Published 2 November 2026 · By Jatin Dua, Broker of Record, RE/MAX Quantum Realty
For 2027, the Toronto neighbourhoods with the best-ranked schools are Willowdale East, Yonge-St. Clair and Summerhill, Agincourt, Guildwood and Morningside Heights. Each has a school that tied for first in Ontario in the Fraser Institute’s latest elementary report, or a top-10 high school. Detached medians ranged from $910,000 to $2,375,000 in 2026.
This guide is for parents who want to buy in Toronto in 2027 and put schools first. You get the five neighbourhoods where the latest school rankings point, what a house costs in each district, and the boundary and admission rules that decide whether your child actually gets in.
How do you find the Toronto neighbourhoods with the best schools?
There is no official ranking of neighbourhoods. The most widely quoted school rankings come from the Fraser Institute, which scores schools on results from Ontario’s provincial EQAO tests:
- Elementary schools: the report released in January 2026 ranked 3,052 public, Catholic and independent elementary schools. Thirty-one schools tied for first with a perfect score.
- High schools: the report released in November 2025 ranked 747 secondary schools. Four tied for first, all in the GTA.
I started with the Toronto schools at the very top of those two reports, then kept only the ones a family can reach by where they live or by applying. I also checked each school’s own board page. The Fraser Institute itself tells parents not to choose a school on its results alone, and suggests visiting the school’s website and talking to the principal, teachers and other parents. I agree. A test score is one input, not the whole picture.
Which Toronto schools scored highest in the latest rankings?
| Neighbourhood | Top-ranked school | Fraser result | How you get in | District | Detached median 2026 | Condo apt median 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Willowdale East | Avondale Alternative; Cardinal Carter Academy for the Arts | Tied 1st (elementary); tied 8th of 747 (secondary) | Application; audition | C14 | $1,691,900 | $568,500 |
| Yonge-St. Clair and Summerhill | Cottingham Junior Public School | Tied 1st (elementary) | Address | C02 | $2,375,000 | $840,000 |
| Agincourt | Iroquois Junior Public School | Tied 1st (elementary) | Address | E07 | $1,003,000 | $450,000 |
| Guildwood | Poplar Road Junior Public School | Tied 1st (elementary) | Address | E08 | $938,750 | $440,000 |
| Morningside Heights | Heritage Park Public School | Tied 1st (elementary) | Address | E11 | $910,000 | $461,250 |
Sources: Fraser Institute elementary report (January 2026) and secondary report (November 2025) as reported by CP24; TDSB and TCDSB school pages. Prices: TRREB MLS data via REALM, January–October 2026, district medians, not neighbourhood prices.
The surprise is where these schools are. Of the four address-based public schools in this table with a perfect elementary score, three sit in Scarborough, in districts where a detached house cost under about $1 million in 2026. The same kind of result in Yonge-St. Clair comes with a detached median of $2,375,000.
If a detached house is out of reach, a condo townhouse can be a cheaper way into the same school catchment. In 2026 the condo townhouse median was $561,500 in E11, $640,000 in E08, $690,000 in E07 and $797,500 in C14. In C02 it was $1,481,500, across only 22 sales. Families often skip condo apartments because of space, but a larger two- or three-bedroom unit inside the right boundary still gives your child the same designated school. Before you buy any condo, read the status certificate and the reserve fund study, and confirm the building’s address in the school locator, because large sites can sit right on a boundary line.
Source: TRREB MLS data via REALM, January–October 2026, condo townhouse medians by district.
1. Willowdale East
Why it’s here: no Toronto neighbourhood has a deeper cluster of high-profile schools. Avondale Alternative Elementary School tied for first in Ontario in the January 2026 report. Cardinal Carter Academy for the Arts, a Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB) school for Grades 7 to 12, tied for eighth of 747 high schools in the November 2025 report. Earl Haig Secondary School, the largest high school in the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) with 2,048 students, hosts the Claude Watson Arts Program, and the Claude Watson School for the Arts offers an arts program for Grades 4 to 8 nearby.
What it costs: district C14 (Willowdale East and Newtonbrook East) had a detached median of $1,691,900, down 6.0%. The condo market is deep, with 475 condo apartment sales at a $568,500 median.
What to check: most of these programs do not depend on your address. Avondale is an alternative school that takes applications. Cardinal Carter admits students by audition. Claude Watson at Earl Haig needs an audition and is open to Toronto students from outside Earl Haig’s attendance area. For the regular Earl Haig program, the address does matter. My guide to the best schools in North York covers more options nearby.
