Private schools have frequently provided innovative, experimental, and creative programunavailable to students in the public system. The most successful have survived and expanded by offering an educational experience widely perceived to be not just as good as that available in the public system, but better.

In Canada, private schools are enjoying an unprecedented popularity and while most are day-only, over sixty sustain boarding programs, as do two off-shore Canadian schools.

The Handbook of Canadian Boarding Schools presents information on the educational environment of each province,then offers comparative information on each boarding school.

The information on each school includes: basic data, location, history, philosophy, the campus, boarding facilities, health and safety, administration and faculty, student body and student conduct, academic calendar and program, information technology, student activities and student conduct, admission and costs.

The Handbook also supplies several appendices outlining important programs often available through boarding schools, such as Advanced Placement courses and the International Baccalaureate.

For parents in Canada and abroad about to commit substantial sums to their children’s education, the Handbook of Canadian Boarding Schools is an essential tool to help them make the right decision.

It is also an indispensable resource for supporters of the public system looking for ideas that have worked elsewhere.

Ashley Thomson, B.Ed, M.A., M.L.S., a faculty member in the J.N. Desmarais Library at Laurentian University of Sudbury, is the author/editor of six books including the Directory of Canadian Private Residential Schools (1986), of which this is a major revision. In 1998, Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations presented Mr. Thomson with its award for being the most outstanding academic librarian in Ontario.

Ashley Thomson's profile page

Sylvie Lafortune, B.A., M.L.S. is a faculty member in the J.N. Desmarais Library at Laurentian University of Sudbury.

Sylvie Lafortune's profile page

"Handbook of Canadian Boarding Schools is a thoroughly comprehensive guide for Canadian parents with up to date information."

B.C. Parent

"Think your kids could benefit from a little Harry Potter-style boarding school experience? Got some real money? Laurentian University librarians Ashely Thomson and Sylvie Lafortune present a mind-boggling array of options and private school profiles in Handbook of Canadian Boarding Schools."

The Toronto Star