Ontario Academic Credit - Course Load

Course Load

There were two high school diplomas in Ontario, the Secondary School Graduation Diploma (SSGD) which was awarded after Grade 12 and the Secondary School Honours Graduation Diploma (SSHGD) awarded after Grade 13. This practice ended with the replacement of both diplomas in 1988 with the Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD) under OS:IS. OS:IS more formally allowed for the completion of schooling after only 12 grades. Under OS:IS, OAC year was the final year of high school in Ontario.

OAC courses were the highest level courses in Ontario high schools until the formal elimination of the Ontario Academic Credit. To enter university, students were required to complete 30 high school credits (courses can have different credit values, but most courses were worth 1 credit; some courses were compulsory and there were other restrictions), 6 of which had to be at the OAC level. Assuming that one had taken the necessary prerequisite courses, one could complete an OAC course before the OAC year, and so in many schools it was common for Grade 11 or Grade 12 students to have taken some OAC courses. Students who completed these requirements in 4 years of high school were permitted to graduate; this practice was known as fast-tracking, finishing Grade 12 in four years with 30 credits if the student was college bound.

Students with an average of 80 percent or higher in six OAC courses were named Ontario Scholar. The award continues to exist today, although it requires the student to have 80 percent or higher in six grade 12 courses.