How much does private school cost in Ontario?
It depends enormously on the school, and the range is wider than most families expect. A Montessori elementary place in Oshawa is published at about $11,000 a year. A day place at a Toronto boys' school is $46,270. Both are private schools in Ontario.
Below are the figures schools publish themselves, with the date they were read. Most private schools in Durham Region publish nothing at all and ask you to enquire, which is worth knowing before you assume the ones with a number on the website are the expensive ones.
Published fees, 2026-27
Every figure here comes from the school's own website. Where a school bills monthly, the annual figure is the monthly fee times the number of payments it asks for.
| School | Where | Grades | Tuition a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Durham Elementary Private School | Oshawa | Grades 1 to 4 | $10,900 |
| Durham Elementary Private School | Oshawa | Grades 5 to 8 | $11,000 |
| Great Beginnings Montessori | Oshawa | Casa 2 and 3 | $10,850 |
| Trafalgar Castle School (day) | Whitby | Grades 4 to 8 | $34,000 |
| Trafalgar Castle School (day) | Whitby | Grades 9 to 12 | $37,000 |
| Trafalgar Castle School (boarding) | Whitby | Five-day, domestic | $72,000 |
| Villanova College | King City | Grades 4 to 12 | $28,900 |
| Crescent School | Toronto | All grades, day | $46,270 |
Why the regional average is useless
Directory sites publish an average for Durham Region of around $17,700, and no family will ever pay it. One boarding school with fees from $34,000 to $79,000 sits in the same average as a Montessori elementary at $10,900, and it pulls the mean thousands of dollars above anything a parent is actually choosing between.
Compare like with like. A day place at an elementary school is the number that matters if you want a day place at an elementary school.
The fees that sit outside the headline figure
Most schools charge a one-time fee on acceptance, and it is rarely small. Crescent charges a $10,000 enrolment fee per new student. Villanova charges $5,000. Trafalgar asks $4,000 on acceptance plus a $6,500 deposit against tuition. Durham Elementary charges $225 per new child.
Then the annual extras. Materials and enhancement fees, technology, trips, uniform, lunch, and at some schools an expected donation: Villanova asks families for $1,000 a year through its voluntary giving program on top of tuition. Crescent includes lunch in its fee, which most schools do not.
Ask two questions of any school and the picture clears up quickly. What is the total first-year cost for a new family, and what was the fee three years ago? A tuition rising 5% a year is 28% higher by the time a Grade 1 student reaches Grade 6, and almost nobody puts that on a website.
What you are paying for
Overwhelmingly, adults. A teacher paid enough to attract someone good costs about $67,000 once employer contributions, insurance and vacation are counted, and an assistant about $42,000. Divide that by the number of children in the group and most of the tuition is already accounted for.
Then the building, insurance, administration, utilities and materials, which lands near $3,700 per student per year for a small school. That is why class size and tuition are the same conversation: at $8,000 a school can support roughly 15 students per teacher, at $12,000 roughly 8. A school promising a 1:5 ratio at $9,000 has not done this arithmetic, or is not telling you the result.
Where The Galt Academy sits
We are aiming at $8,000 to $12,000 a year for full time, with part-time places likely. That sits at or below the elementary end of the Durham range, for a school that also teaches money and business, engineering, the outdoors, and health, nutrition and fitness as subjects in their own right.
You will have the exact number before you are asked to enrol, and the founding families are offered the opening rate. We would rather publish a range now than quote nothing and make you ask.
Questions about Straight answer
Is private school tuition tax deductible in Canada?
Generally no for the tuition itself. A portion may qualify as a child care expense in specific circumstances, and some religious schools issue a donation receipt for the part of the fee treated as a gift. Ask an accountant about your own return rather than a school.
Why is private school cheaper in Durham than in Toronto?
Mostly the building. Property is the largest fixed cost after salaries, and a school pays it whether or not a seat is filled. The same program on Toronto land costs more to run.
Why do so few Durham schools publish their fees?
Usually because the figure varies by program, by number of children, or by what a family can pay, and a single number on a page invites the wrong comparison. It is still worth asking for the full schedule in writing before you visit.
Do you offer financial assistance?
Not yet, and we would rather say so than imply otherwise. It is on the list of things the founding families and we will work out together before the first year.