-1.png?width=50&name=Team%20pics%20(2)-1.png)
By
·
5 minute read
The Canadian curriculum, most often delivered abroad as either British Columbia's Dogwood programme or Ontario's OSSD, is taught through a small but well-regulated network of accredited offshore schools, currently more than 30 BC-certified schools across 8 countries, plus 19 further schools awarding Ontario credits internationally. There is no single national curriculum, since education in Canada is a provincial responsibility, much like in the US. Families relocating for work, local families drawn to a Canadian diploma's flexibility, or anyone comparing options for children who may study in North America later will find the differences in credits, grading and university pathways worth understanding first.
Comparison: Canadian vs UK vs US Curriculum
| Canadian (Ontario/BC) | British (Cambridge) | American (AP/Diploma) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age range | Grade 1–12 (ages 6–18) | Year 1–13 (ages 5–18) | K–12 (ages 5–18) |
| Key qualifications | OSSD (Ontario) or Dogwood Diploma (BC) | IGCSE, A Level | High School Diploma, SAT/ACT |
| Assessment style | Credit accumulation, 70% coursework / 30% exams (Ontario) | Mixed: exams + coursework | GPA + standardised testing |
| Subject load (final years) | Broad compulsory credit list plus electives | 3–4 A Levels | Flexible, credit-based |
| University recognition | Global, well recognised in Canada, UK, US | Global | Global |
| Strengths | Continuous assessment, flexibility, direct Canadian university pathway | Independent thinking, breadth | Flexibility, college-level AP courses |
Schools shown for informational purposes only. doris does not rank or promote any school.
What Is the Canadian Curriculum?
Because each of Canada's ten provinces sets its own curriculum, schools abroad choose which one to license, and Ontario and British Columbia are by far the most common exports. Ontario schools work toward the Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD), which requires 30 credits, including compulsory courses in English, maths and science, plus a literacy test and community service hours. BC schools work toward the Dogwood Diploma, built on the province's competency-based curriculum, which places more weight on critical thinking and personal and social development alongside core subjects.
Both are delivered abroad through formally accredited offshore school programmes, inspected annually by the relevant Ministry of Education, which is what distinguishes a genuine Canadian curriculum school from one simply using Canadian textbooks or hiring Canadian teachers.
What Is the Difference Between the Canadian and UK Curriculum?
British qualifications lean on staged, high-stakes exams: IGCSEs at 16, then three or four A Levels by 18. The Canadian model spreads assessment across the whole school year through continuous coursework, with a smaller exam component layered on top, so a single bad exam day carries much less weight than it would under A Levels. Families weighing the two side by side may find doris's IB vs British curriculum guide useful, since a number of Canadian curriculum schools abroad also offer an IB stream alongside the provincial one.
What Is the Difference Between the Canadian and US Curriculum?
Both systems run on credit accumulation rather than a single terminal exam, which makes them more similar to each other than either is to the British model. The main difference is standardisation: Canadian provincial ministries directly inspect and accredit offshore schools each year, whereas American curriculum schools abroad vary more widely in oversight, since the concept of a single "American curriculum" is looser to begin with. Families anticipating US university applications from a Canadian curriculum school should still expect to need SAT or ACT scores, since OSSD and Dogwood transcripts are well understood in Canada but less immediately familiar to some US admissions offices.
Year Group Conversion
| Canadian Grade | UK Year | US Grade | Typical Age |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 1 | Year 2 | Grade 1 | 6–7 |
| Grade 6 | Year 7 | Grade 6 | 11–12 |
| Grade 9 | Year 10 | Grade 9 | 14–15 |
| Grade 10 | Year 11 | Grade 10 | 15–16 |
| Grade 12 | Year 13 | Grade 12 | 17–18 |
Schools shown for informational purposes only. doris does not rank or promote any school.
Why Families Choose the Canadian Curriculum
For families who expect their child to eventually study in Canada, the appeal is straightforward: an OSSD or Dogwood Diploma earned abroad transfers directly, without the conversion questions that come with other systems. For others, the pull is the assessment model itself. Continuous, credit-based grading tends to suit children who find a single high-stakes exam stressful, and it gives a clearer, more frequent picture of progress than a system built around one final sitting. This is one reason the curriculum has found a following among third culture kids specifically, a topic covered in doris's guide to raising children abroad.
