The regions Pickering College offers busing from are:
Additional notes: Bus route to Markham/Richmond Hill in the South. We also pick up from Newmarket GO in co-ordination with the GO Train from the North (Barrie, etc.)
The 50-page review of Pickering College is part of our series of in-depth accounts of Canada's leading private schools. It provides a unique and objective perspective on the school's academics, programs, culture, and community.
Read our in-depth review"Pickering College, founded 1842, is a co-educational JK–12 day and boarding school where students learn by engaging with real-world challenges, emerging technologies, and meaningful community partnerships. Located on a 35-acre campus in Newmarket, Ontario, and supported by the 77-acre Blue & Silver Farm learning hub, Pickering offers an educational experience that combines academic excellence with hands-on, purpose-driven learning. Pickering College is Canada's only Quaker-founded school and while non-denominational, the school's values reflect Quaker traditions of simplicity, peace, integrity, community, equality, and stewardship. The boarding program provides an enriched on-campus experience for students from Canada and over 25 countries from around the world. Day students also benefit from the global perspectives that come from studying at a school alongside students from diverse backgrounds and experiences. Alumni go on to study at top universities worldwide and shape the future, with a 100% university acceptance rate."
Our students experience a school that is intimate in size and global in perspective. The school is small enough that we are able to truly get to know each child, while welcoming a diverse and co-educational group of students both locally and from around the world. Along with our Global Leadership Program, this provides students with countless opportunities to consider the global context and discover their own place in the world.
Pickering College consciously chose to offer our own Global Leadership Program diploma over the International Baccalaureate (IB) to provide greater flexibility in curriculum design and delivery. The Global Leadership Program allows the school to tailor its educational offerings to meet the unique needs of its students, emphasizing leadership development, critical thinking, and experiential learning opportunities.
While the IB is a well-regarded program, it operates within a standardized framework that can limit the ability to innovate or integrate local and global themes most relevant to our students. The Global Leadership Program reflects Pickering College's commitment to fostering global citizens who are prepared to make meaningful contributions to society through a customized, mission-aligned curriculum that prioritizes creativity, collaboration, and real-world problem-solving.
As one of Canada’s oldest co-educational schools, founded in 1842, Pickering College has always been committed to fostering an inclusive and nurturing environment where every student can thrive. Beginning as West Lake Boarding School in Prince Edward County, and later relocating to Pickering, Ontario, the school in Pickering was destroyed by fire in 1905 and relocated to the present site in Newmarket, Ontario in 1909.
The school has greatly expanded its facilities in the past century, most recently opening a new 50,000 Square-foot building named to honour our foundation: West Lake House.
A student who would benefit most from a Pickering College education is one who is curious, engaged, and eager to make a positive difference in the world. Pickering College thrives on nurturing mission-appropriate students who align with our Quaker values of Simplicity, Peace, Integrity, Community, Equality, and Stewardship (SPICES). Our ideal student is not only academically motivated but also open to embracing new ideas, collaborating with peers, and participating fully in our inclusive, global-minded community. Whether exploring leadership opportunities, pursuing creative or athletic passions, or engaging in meaningful service initiatives, these students find a supportive environment where their unique strengths are celebrated, and their potential is fully realized.
At Pickering College, we believe every family deserves the opportunity to find the right educational environment for their child. Pickering College is best suited for students who thrive in a rigorous academic setting, are self-motivated learners, and are inspired to make a meaningful difference in the world. Our mission-driven approach and commitment to fostering leadership, creativity, and global citizenship ensure that students who embrace these qualities will flourish in our supportive and enriching community.
As a Pickering College parent once put it: “I would encourage other parents to enrol their child at Pickering College because quite simply, it is an oasis in the storm. A place of safety, strong community, values-based education, and leadership training. As a parent, I too am relearning along the way in terms of the importance of servant leadership and responsibility to others in our community at large.”
When people think about Pickering College, several defining attributes come to mind. With a proud history spanning nearly 200 years, Pickering College is recognized for its enduring commitment to academic excellence and values-based education rooted in its Quaker heritage. Our school is known for its warm and supportive community, where students, staff, and families work together to foster a sense of belonging and mutual respect. Graduates of Pickering College emerge as compassionate, confident, and capable leaders, prepared to make a positive impact in the world. Our alumni, who have achieved success across diverse fields, are a testament to the transformative power of a Pickering College education.
We often say “The People are Pickering.” When you choose a school for your child, you are choosing more than a formal education, but the community of caring faculty and staff that will empower and inspire them. We refer to this as “finding the light” within each child - that inner potential that is waiting to shine upon the world. It is important to find a school that shares your family’s values, and we hope the welcoming and inclusive nature of our community will be that place.
Retaining a close relationship with our Quaker heritage provides a solid philosophical, moral and operational framework for our school. Our Morning Meetings play a fundamental role in the life of the school as a time that we join together in an atmosphere of respect, listening, trust, integrity, compassion and silence. The silence in Morning Meeting provides us time to reflect and take comfort, strength and joy from being in the presence of friends and find a sense of power and enlightenment.
The opening of our new building, West Lake House, has provided students with new spaces to grow, learn and create. The 50,000 square-foot facility includes an assembly hall with a capacity for 600, new classrooms for our youngest learnings, a dedicated arts wing, state of the art science labs, and 102.7 CHOP-FM, Newmarket's community radio station.
We have also recently opened our second site, the Blue & Silver Farm, which serves as an Outdoor Education facility with over 75 acres of diverse landscape, as well as hosting the schools agricultural technology programming and the innovative Sphere program for students in Grades 4 and 5.
The Eric Veale Memorial Arena has recently completed a complete renovation, including the addition of a new gymnasium space with a climbing wall, while modernizing our ice rink.
Coming soon is a new 5,000 square-foot Innovation Centre where ideas will move from concept to creation. The Innovation Centre will include robotics and engineering workspaces, a dedicated makerspace and workshop, flexible collaboration zones , and areas for prototyping, design, and experimentation.
Also opening soon will be The Puma Den, with fitness, wellness, and social spaces for students to gather outside of the classroom and will include expanded fitness and wellness facilities, a yoga and dance studio, collaborative social space, and an arcade-style student lounge.
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