I. Graduation Credit Requirements
In Ontario, students must earn at least 30 credits over their four years of high school to graduate. These credits are specifically divided into 18 compulsory credits and 12 elective credits. For students transferring from China, the number of transferable credits varies depending on their academic stage in China:
Students who have graduated from Grade 8 in China and directly enroll in Grade 9 in Ontario cannot transfer any credits.
Students who have graduated from Grade 9 in China and directly enroll in Grade 10 in Ontario can transfer a maximum of 8 credits.
Students who have graduated from Grade 10 in China and directly enroll in Grade 11 in Ontario can transfer a maximum of 16 credits.
Students who have graduated from Grade 11 in China and directly enroll in Grade 12 in Ontario can transfer a maximum of 22 credits.
Students who are studying in Grade 12 or have graduated from high school in China and enroll in Grade 12 in Ontario can transfer a maximum of 24 credits. It should be noted that the above credits are the maximum transferable amount, and the actual number of transferred credits depends on the student's actual academic performance.
II. Detailed Explanation of Compulsory Courses
(I) Fixed Compulsory Subjects
English: English accounts for 4 credits throughout high school, and students need to take one English course each semester from Grade 9 to 12. Among them, ENG3U in Grade 11 and ENG4U in Grade 12 are compulsory courses. These two courses are crucial for improving students' comprehensive English proficiency, with strict requirements on language expression, reading comprehension, and literary appreciation.
Canadian History: This course is worth 1 credit and is an indispensable part of Ontario's high school education system. By studying Canadian history, students can gain an in-depth understanding of Canada's national development, social changes, and the formation of its multiculturalism.
Canadian Geography: Also worth 1 credit, this course aims to make students familiar with Canada's geographical environment, including landforms, climate characteristics, and resource distribution. It also cultivates students' spatial cognition ability and thinking about environmental issues.
Career Studies: Worth 0.5 credits, this course focuses on guiding students to explore different career fields, helping them understand the connection between their interests and careers, and master basic career planning skills to prepare for future career choices.
Civics: 0.5 credits, this course mainly teaches students knowledge about Canada's civil rights and obligations, political system, and legal system. It cultivates students' civic awareness and social responsibility, enabling them to become members of society with good civic qualities.
(II) Compulsory Subjects with Optional Ranges
Mathematics: With a total of 3 credits, students must take one mathematics course in Grade 11 or 12. Ontario's high school mathematics courses are diverse, with different focuses in different stages and types. For example, MCR3U (Functions, equations, for university undergraduate) and MCF3M (Functions and Applications, for university undergraduate/college) in Grade 11; MHF4U (Advanced Functions, for university undergraduate)、MCV4U (Calculus and Vectors, for university undergraduate)、MDM4U (Mathematics of Data Management, for university undergraduate) in Grade 12, etc. Generally speaking, for students planning to study in science majors at university, Advanced Functions (MHF4U) in Grade 12 is a commonly required course by universities; for students applying for engineering majors, Calculus and Vectors (MCV4U) is a compulsory course.
Science: With a total of 2 credits, the courses include biology, chemistry, physics, etc. Biology is offered in Grade 9, chemistry in Grade 10, and physics in Grade 11. The chemistry and physics courses in Grade 11 involve a lot of experimental operations, aiming to cultivate students' scientific inquiry ability and experimental skills. For example, the Grade 11 physics course (SPH3U) mainly covers basic knowledge of mechanics, thermodynamics, and optics; the Grade 12 physics course (SPH4U) goes further, including kinematics, electric fields, magnetic fields, and basic knowledge of relativity. For students who want to study engineering majors in the future, the Grade 12 physics course is a must.
Arts: 1 credit, students can choose from various art forms such as drama, painting, visual arts, photography, and design. By studying art courses, students can develop their aesthetic ability, creativity, and artistic expression.
Health and Physical Education: 1 credit, covering sports skills training and health knowledge popularization. Students can choose different sports programs to study, such as basketball, football, and track and field, while learning about healthy diet and mental health to promote their all-round physical and mental development.
Second Language: 1 credit, schools usually offer courses such as French, Spanish, German, and Chinese for students to choose from. It should be noted that some courses have grade restrictions, and students in that grade have priority. Taking Chinese courses as an example, as a mother tongue, it is relatively easy for Chinese students to get high scores by choosing Chinese as a second language, thereby improving their average score. However, some students think this is a way to take advantage, and it may take up the opportunity to study other courses. In addition, some popular majors in top universities may not recognize Chinese as a second language credit (unofficial situation).