What Do Families Actually Give Up?
Choice of province matters more than families often expect going in. An OSSD from an Ontario-accredited school and a Dogwood Diploma from a BC-accredited one are both well regarded, but they are not interchangeable paperwork, and a family who later relocates to Canada should check which provincial system their target university or high school expects. Genuine Canadian curriculum schools abroad are also still relatively few compared with British or American options, so choice narrows quickly once a family also wants a specific city or fee band. Because most of these schools operate as double-diploma programmes alongside a local curriculum, families should ask exactly how many hours per week are genuinely Canadian-taught, since the balance varies considerably from school to school.
Canadian Curriculum Schools on doris
On doris, you can search by country and city, then filter by curriculum to find Canadian curriculum schools near wherever your family is headed.
| School | Location | About |
|---|---|---|
| Bunka Suginami Canadian International School | Suginami, Tokyo, Japan | A certified British Columbia Offshore School running a Double Diploma programme with its host school, Bunka Gakuen University Suginami Junior and Senior High. Fees: JPY 1,249,600–1,692,500 (approx. USD 8,300–11,300). Graduates leave with both a BC Dogwood Diploma and a Japanese high school diploma, though credit transfer between the two systems is only partial, so timetables run heavier than a single-diploma track. |
| Sino-Canada School | Wujiang, Suzhou, China | A BC and A Level offshore school of around 2,100 students near Shanghai. Fees: RMB 25,000–96,000 (approx. USD 3,470–13,330), rising sharply from kindergarten to senior secondary. One of the more affordable Canadian curriculum options in the region, though the school's public information is limited on learning support provision, so families with additional needs should ask directly. |
| Canadian International School Ho Chi Minh City | Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam | One of the more established Canadian curriculum options in southern Vietnam, offering merit scholarships alongside standard tuition. Fees: VND 531,600,000–804,000,000 (approx. USD 20,450–31,000). Sits in the premium tier locally, broadly comparable to British and American curriculum schools in the same city rather than a budget alternative. |
| British Columbia Canadian International School East | El Sherouk City, Cairo, Egypt | A fully accredited BC Offshore School running since 2005, with every teacher BC-certified and each student issued a Personal Education Number. Fees: EGP 184,000–294,000 (approx. USD 3,750–6,000). One of the more affordable ways into a genuine Canadian curriculum, though families should budget separately for the transport fee, which is not included in tuition. |
Schools shown for informational purposes only. doris does not rank or promote any school.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the OSSD recognised by UK and US universities? Yes. The Ontario Secondary School Diploma is well understood internationally, and graduates typically apply to UK and US universities without needing additional conversion exams, though US applicants often still take the SAT or ACT to support their application.
Is there one single Canadian curriculum? No. Education is a provincial responsibility in Canada, so schools abroad license either a specific province's programme, most commonly Ontario or British Columbia, rather than a single national syllabus.
Can a child transfer between an Ontario and a BC curriculum school? Generally yes, since both lead to nationally recognised diplomas, but not every course credit converts directly, so families relocating between the two systems mid-schooling should ask both schools for a credit assessment before committing.
Do Canadian curriculum schools abroad offer boarding? Some do, particularly in China where several schools were originally built as boarding institutions for domestic students preparing for study in Canada, but many others, including most Ontario OSSD-credit schools, are day schools only.
doris is a free, impartial international school discovery platform designed to help parents find the right international school for their children worldwide. Every school profile includes fees, curriculum, admissions, pupil numbers and more. Parents can compare schools, contact schools directly, access expert parent guides, and connect with a community of parents around the world. Start your search at doris.school.
This guide was written by Aziza F, part of the doris editorial team. doris sources school data from institutions worldwide and speaks directly with parents navigating the school search process. Fee data reflects published and publicly available information for the 2026 to 2027 academic year and is reviewed annually. External sources: Government of Ontario, ontario.ca, Government of British Columbia, gov.bc.ca.
Schools are listed for informational purposes only. doris does not rank or promote any school.