nearby would weigh them all.
- The kinds of school. Elementary schools run from kindergarten to Grade 6 or 8, secondary ones to Grade 12; some cover every grade, and alternative, adult and online schools are listed apart.
- The year. The open list of 2024-25.
- Boards and systems. A public school belongs to a board of one language; in Ontario, Alberta and Saskatchewan a board is also public or Catholic. An independent school runs itself.
- Bands, not ranks. EQAO publishes shares at the provincial standard; the band places each among Ontario’s schools by fifths.
- What isn’t here. Ontario’s private schools aren’t in the open list; no province publishes inspection grades.
Questions about schools in Port Elgin
How do I get a place at a school in Port Elgin?
Choose a system, then register with its board; the address decides the school.
Which boards run the schools in Port Elgin?
By number of schools: Bluewater DSB (6) and Bruce-Grey CDSB (1).
How many schools are there in Port Elgin?
The town holds 6 of them; 1 more are within 3 km of its outline.
Is there a French-language school in Port Elgin?
Not in or within 3 km of Port Elgin; the French-language board can name the nearest.
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).