The remaining 3 credits are distributed in three groups, with at least one course taken in each group:
Group 1: Includes English, French as a second language, third languages, social sciences and humanities, Canadian and world studies, vocational education, and cooperative education.
Group 2: Covers physical and health education, business studies, arts, cooperative education, and French as a second language.
Group 3: Includes science in Grade 11 or 12, technical education, cooperative education, vocational education, French as a second language, and computer science. It should be noted that these 3 credits cannot be interchanged with the 15 compulsory credits mentioned earlier.
III. Categories of Elective Courses
(I) Business-related Courses
These courses are mainly designed for students interested in the business field, including business, finance, accounting, statistics, economics, international business, business law, and consumer studies. For example, BAT4M (Financial Accounting Principals) is a professional course in financial accounting, which is very important for students planning to study financial accounting in university business programs. Studying economics courses can help students understand the laws of market economy operation and macroeconomic policies, laying a foundation for future work or further study in economics-related fields.
(II) Humanities and History Courses
Including physical geography, tourism, environment and resources, world geography, modern history, medieval history, world history, Western history, and Canadian legal studies. By studying these courses, students can broaden their understanding of world history and geography. For example, the Grade 12 geography course (CGU4U) mainly studies human geography, including urbanization and population distribution and migration, which is of great significance for cultivating students' humanistic literacy and global perspective.
(III) Mathematics-related Courses
In addition to compulsory mathematics courses, elective mathematics courses further deepen and expand mathematical knowledge, such as personal financial management, equations, mathematics and life, geometric algebra, calculus, and data management. Take data management (MDM4U) as an example, this course mainly teaches probability theory and data management knowledge, and involves the application of software such as Excel, which is very helpful for students' study and research in data analysis and statistics.
(IV) Science-related Courses
On the basis of compulsory science courses, elective courses provide more in-depth study, such as advanced courses in biology, chemistry, and physics. For example, the Grade 12 chemistry course (SCH4U) mainly studies intermolecular forces, the periodic law of elements, chemical reaction rates, atomic structure, and molecular structure. It is more difficult than the Grade 10 chemistry course and has higher requirements for English proficiency. It is an important elective course for students who want to develop in chemistry-related majors in the future.
(V) Art-related Courses
Providing a broad space for students with artistic talent and interest, including visual arts, painting, jazz, musical instruments, choral vocal music, stage drama, and photography. By participating in these courses, students can improve their artistic skills and aesthetic level. For example, studying painting courses can help students master different painting techniques and expression methods, preparing for future art creation or study in related fields.
(VI) Sociology-related Courses
Including family studies, nutrition, and diverse society. These courses focus on various aspects of social life. For example, family studies courses can help students understand family structures, family relationships, and the role of families in society; nutrition courses teach students about rational diet and nutrition matching, which is closely related to daily life.
IV. Meaning of Course Codes
In Ontario's high school curriculum system, each course has its specific code, which contains rich information and is crucial for students' course selection and university applications. For example, in ENG4U, "ENG" represents the subject of English, "4" indicates that it is a Grade 12 course (Grade 12 in Canadian high school is the fourth year), and "U" means that the course is a university preparation course. Generally speaking, courses with the code "U" are prepared for university study, with relatively high difficulty and academic requirements; those with "M" are university/college preparation courses, catering to the needs of both university and college entrance; courses with "C" are mainly for colleges, with relatively low difficulty, focusing more on cultivating students' vocational skills and application abilities.
Many courses are coherent, and 4U or 4M courses in Grade 12 are often closely related to courses taken in Grade 11 and 10. For example, to take the Grade 12 physics course (SPH4U), students usually need to pass the Grade 11 physics course (SPH3U) first; as for the Grade 12 English (ENG4U), which is required by all universities, students must first complete the Grade 11 (ENG3U) and Grade 10 English (ENG2U) courses. For international students, they must pass all levels of English ESL courses; otherwise, even if they are in Grade 11, they cannot take the Grade 10 English course.
V. Course Selection Suggestions for University Majors
(I) Business Majors
The requirements for high school course selection in business majors vary among different universities. Generally, most universities require students to take Grade 12 English (ENG4U) because business majors in university studies require students to have good English reading, writing, and communication skills to cope with a large number of business literature reading, report writing, and business communication scenarios. In addition, Grade 12 Advanced Functions (MHF4U) is also a common compulsory course. The function knowledge in this course plays an important foundational role in data analysis and financial management in business. Some universities also require Grade 12 Calculus (MCV4U), as calculus knowledge is widely used in financial analysis and economics courses.
