Out-of-Area Admissions FAQ

Yes. Your designated school remains your regular-program option, subject to entrance restrictions. If applying for Junior Kindergarten, register locally while waiting. Notify the designated school when you accept an OOA offer.

First choice applicants are seated before applicants who list that school as their second choice.

You may select one Out-of-Area school. Secondary applicants may also select one SSWAB school. If choosing both, rank them first and second. See Secondary school choices.

General Out-of-Area admission uses space availability and admission priorities, with a random selection process if demand exceeds space. Marks are not used to rank applicants. Specialized Programs use a separate application process.

General OOA Priority 1 is for Elementary applicants with a sibling currently attending and returning to the requested school. There is no general Secondary OOA sibling priority in the current PR545 sequence. SSWAB has its own temporary sibling transition priority.

Twins or multiples applying to the same school and grade use a single application and are seated or waitlisted together. Do not submit a second application for the same request.

It is a recognized feeder school whose applicants receive OOA priority because at least two-thirds (67%) of the residential units in its attendance area fall within the next-level school’s boundary. Priority applies in the same program track. Not every feeder relationship receives priority.

OOA applicants must reside in Ontario. Applicants outside the City of Toronto are considered under Priority 5. International fee-paying students use the International Student & Admissions Office.

Contact your current school for technological or accessibility support. See Application Help for the account, form and submission steps.

Use the Elementary or Secondary cycle page for dates. School Out-of-Area Status will be posted on the Main Out-of-Area Admissions page when available.

Accept online before the deadline specified in your results email. An offer not accepted before its deadline is forfeited. Current results schedules are on the Elementary and Secondary pages.

Your placement is on a randomized waitlist. You receive an email if a seat is offered. Secondary has up to three offer rounds. Waitlists expire at the end of the final offer rounds, with no further offers or placements even if seats remain vacant.

Notify your current school if you no longer want the accepted seat. For help with a release request, use the main OOA support route. A change involving a ranked first choice offer has additional consequences; read the rules for both choices before ranking.

The applications are separate, but you may keep only one placement. If you accept a different placement, notify CPAO to release the other seat. Current TDSB students should also tell their school. Read Specialized Programs and Secondary OOA.

First choice applicants are seated before applicants who list that school as their second choice.

The order you rank your choices affects offers and waitlists. Read how first and second choice placements interact before making a decision.

No further OOA offers or placements are made after the final offer rounds, even if a seat is vacant (PR545 §3.9).

An admitted OOA student may remain until completing the school’s final grade range. Moving to the next school level requires a new application if the requested school is outside the designated attendance area.

A Secondary in-area student who moves out of area mid-year may attend the new designated school or remain until graduation. If the current school is Closed and under redirection restrictions, the student must transfer at the end of the school year unless entering Grade 12 (PR545 §3.11).

The student may transfer immediately to the new designated school or stay until the end of the current school year. Students entering their final year may remain through graduation. To remain otherwise, an OOA application is required; currently attending Elementary students who have moved out of area have Priority 3.

OOA students may request a return at standard transition points, such as a term or semester change. A transfer to a designated school Closed to transfers may be delayed to the next available transition point. Return to a school with an entrance restriction is not possible. Ask your current school to confirm the applicable rule (P013 §3.12; PR545 §3.10).

OOA admission lets you complete the current school’s grade range. It does not give automatic access to the next-level school. Apply again if the next school is outside your designated attendance area. Feeder priority applies only to recognized relationships in the same program track.

Use the formal OOA process during the annual application window. A switch is not possible if the requested school is Closed (P013 §3.13; PR545 §3.3).

No. Child Care access has its own conditions and does not provide automatic next-level progression. See Child Care and BASP rules.

Ask your current school to confirm the next school for your address-based French catchment. If your child is attending a French school outside the designated catchment through OOA, they must reapply to attend the next-level school outside their catchment.

An OOA application is required for a French program school outside your designated French catchment. Eligibility must be confirmed; non-TDSB applicants must verify eligibility in person with the requested school under PR597 before applying. No transportation is provided for OOA attendance.

System entry into Early or Middle French Immersion uses the separate French program application process. OOA to a different French school does not replace French entry or eligibility requirements. Visit French Programs for current entry information.

No. Child Care access does not guarantee entry into an Intensive French Language program. French catchments are based on residential address, not Child Care enrolment.

Use Elementary OOA and choose Remote Learning as the program and Virtual Elementary School as the school. See current Remote Learning information for available grades and requirements.

Use Secondary OOA and choose Remote Learning as the program and Virtual Secondary School as the school. See current Remote Learning information for eligibility and next steps.

Check the current Remote Learning page for progression and returning to in-person learning. Existing Virtual Elementary Grade 8 students transfer to Virtual Secondary without a new OOA application; different rules apply for a return to in-person learning.

Admission decisions may be appealed in writing to the Superintendent of Education for the requested school (PR545 §3.12).

Yes. Specific priority-placement provisions apply to First Nations, Métis and Inuit students and Secondary students with children in licensed local Child Care. Read Supporting Students Outside OOA.

Contact the requested school directly or use the central facilitated advocacy route identified in the current procedure. Support is provided at regular intake times, including at Closed schools, where possible. See First Nations, Métis and Inuit priority access.

Where possible, priority placement outside standard OOA is available if the student’s child is enrolled in licensed Child Care within the requested school’s designated attendance area. Contact the requested school directly. See priority support for Secondary students with children.