Hi All,

Does anyone have any recommendations for the best high schools in Ottawa? Best areas with no enhanced security or metal detectors etc.? Hopefully I am being over the top cautious here.

Which school your child(ren) may attend will depend on where you live and the catchment area of the school.
I don't think enhanced security requirements in schools are very common here
https://britishexpats.com/wiki/Canadian_Schooling

I'm not aware of any high schools in Ottawa with security/metal detectors. We have 2 kids who went through high school here at 2 different schools and they emerged unscathed. Your school depends on your catchment area/neighbourhood and if you go to english public, english catholic or the french equivalents or private schools. There is the IB programme at a couple of schools and gifted as well at a few.

I have some children who were educated in Canada (and graduated high school without getting knocked up or addicted to anything). If I were doing it again I would structure my domestic arrangements around easy access to an IB school. They commuted an hour each way to theirs and that's a whole lot of time wasted each week.