In addition to the above compulsory courses, students can also choose economics, marketing, or accounting 4U/4M courses as electives. For example, studying economics courses can help students understand market economy principles and macroeconomic policies in advance, laying a foundation for studying microeconomics and macroeconomics in university; marketing courses can cultivate students' market insight and marketing planning abilities, which are closely related to marketing majors in university business programs; accounting courses can help students master basic accounting principles and financial statement analysis methods, which are of great significance for future careers in accounting and financial management.
(II) Engineering Majors
Engineering majors have relatively strict requirements for high school courses, usually requiring 4 compulsory courses. Grade 12 English (ENG4U) is essential. Good English proficiency helps students read international cutting-edge engineering literature, participate in international academic exchanges, and write professional reports. Grade 12 Advanced Functions (MHF4U) and Grade 12 Calculus (MCV4U) are also compulsory courses. The mathematical knowledge in these two courses is an important tool for mechanical analysis, circuit calculation, and signal processing in engineering studies.
Grade 12 Physics (SPH4U) and Grade 12 Chemistry (SCH4U) are also compulsory courses for engineering majors. The knowledge of mechanics, electricity, and optics in physics courses is widely used in many engineering fields such as mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, and civil engineering; the knowledge of molecular structure and chemical reaction principles in chemistry courses is crucial for chemical engineering and materials engineering.
Some universities also recommend students to take courses related to their majors. For example, students majoring in environmental engineering or bioengineering can benefit from taking Grade 12 Biology (SBI4U) to better understand the application of environmental ecosystems and biochemical reactions in their professional fields. In addition, Computer Science (ICS4U1) is a good elective for engineering students. Computer programming and information technology play an increasingly important role in modern engineering design and simulation analysis, and it is one of the compulsory courses for science and engineering students or business students in their first year of university.
(III) Natural Science Majors
The course requirements for natural science majors are similar to those for engineering majors. Grade 12 English (ENG4U), Grade 12 Advanced Functions (MHF4U), and Grade 12 Calculus (MCV4U) are usually compulsory. Although the score requirements for these courses may be slightly lower than those for engineering majors, a solid foundation in mathematics and English is equally important for students' study and research in natural science fields.
Natural science covers many fields such as mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, computer science, and life sciences. For different sub-fields, the corresponding high school course requirements also have different focuses. For example, students who want to study in the field of physics can take higher-level physics specialized courses in high school in addition to completing the compulsory physics courses; for life science majors, Grade 12 Biology (SBI4U) is a key course, and the knowledge of animal and plant structures, biological evolution, genetics, and variation learned in this course is the foundation of life science research.
(IV) Social Science and Humanities Majors
University social science majors generally require 2 compulsory courses, and Grade 12 English (Eng4U) is one of them. English proficiency is crucial for students to read social science literature, write research papers, and participate in academic discussions. Grade 12 Advanced Functions (MHF4U) is also a common requirement. Mathematical knowledge is applied in data analysis and statistical research in social sciences, especially for economics-related majors, which may also require an additional Grade 12 Calculus (MCV4U).
In terms of electives, students can choose relatively less difficult courses such as family studies, world issues research, and economics, which can help them understand social phenomena and human behavior from different perspectives. In addition, some business courses such as marketing and management can also be taken as electives to broaden students' knowledge and provide diversified perspectives for future research and practice in social sciences.
Humanities majors generally only require Grade 12 English because humanities focus on students' language expression, cultural understanding, and critical thinking abilities. As the main academic language tool, English plays a core role in the study and research of humanities. Students can choose elective courses related to literature, history, philosophy, and art history according to their interests to explore different fields of humanities in depth.
(V) Art Majors
Art majors have relatively low requirements for science and liberal arts courses and scores, with the focus on students' professional skills and artistic creativity. Therefore, professional interviews and submitted works are extremely important in the application process. However, this does not mean that students can ignore cultural courses. Studying basic courses such as Grade 12 English helps students improve their artistic appreciation ability, understand art theories, and express artistic creation.
In high school, students should focus on studying art professional courses. For example, students choosing painting majors should improve their professional level through painting skills training and art history courses; students studying music majors need to focus on musical instrument performance skills, music theory, and sight-singing and ear training courses. At the same time, participating in various art competitions, exhibitions, and performances to accumulate rich artistic practice experience provides strong works and practical experience support for applying to art universities.