How To Apply | The Country Day School

Important Admissions Update – September 2025 Entry

Thank you for including The Country Day School in your independent school search! Our initial admission deadlines for September 2025 entry have passed, and we have now entered the rolling admission phase with limited availability. Enrollment can be fluid and we encourage you to contact our Admissions Team directly to discuss your specific circumstances and grades of interest before launching an application.

Reach out to a member of our CDS Admissions Team today by calling (905) 833-1972 or emailing us at admissions@cds.on.ca to learn more.

Admissions Information and Timeline Information - September 2026 Entry

We have begun to look ahead with excitement towards the September 2026 entry. Our Visit Us page has information about upcoming events and tours. Our September 2026 online application will open on Wednesday, August 13, 2025!

Application Deadline Preview

Entry Years Grades (4, 7 & 9)
Deadline November 3, 2025

All Additional Grades including JK
Deadline December 1, 2025

When considering applying, please know that we onboard a larger number of students for JK, Grades 4, 7 and 9 every year with JK representing two full classes and Grades 4, 7 and 9 enrolling one additional class. That being said, we encourage prospective families with students in all grades to contact us as we regularly have availability across other grades due to annual attrition.

Application Procedure

To ensure that an applicant will develop and be successful at The Country Day School, our application procedure is multi-faceted, comprehensive and tailored to the age and stage of the applicant. Please note that before the academic and character assessments can be booked, a complete application must be uploaded/submitted to the Office of Admission. Each application is reviewed carefully and, although many students are invited to participate in an assessment, there may be circumstances where this is not the case. Before sharing any personal information, you are invited to consult the School’s Privacy Policy below.

In addition to the written application and document review, we place considerable weight on each student’s potential. Ultimately, we are looking for students who want to be fully engaged in and contribute to everything that our school has to offer.

Admission Process Steps

List of 2 items.

1. Submit Completed Online Application
- The completed Application Form including the Confidential Teacher Report Form
- Copies of current school Report Cards and final reports from the previous two years
- Recent Photograph of the applicant (face clearly visible)
- Copy of Birth Certificate or Passport
- Application fee of $150 (non-refundable) paid online, by credit card, upon submission of application.
- Psycho-educational report and IEP (if applicable)
*All CDS students are required to live locally with a parent.
2. Academic & Character Assessment

The Academic and Character Assessment varies depending on the applicant’s grade level. More detail describing specific elements of the academic and character assessment will be communicated directly to applicants in a timely manner. While our preference will be to continue our practice of in-person assessment, we are prepared to conduct meaningful remote assessments. Remote assessments may include a supervised academic testing component, as well as a student and or parent personal meeting or interview.

Privacy of Personal Information

All personal information collected by The Country Day School from prospective families, current families and alumni is stored in a confidential database. Access to this information is restricted to authorized staff of the School. The School is committed to maintaining the confidentiality, privacy and security of the personal information it collects. If you have any questions regarding this statement or other privacy concerns, please contact the Head of School.

English Requirements

The Country Day School does not offer an ESL program. In order for students to be successful at CDS, they must be able to demonstrate fluency in both written and spoken English. CDS is not a boarding school and prospective students ideally will have lived in Canada for one or two years. Applicants whose first language is not English may be required to complete a written test (SSAT/TOEFL) to gauge their proficiency.

Our community is diverse and the logistics of translating our documents into the many first languages of our families is not feasible or desirable for our school. Throughout our Admissions process we emphasize the need that new parents who are learning English have someone who can translate documents for them or that they integrate Google Translate or other helpful Apps to assist them in translating what we send home. We strongly feel this is the best option as their children immerse themselves in the English language as CDS students.

Please note that testing is one part of the process. Standardized test results are not always an accurate reflection of a student’s achievement or potential. However, testing offers a benchmark to compare candidates, and for a discussion with families about their student’s potential for success at CDS.

Land Acknowledgment

The Country Day School wishes to recognize and acknowledge the land on which the school operates. Our nearest Indigenous Nations are now the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation and the Chippewas of Georgina Island. The Dish with One Spoon Wampum covenant is often cited as an example of the shared responsibility for caring for these lands among the Huron-Wendat, Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee peoples who would call these their traditional territories. CDS respects the relationship with these lands and recognizes that our connection to this land can be strengthened by our continued relationship with all First Nations, by acknowledging our shared responsibility to respect and care for the land and waters for future generations.