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2. Yonge-St. Clair and Summerhill
Why it’s here: Cottingham Junior Public School, at 85 Birch Avenue, tied for first in the January 2026 elementary report. Unlike Avondale, it is a regular public school rather than an alternative school, so the address you buy is what links your child to it.
What it costs: this is midtown, in district C02 with the Annex, Casa Loma and Wychwood. The detached median was $2,375,000, down 8.6%, and semi-detached homes sold at $1,713,500. Condo apartments were $840,000, among the highest in the city.
What to check: a junior school covers the early grades only, so look up the middle and high school for the same address too.
3. Agincourt
Why it’s here: Iroquois Junior Public School, in Agincourt North, tied for first in the January 2026 elementary report. For high school, Agincourt Collegiate Institute began in 1915 and is the oldest secondary school from the former Scarborough board.
What it costs: district E07 (Agincourt North, Agincourt South-Malvern West and Milliken) had a detached median of $1,003,000, down 8.8%. Condo apartments sold at $450,000.
What to check: Agincourt Collegiate’s page says it was closed to out-of-area admission for the 2025–26 school year. Students had to live inside its boundary for the regular or French Immersion program. In this neighbourhood the exact address matters for every stage of school.
4. Guildwood
Why it’s here: Poplar Road Junior Public School, in Guildwood, tied for first in the January 2026 elementary report.
What it costs: district E08 (Cliffcrest, Eglinton East, Guildwood and Scarborough Village) had a detached median of $938,750, down 12.7%, one of the biggest drops in Toronto. Condo apartments fell 17.0% to $440,000.
What to check: with prices down this much, a family can buy near a perfect-score school for well under half the cost of midtown. Check the boundary street by street, because E08 is a large district.
5. Morningside Heights
Why it’s here: Heritage Park Public School, in Morningside Heights in north-east Scarborough, tied for first in the January 2026 elementary report.
What it costs: this part of Scarborough sits in district E11 (Malvern and the northern Rouge area), which had a detached median of $910,000, down 13.9%. That was the lowest detached median of any district in my table.
What to check: confirm the school for each address, since nearby streets can feed different schools.
For more on all three Scarborough picks, see my list of top schools in Scarborough.
What about Leaside, Lawrence Park and High Park?
Leaside and Lawrence Park have long reputations with Toronto parents, and I cover their schools in my guide to schools in Leaside and Lawrence Park. They are not in my top five because none of their schools appeared in the published top results I could check, and I could not review the full ranking tables myself. They are still strong choices, and I would look at them closely.
High Park Alternative School, on Annette Street in High Park North, also tied for first in January 2026. I left the area off my list because, as an alternative school, it admits students by application rather than by address. Downtown, St. Michael’s Choir School, a TCDSB school, tied for first among Ontario high schools, but as a specialized choir school I did not treat it as a neighbourhood school.
Do not assume that the best schools are where the most expensive houses are. On the latest results, a family could buy a detached house near a perfect-score public school in Guildwood or Morningside Heights for under $1 million at the 2026 median, while the same kind of school in midtown came with a median above $2.3 million. Pick the school first, confirm the boundary in writing, visit, and only then fall in love with a house. If you are comparing whole cities instead, my guide to GTA cities with the best schools looks at school board results across the region.
Does buying near a top school guarantee a spot?
No. There are three ways a child gets into a Toronto public school, and only one depends on your address:
- Designated school by address. Every address has a designated TDSB school. The board’s Find Your School tool shows it, and it also has a separate search for French programs, whose pathways can change.
- Application. The TDSB says elementary alternative schools are open to any Toronto resident, but space is limited and families must apply. The application process for the 2026–27 school year is already closed.
- Audition or program entry. Arts schools and specialized programs, such as Cardinal Carter and Claude Watson, choose students through their own process.
Even an address-based school can close to students from outside its boundary when it fills up, as Agincourt Collegiate did for 2025–26.
Listing remarks such as “top school district” or “steps to” a school are written to sell the house. They do not prove the home is inside the boundary, and boundaries can change. Check the exact address with the TDSB or TCDSB yourself before you firm up an offer, and keep a screenshot of the result with your purchase file.
What to do next
- Choose the school stage that matters most to you: elementary, high school or a specialized program.
- Enter each address you are considering in the TDSB Find Your School tool, and the TCDSB locator for Catholic schools.
- Call or visit the school to ask about out-of-area admission and program space.
- Compare the district prices in the table with your mortgage pre-approval.
- Make your offer only after the school boundary is confirmed.
Need help with this? Talk to me.
I’m Jatin Dua, Broker of Record at RE/MAX Quantum Realty, and I’m the best agent to do this kind of work for you in Toronto and across the GTA. Over $100 million in GTA sales and 100+ families helped sell. Feel free to contact me any time: call or text 833-330-1925 or email [email protected].
