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Montreal boarding schools

Learning in one of the academic capitals of the world.

On this page we cover boarding schools in the Montreal area. This includes boarding schools in downtown Montreal, Old Montreal, Mount Royal, Outremont, Westmount, Anjou, Rigaud, St. Laurent, Pointe-Claire, Hampstead, Lasalle, GriffinTown, Côte-Saint-Paul, Verdun, West Island, South Shore, Nuns Island, and Ville Marie. It also includes schools in Laval, Longueuil, Kirkland, Sherbrooke, and Dollard-des-Ormeaux.

For a complete guide to boarding in Canada, including information about admissions, please see our introductory guide.

2. Choosing a school

Our boarding school guide has advice specific to finding boarding schools in Canada. For insights that are more general (on how to evaluate school options) we recommend you review our hub on choosing a school. You can also read our guides to questions to ask private schools and questions students get asked at school interviews.

Private school expos

The Montreal private school expo, held in the city each fall, is an opportunity to speak with administrators from leading Montreal boarding schools.

Parent discussion forum

Word-of-mouth is another powerful tool in your school-finding arsenal. The Our Kids private school discussion forum allows you to discuss your options and debate topics around gifted education. You can use our community of parents, educational experts, alumni, and schools to help answer your questions and stimulate your thinking.

Upcoming open house events

Attending open houses is obviously a great way to learn more about a school and get a feel for the environment. For some advice on open house visits, go here. For questions to ask that are specific to boarding programs, refer to our main boarding school hub.

3. Tuition

Broadly speaking, the cost of boarding reflects the cost private school tuition in general, though with premiums added to cover housing and meals.

Many schools offer financial aid, including scholarships and bursaries. Financial aid is needs-based, and financial aid programs are created as a means of broadening the student base and attracting students, independent of means, who will contribute most to the culture of the school. Generally speaking, the larger and more expensive schools provide the most aid.

You can read more about financial aid and scholarships in our dedicated guide.

Below you'll find the range of costs at Montreal boarding schools:

Institutional metrics

Academics

Special needs support

Course pedagogies

Extracurricular clubs

Extracurricular sports (competitive)

Because of its history, Montreal can often feel more European than North American. Home of some of the first settlements in North America, it’s both one of the oldest cities on the continent as well as one of its most progressive, vibrant, and diverse. Proximate to other US and Canadian cities of the eastern seaboard, Montreal is also a jumping off point for a range of exceptional outdoor recreation, including world class ski resorts.

The city is home to six universities and twelve colleges—all concentrated within an 8km radius—which host a population of 248 000 post-secondary students. It’s the highest density of students in North America, and it reflects the city’s values and its cultural tradition. With both Francophone and Anglophone schools, life in Montreal is heavily influenced by its educational institutions, creating a rich intellectual and cultural climate.

Excellence in education is valued, with incentives for both domestic and international students to attend secondary and post-secondary institutions. Because of the provincial CEGEP program, there is a greater integration of public and private institutions, as well as a greater integration between secondary and post-secondary institutions. The result is a unique educational climate that is unlike any other in Canada.

Quebec has the highest proportion of children attending private schools in North America. Seventeen percent of high school students attend private schools, a figure that is even higher in Montreal where 30% of high school students attend private school.

One reason is cultural, based in the traditions and the values of the population. Another is because the province provides subsidies to families who send their children to private school, reducing their tuition fees more than half. That kind of support is reflected in the quality of the schools found within the city. As well, it has encouraged the growth of a student population that is one of the most varied in North America, and indeed the world, drawing from a broad swath of the socio-economic, academic, and cultural spectra.

Graduation Requirements

High school graduation requirements are set by the Quebec Ministry of Education, Recreation and Sports, not the federal government. Secondary school in Quebec has five grades, called secondary I-V, corresponding to grades 7 through 11. Upon completion of grade 11, students receive the provincial Secondary School Diploma (SSD). While other provinces require students to complete a grade 12 year, in Quebec students who intend to enroll at university must attend a year of college, known as CEGEP, and earn a Diploma of College Studies (DEC, Diplome d'etudes collegiales). Students can a public college, where there is no tuition required, or choose to attend a private college for their CEGEP year.

Students need to complete both the SSD and the DEC in order to apply to universities or colleges within Quebec. For those intending to apply elsewhere, the CEGEP year is regarded as an equivalent of grade 12, though some courses may be considered Advanced Placement courses, applied toward the completion of a post-secondary degree.