Published 18 September 2026 · By Jatin Dua, Broker of Record, RE/MAX Quantum Realty
Oakville had an exceptional year. Forest Trail Public School ranked 1st of roughly 3,050 Ontario elementary schools at a perfect 10.0, and three Oakville secondary schools placed in the provincial top 12: Abbey Park and Iroquois Ridge tied 8th at 9.3, and Oakville Trafalgar 12th at 9.2. Pilgrim Wood rounds out the elementary side at 9.7, ranked 42nd.
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Get My Free Estimate →The cleanest buy in Oakville is Glen Abbey, because Pilgrim Wood feeding Abbey Park is a directly confirmed feeder relationship rather than a marketing claim. And if you want IB, read the White Oaks section below before you buy anywhere — you almost certainly do not need to.
1Forest Trail Public School (JK-8)
Forest Trail is the top-ranked elementary school in the province on the current figures, and the climb is the striking part: five years earlier it sat at rank 20. The 2025 report marks it with an improving trend, and its five-year average of 9.2 shows the result is built on a pattern rather than one strong cohort.
Programmes
French Immersion, English as a Second Language, special education and athletics.
Access
The English stream is address-driven. French Immersion is a separate application, and Halton starts immersion in Grade 2 rather than Grade 1, with registration opening in December and closing at the end of January of the Grade 1 year. That timing catches families out.
2Pilgrim Wood Public School (K-8)
Pilgrim Wood describes itself as a triple track school, running English, French Immersion and Gifted streams under one roof. Its 9.7 rating against a five-year average of 9.1 puts it firmly in the top 1.5 per cent of Ontario elementary schools, and it feeds Abbey Park.
The gifted stream is not an address
Gifted placement at Pilgrim Wood is identification-based. A student must be formally identified through the Halton board process. Buying into the catchment secures the English stream and nothing more. This is the single most common misunderstanding about the school.
Why Glen Abbey works as a package
Pilgrim Wood into Abbey Park is a confirmed feeder relationship, which makes Glen Abbey the one Oakville neighbourhood where the elementary-to-secondary path is genuinely verifiable rather than assumed.
3Abbey Park High School (9-12)
Abbey Park sits 8th in Ontario on the 2025 secondary report, a figure independently confirmed in CP24’s coverage of the release. Its confirmed feeders are Abbey Lane, Heritage Glen and Pilgrim Wood — the Glen Abbey corridor.
Programmes
Advanced Placement in calculus, biology and statistics; two Specialist High Skills Majors in business and social sciences; an OYAP fashion apprenticeship; and DECA.
A number you may see that is wrong
Several sources still describe Abbey Park as ranking 10th and first in Oakville. That reflects an earlier edition of the report. The 2025 figure is 8th, tied with Iroquois Ridge.
4Iroquois Ridge High School (9-12)
Iroquois Ridge ties Abbey Park at 9.3 and 8th provincially, serving the Iroquois Ridge North area. It runs French Immersion.
What could not be confirmed
A full feeder school list and precise catchment boundaries were not obtainable. The Halton DSB school locator is the authoritative source, and any specific address should be checked there before it is treated as in-catchment.
How it compares
On measured results Iroquois Ridge and Abbey Park are indistinguishable. The difference between them is neighbourhood, housing stock and price, not academic ranking.
5Oakville Trafalgar High School (9-12)
Oakville Trafalgar serves Old Oakville and Eastlake, the most expensive part of town by a wide margin. Detached homes in Old Oakville averaged roughly $2.93 million in the fourth quarter of 2025 against about $1.79 million in Glen Abbey, on TRREB community figures.
Feeders
Maple Grove PS, École E.J. James PS and James W. Hill PS, plus the Catholic elementaries St. Luke’s and St. Vincent’s. It also draws a significant intake from private schools.
The value question
At 9.2 it rates marginally below Abbey Park and Iroquois Ridge at 9.3, while sitting in housing that costs roughly 60 per cent more. If the school result is what you are buying, Glen Abbey is the better arithmetic.
Side-by-side comparison
| School | Level | Type | Area | Access | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forest Trail PS | Elementary | Public HDSB | Palermo West | Address | 10.0 |
| Pilgrim Wood PS | Elementary | Public HDSB | Glen Abbey | Address; gifted by identification | 9.7 |
| Abbey Park HS | Secondary | Public HDSB | Glen Abbey | Address | 9.3 |
| Iroquois Ridge HS | Secondary | Public HDSB | Iroquois Ridge North | Address | 9.3 |
| Oakville Trafalgar HS | Secondary | Public HDSB | Old Oakville / Eastlake | Address | 9.2 |
Frequently asked questions
Which is the best school in Oakville?
Forest Trail Public School is ranked 1st in Ontario among elementary schools at 10.0. On the secondary side, Abbey Park and Iroquois Ridge tie at 9.3 and 8th provincially.
Do I need to buy in a catchment to get into the IB programme?
No, and this is the most useful thing on this page. White Oaks Secondary School runs the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme and it is open to any Halton board student regardless of home address. It is free and there is no entrance exam. The board states that all students who apply will be accepted provided space is available; if it is oversubscribed, places are allocated by randomised computer selection. Entry is at Grade 9 or directly into Grade 11.
Which Oakville neighbourhood has the best school package?
Glen Abbey. Pilgrim Wood at 9.7 feeding Abbey Park at 9.3 is a confirmed feeder relationship, and detached homes there averaged roughly $1.79 million in Q4 2025 against about $2.93 million in Old Oakville for a marginally lower-rated secondary school.
When does French Immersion start in Halton?
Grade 2, which is later than most Ontario boards. Registration opens in December and closes at the end of January of the Grade 1 year. Some schools are dual track; where a school offers only Core French, students must change schools to enter immersion. Whether oversubscribed immersion places are allocated by lottery, and whether transport is provided, is not stated by the board.
How much does a top catchment add to an Oakville house price?
No credible study isolates that figure for Oakville. Community averages show Glen Abbey and Old Oakville trading above the municipal mid-range, but those numbers conflate lot size, housing age and household income. The commonly quoted GTA premium figures date from 2015 and 2017 and carry no methodology.
- Fraser Institute, Report Card on Ontario’s Secondary Schools 2025
- Fraser Institute, Report Card on Ontario’s Elementary Schools 2025
- compareschoolrankings.org
- CP24 coverage of the 2025 secondary rankings
- Halton DSB, White Oaks International Baccalaureate programme pages
- Halton DSB, French Immersion information
- TRREB Oakville community report, Q4 2025
Ratings are from the Fraser Institute Report Card on Ontario’s Secondary Schools 2025 (published November 2025) and Report Card on Ontario’s Elementary Schools 2025 (published January 2026), both based on 2023/24 EQAO data. Rankings are published annually and are formally disputed by several Ontario school boards, which argue they ignore special education needs, English language learners and household income. Verify any individual figure at compareschoolrankings.org and confirm catchments with the board’s own address lookup before relying on them.