5 Best Art Schools in Toronto (2026)

Toronto Arts Academy is a Midtown music school offering private lessons in piano, guitar, voice, drums, and violin, plus preschool music classes, across camera-equipped studios with parent viewing areas. It describes itself as Toronto's most awarded music school, citing over 30 industry awards, and runs regular student recitals. It is worth noting up front that this is a music school rather than a visual-art school, though several reviewers mention its recital and performance programs as a strong draw for building confidence.

The Creative School Chrysalis is a multidisciplinary performance space run by Toronto Metropolitan University, used for film screenings (including TIFF events), theatrical productions, and other creative programming rather than as a teaching school in the traditional sense. It is not an art school offering enrolled classes, but a venue that hosts creative events and productions, which is worth knowing before you call expecting to book lessons.

OCAD University is Canada's oldest and largest art and design university, offering full undergraduate and graduate degree programs across disciplines including industrial design, illustration, photography, and digital media from its downtown McCaul Street campus. It is the only genuine higher-education art school on this page, with a long list of notable alumni working across design, film, and technology fields. Reviews split between admiration for student talent and criticism of specific programs' practical preparation.

Canadian Contemporary School of Art (CCSA) is an East York studio offering in-person and online art classes for toddlers, kids, and teens, including painting, drawing, animation, fashion design, and sculpting, plus summer and school-break camps. It also runs portfolio-preparation sessions for students applying to university art programs, including one reviewer's daughter who was accepted into OCAD's Illustration program after CCSA coaching. The school positions itself as process-driven rather than results-only instruction.

Art Academy at Art-Kitect is a Danforth Avenue studio running art classes, camps, birthday parties, and after-school pickup programs for children, using a mix of media including drawing, painting, and clay alongside lessons drawing on famous artists' work. Reviewers highlight the after-school pickup service, where staff collect children directly from school and walk them to the studio, as a practical benefit for working parents.