Canadian School Uniforms: Ontario


Figure 1.--This photograph shows the boys at an Ontario private school in 2003 wearing a uniform with a clear British influence. .

The English influence in Ontario is especially strong. A HBC reader writes, "I went to a boys' private school in Toronto and we wore a traditional British school uniform. These are still worn today, but caps are no longer worn. My school was the Crescent School. Some older pictures on the wall of the school from the 1930s up to the 1950s show boys in very traditional British uniforms wearing green blazers with white piping and the school crest on the pocket, white shirt, green and white striped ties, green and white striped English-style school caps, grey shorts, grey knee socks and black shoes. Even with the cold winters, the younger boys wore shorts and the older boys wore long trousers. By the 1970s, when I was there, the uniform was modified to consist of long grey trousers for all ages, white shirt, green and white striped tie and green blazer (with no piping) and the school crest on the pocket and black shoes. Caps and shorts were abolished. This style of uniform is common to all private schools in Ontario. The Crescent School has a green blazer, Upper Canada College has a navy blue blazer and Royal St. George's School has a red blazer, all containing the school crest on the pocket. During the hot weather in June, the boys are now allowed to wear a less formal uniform consisting of optional grey shorts with a white golf shirt with the school crest on it instead of the usual white buttoned shirt and school tie. This is a very recent development. This type of more informal design is also slowly being adopted in some public elementary schools."











HBC





Related Chronolgy Pages in the Boys' Historical Web Site
[The 1880s] [The 1930s] [The 1940s] [The 1930s] [The 1940s] [The 1950s] [The 1960s] [The 1970s] [The 1980s]






Created: July 30, 2003
Last updated: July 30, 2003