Frequently asked questions
Which Toronto neighbourhood has the best schools?
Willowdale East has the deepest cluster of top-ranked schools in Toronto for 2027. Avondale Alternative tied for first in Ontario in the Fraser Institute’s January 2026 elementary report, Cardinal Carter Academy for the Arts tied for eighth of 747 high schools in November 2025, and Earl Haig hosts the Claude Watson Arts Program. Most of these programs admit students by application or audition.
Which Toronto public elementary schools ranked first in Ontario?
In the Fraser Institute elementary report released in January 2026, Toronto public schools named among those tied for first included Avondale Alternative, Cottingham, High Park Alternative, Heritage Park, Iroquois and Poplar Road. The report ranked 3,052 Ontario schools on EQAO test results, and 31 tied for first. Two of those six are alternative schools that admit by application, not by address.
What is the best high school in Toronto?
St. Michael’s Choir School, a specialized Catholic choir school, was the only City of Toronto school among the four that tied for first in the Fraser Institute’s November 2025 secondary report, which ranked 747 Ontario high schools. Cardinal Carter Academy for the Arts, which admits by audition, tied for eighth. Rankings measure test results only, so visit schools before choosing for 2027.
Where can I buy a cheaper house near a top-ranked school in Toronto?
Scarborough is the best value. Heritage Park, Iroquois and Poplar Road tied for first in Ontario in the January 2026 Fraser elementary report, and their districts, E11, E07 and E08, had detached medians of $910,000, $1,003,000 and $938,750 from January to October 2026, according to TRREB MLS data via REALM. Confirm each address with the TDSB before buying in 2027.
Does living near a school guarantee my child a spot in Toronto?
No. Your address gives you a designated TDSB school, but alternative schools take applications from anywhere in Toronto, and arts programs such as Cardinal Carter and Claude Watson admit by audition. Some schools also close to out-of-area students, as Agincourt Collegiate did for 2025-26. Check the exact address in the TDSB Find Your School tool before you buy in 2027.
How do I find my school boundary in Toronto?
Use the TDSB Find Your School tool on the board’s website and enter the exact street address. It shows your designated school and has a separate search for French programs, whose pathways can change. For Catholic schools, use the TCDSB’s school locator. Check again close to closing in 2027, and call the school about out-of-area admission.
Are the Fraser Institute school rankings reliable?
The Fraser Institute rankings are useful but limited. They score Ontario schools only on provincial EQAO test results, and the Fraser Institute itself says parents should not choose a school on the report alone. It suggests visiting the school’s website and talking with the principal, teachers and other parents. Treat a 2026 ranking as one input when you buy in 2027.
How much is a house near Cottingham school in Toronto?
Cottingham Junior Public School is at 85 Birch Avenue in the Yonge-St. Clair and Summerhill area, which TRREB places in district C02. From January to October 2026, C02 had a detached median of $2,375,000 and a semi-detached median of $1,713,500, according to TRREB MLS data via REALM. Those are district figures, so individual streets near the school can differ.
Can I apply to Avondale Alternative School from anywhere in Toronto?
Yes. The TDSB says its elementary alternative schools, including Avondale Alternative in Willowdale, are open to any Toronto resident, but space is limited and families must apply. The application process for the 2026-27 school year is already closed, so families planning a 2027 move should watch for the next application window on the TDSB website.
Sources
- CP24: Ontario’s best and worst performing elementary schools ranked in new report (Fraser Institute, January 2026)
- CP24: Fraser Institute report ranks Ontario secondary schools (November 2025)
- TDSB: Elementary alternative schools
- TDSB: Find your school
- TDSB: Agincourt Collegiate Institute school page
- TDSB: Cottingham Junior Public School
- Earl Haig Secondary School (enrolment and Claude Watson Arts Program)
- Cardinal Carter Academy for the Arts (grades and audition admission)
Related reading
- Top 5 Best Neighbourhoods to Live in Mississauga in 2027
- Top 5 Best Neighbourhoods to Live in Brampton in 2027
- Top 5 Best Neighbourhoods to Live in Markham in 2027
- Top 5 Best Neighbourhoods to Live in Oakville in 2027
About the author — Jatin Dua, Toronto and GTA real estate broker
I am Jatin Dua, Broker of Record and co-founder of RE/MAX Quantum Realty Inc., Brokerage, Unit 101, 799 The Queensway, Toronto. I work with buyers and sellers across Toronto and the GTA and have helped more than 100 families sell. Four-plus years of active GTA transactions and over $100 million in sales volume.
Reach me at [email protected] or 833-330-1925, or book a call.