Finding the perfect home involves more than just square footage and amenities – it’s about finding the right community for your family. For many parents, this includes ensuring their children attend a great school in a desirable neighbourhood and school zone. With the new school catchment feature on property.ca and condos.ca, searching for homes within specific school districts just got a whole lot easier. Whether you’re moving across town or from across the country, this feature can help you find a house or condo in the perfect location for your family.
What’s the school catchment feature all about?
Our new school catchment feature is designed to simplify your search for a home within a specific school zone – whether that’s a property near a top-rated public school, private school, or a sought-after French school. No more guesswork or scrolling through endless listings – our feature does the hard work for you (and brings you right where you want to be)!
How does the school catchment feature work?
Using the school catchment feature is intuitive – it’s easy for anyone to find their ideal home in the right school district.
1. Start your search
Head over to either property.ca or condos.ca and navigate to the ‘for sale’ section. Click on ‘show map’
The school catchment option is at the top. Toggle it on to see the number of available schools in the area (in purple). Click the down arrow to refine your search based on school type, level, and/or language.
When an area has several schools, click until you see individual school icons: a stack of books with an apple for elementary schools; and a graduate cap for either high schools or private schools.
Make a selection to view more info and to see the catchment area (or school boundaries).
2. View listings
Once you’ve set your criteria and/or found a school you like, you’ll be shown a list of homes within that school catchment area, making it easy to see if the home is in the right district for your family.
Note: School boundaries are approximate and can change often and unexpectedly. It’s highly recommended that you visit a school’s website to confirm its exact catchment area.
3. Set up school catchment alerts
This is one of the tool's standout features! Have your heart set on a specific school or school zone? Create an alert to get notified whenever a new property hits the market in that catchment area. You can set the notification frequency to daily, weekly, or monthly.
Select “Get Alerts” and follow the process. Note: Only schools with catchment areas can be set up as alerts.
Pro tip: Add your partner, friend, or family member to receive notifications, too, so you’re all in the loop!
Search by school name
Another great thing about this feature? The ability to search by school name.
If you already know the specific school you want your kids to attend, the school catchment feature makes it easy to find homes within that school’s boundaries. Simply enter the school’s name into the search bar, and you’ll instantly see a list of available properties in that area.
This targeted search saves you time and ensures that you’re only viewing homes that meet your criteria.
Note: If a catchment area isn’t available, you’ll see “nearby listings” instead of “for sale” or “for rent”. Catchment areas can change, so make sure you double-check your preferred school zones.
Detailed info on individual school pages
Want to go beyond just seeing where the schools are? The school catchment tool also provides comprehensive info about each school within the catchment areas. On the individual school pages, you’ll find everything from the school’s website and phone number, to academic ranking and neighbourhood demographics – useful info when having to make one of the most important decisions for your kid’s education and future.
Why the school catchment feature matters
For many families, the quality of a school can be the deciding factor in choosing a neighbourhood. Schools are often at the heart of a community, and living within a certain catchment area can offer stability, a sense of belonging, and the assurance that your child will have access to a quality education. Our school catchment feature is a game-changer for parents looking for a home in the right school district and offers a seamless way to align your home search with your educational priorities.
With the ability to set up alerts, search by school name, and access detailed info on individual schools, this tool makes it easier than ever to find the right home for your family.
Ready to give it a try? Head over to property.ca or condos.ca to start your search today!