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Montreal boarding schools

Find the top boarding schools in Montreal

Here’s the OUR KIDS guide to Montreal boarding schools—your starting point for exploring structured, community-oriented education that blends rigorous academics with life in residence. Boarding schools in Montreal foster independence, leadership, and personal growth through small classes, co-curriculars, and a supportive house system, helping students thrive in an English, French, or bilingual environment.

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 nearly 30 years, OUR KIDS has visited campuses, spoken with families and educators, and gathered firsthand insights into what makes each boarding program unique. On ourkids.net, you’ll find verified profiles, authentic reviews, comparison tools, and expert guidance—everything you need to shortlist the right Montreal boarding school for your child. For a complete guide to boarding in Canada, including information about admissions, see our guide to boarding schools.

2. Choosing a boarding school in Montreal

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.

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. What is the cost of boarding schools in Montreal?

Broadly speaking, the cost of a Montreal boarding school reflects the cost of private school tuition in general, with additional fees for housing and meals.

Many boarding schools in Montreal offer financial aid, including scholarships and bursaries. Financial aid is needs-based, and programs are designed to broaden the student base by attracting students who will contribute most to the school’s culture, regardless of their financial means. Generally, larger and more expensive boarding schools in Montreal 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 boarding schools Montreal families may expect:

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 and one of its most progressive, vibrant, and diverse. Proximate to other US and Canadian cities of the eastern seaboard, Montreal boarding schools also benefit from a city that serves as a jumping-off point for 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. This is the highest density of students in North America, reflecting the city’s values and cultural traditions. With both Francophone and Anglophone schools, life in Montreal is heavily influenced by its educational institutions, creating a rich intellectual and cultural climate. Students attending boarding schools in Montreal benefit from this vibrant academic environment.

Excellence in education is highly valued, with incentives for both domestic and international students to attend secondary and post-secondary institutions. Thanks to the provincial CEGEP program, there is greater integration between public and private institutions and between secondary and post-secondary education. 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 boarding schools in Montreal, where 30% of high school students attend private school.

One reason is cultural, rooted in the traditions and values of the population. Another is that the province provides subsidies to families who send their children to private school, reducing tuition fees by more than half. This support is reflected in the quality of the schools within the city. It has also encouraged the growth of a student population that is among the most diverse in North America, and indeed the world, drawing from a broad range of socio-economic, academic, and cultural backgrounds.

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 grade 12, 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'études collegiales). Students can attend a public college, where tuition is free, or choose a private college for their CEGEP year.

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