What Ontario's OSSD, OSSLT and 40 Volunteer Hours Actually Require Before Grade 12 Graduation
By Muntasir Minhaz • Published Aug 19, 2026 • Canadian Universities & Colleges
Ontario's high school diploma (OSSD) needs three separate things: 30 credits, a passed literacy test, and 40 volunteer hours. Miss any one and you do not graduate, even with strong grades.
🎓 30 credits if you started Grade 9 in 2023 or earlier: 18 compulsory and 12 optional.
📊 30 credits if you started Grade 9 in 2024 or later: 17 compulsory, 13 optional, plus a financial literacy requirement.
📝 Pass the OSSLT (300 or higher out of 400) or complete the OSSLC course after two unsuccessful attempts.
⏱️ 40 hours of community involvement, unpaid and outside class time, logged before your school issues the diploma.
2 online learning credits count toward the 30 if you started Grade 9 in the 2020-21 school year or later.
Three separate gates, not one
Ontario's Secondary School Diploma (OSSD) is not a single pass or fail on your report card. The Ontario Ministry of Education tracks three requirements on three different systems: your credit count, your literacy test result, and your volunteer hours log. A perfect transcript does not release your diploma if one of the other two is still open.
Check your status on all three starting in Grade 10, not only in your final year. The OSSLT and the 40 hours are both requirements you often finish years before graduation, well ahead of your last report card.
Credits: 30 total, split by when you started Grade 9
You need 30 credits to graduate. The split between compulsory and optional courses depends on when you entered Grade 9.
| Started Grade 9 | Compulsory credits | Optional credits | Extra requirement |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 or earlier | 18 | 12 | None |
| 2024 or later | 17 | 13 | Financial literacy module |
Students who started Grade 9 in 2024 or later complete a financial literacy requirement inside their Grade 10 Career Studies course: a 70% mark on the financial literacy portion, worth 5% of the final course grade, with two attempts allowed if you miss the mark the first time.
2 of your 30 credits: online learning
If you started Grade 9 in the 2020-21 school year or later, at least 2 of your 30 credits come from online courses. Adult learners entering the Ontario system from the 2023-24 school year onward face the same rule. Request an exemption if you are 18 or older, or an emancipated minor aged 16 or 17, through your school.
The OSSLT: pass the test or take the course
The Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT) is a separate literacy requirement administered once each school year by EQAO , usually in a fall sitting and a spring sitting. You need a score of 300 out of 400 to pass. If you do not pass on your first try, you get another sitting the following term or year. After two unsuccessful attempts, you become eligible for the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Course (OSSLC), which satisfies the requirement in place of another test attempt.
The OSSLT result sits in a separate ministry system from your course credits. Passing math and English does not pass the OSSLT for you, and failing it does not lower any of your course grades.
40 hours of community involvement
You need 40 hours of unpaid activity outside your regular class time before your school issues the diploma. Hours do not come from paid work, from anything already counted toward a course credit, or from duties normally performed by a paid employee at the organization. Most students start logging hours the summer before Grade 9, since the requirement has no fixed start date within your four years.
Your school records the hours on its own form, signed by the organization and a parent or guardian, then filed with your guidance office. Ask your school for its submission deadline early in your final year, since boards set their own internal cutoff dates ahead of the report card date.
Miss one and the diploma waits
Universities and colleges see your mid-year and final grades, not your OSSLT status or your hours total, on the transcript OUAC sends. The diploma itself is a separate document your school issues once all three requirements clear. If you finish your 30 credits but still owe hours or have not passed the OSSLT, your school withholds the OSSD until you close the gap, even after your last exam.
Track all three every year, not only in Grade 12. A student who clears the OSSLT and the hours by the end of Grade 11 walks into their final year with one requirement left: the credits.
Repeating a course
If you repeat a compulsory course after an earlier fail, the credit counts once toward your 30, and the more recent mark usually replaces the earlier one on your transcript, though your school keeps the full history. A repeat scheduled for your final semester leaves less room to recover from a late fail, so plan repeats earlier in your program where possible.
Summer school and credit recovery
Summer school and credit recovery programs let you earn or repeat a credit outside the regular semester. Many students use one to catch up on a compulsory course or to free up room in their final timetable for university prerequisites. Ask your guidance counsellor about your board's summer school registration process well before spring, since seats and course offerings are limited.
Where to check your status
Credits and course completion: your school's guidance office or report card.
OSSLT result: your school, since EQAO reports results back to schools rather than publishing individual results online.
Volunteer hours logged so far: your school's community involvement form file, held by your guidance office.