UPPER CANADA DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD

What You Need To Graduate

The requirements to earn an Ontario Secondary School Diploma depend on when you started Grade 9.

For students who started in 2023 or earlier:

• 18 compulsory credits
• 12 optional credits
• the literacy requirement
• at least 2 online learning credits

For students who started in 2024 or later:

• 17 compulsory credits
• 13 optional credits
• the literacy requirement
• at least 2 online learning credits
  

Mandatory Community Involvement

Effective September 1, 1999, every student who begins secondary school in Ontario is required to complete 40 hours of community involvement in order to receive a diploma. Students can begin collecting their hours in the summer following Grade 8 graduation.

The purpose of this requirement is to encourage students to understand the various roles they can play in their community and to help develop a greater sense of civic responsibility and belonging within the community.

Specifications:

• Students can not be paid for the event.
• These activities must take place outside of class time (i.e. lunch hour, before/after school and weekends).
• It must not be part of a credit course including work experiences related to credits (i.e. co-op, job shadowing, work experience).
• All 40 hours must be completed by the end of Grade 12. 

Please print the Community Involvement Form below to track completed hours.

If you have any additional questions regarding mandatory community involvement, please contact your school.

Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT)

"The Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT) measures whether or not students are meeting the minimum standard for literacy across all subjects up to the end of Grade 9. Successful completion of the literacy test is one of the requirements to earn an Ontario Secondary School Diploma."
-Education Quality and Accountability Office 

The OSSLT is a standardized test that Grade 10 students across Ontario write towards the end of the school year (often toward the end of March or the beginning of April). The test is entirely based on the Ontario Curriculum and is meant to test the reading and writing skills that students have learned throughout their education (up to the end of Grade 9). Passing the test is one of the requirements for graduation.

For more information about the OSSLT, you can visit the official OSSLT website. The website also has sample test questions, tips for writing the test, commonly asked questions, and guides for parents and students.