A " Resident of Ontario" is a person who fulfills one or more of the following criteria:
- A person who can establish bona fide residency in Ontario as a Canadian citizen or permanent resident as defined by the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (Canada) for a period of 12 consecutive months (excluding periods spent in a post-secondary institution) prior to registration in the year for which application is being made.
- A person who is dependent on a parent or legal guardian, and that parent or legal guardian can establish bona fide residency in Ontario as a Canadian citizen or permanent resident as defined by the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (Canada) for a period of 12 consecutive months prior to registration in the year for which the application is being made. For purposes of this binding policy directive on admissions criteria, a person is considered to be independent of his or her parent or legal guardian if:
- he or she has been out of high school for five years; or
- he or she is married, widowed, or divorced; or
- he or she has dependent children
- A person who can establish bona fide residency in Ontario as a Canadian citizen or permanent resident as defined by the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (Canada) for a period of 12 consecutive months prior to being stationed temporarily outside of Canada as an employee of a provincial or Canadian government or an international organization.
- A person who is a Canadian citizen or permanent resident as defined by the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (Canada) who has taken up permanent residency in Ontario prior to registration as part of a bona fide family relocation from another Canadian province or territory. This does not include relocating to Ontario for the sole purpose of attending an Ontario college of applied arts and technology.
Evidence of bona fide residency may include (but is not restricted to) filing of Ontario tax returns, eligibility to vote in Ontario, production of permanent driver's license or an Ontario motor vehicle registration, proving place of employment, and filing municipal tax returns.
For the purposes of this policy, a Canadian citizen includes a Status Indian or Inuit as defined by the federal government.
Resident of a province or territory in Canada: an applicant who is a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident in a province or territory as defined by the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (Canada) who can establish bona fide residency in a province or territory other than Ontario, in accordance with the Ontario residency definitions outlined above.