The High School of Commerce was an Ottawa

Ottawa

Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...

 secondary school

Secondary school

Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...

 that existed from 1929 until 1990. A commerce program had begun at Ottawa Collegiate Institute in 1902. The program became quite popular, and in 1915 it had to move to temporary quarters at Hopewell Public School. In 1917 it moved to the new Ottawa Technical High School

Ottawa Technical High School

Ottawa Technical High School, more often known as Ottawa Tech, was a high school in Ottawa, Canada that originally specialized in vocational programs. The school opened in 1913 as the second public secondary school in Ottawa, and was closed in 1992. It was located on Albert Street in the western...

 building, but officially remained an OCI program. In 1921 the commerce program was merged with the vocational program and both were administered by Ottawa Tech. Both the technical training and the commerce programs proved quite popular, and in 1929 the commerce program was moved to its own building, attached to the west of Glebe Collegiate Institute

Glebe Collegiate Institute

Glebe Collegiate Institute is a high school in the Glebe neighbourhood of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Administered by the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, Glebe Collegiate Institute has approximately 1,500 students; students and sports teams are referred to as "Gryphons".The school offers many...

, and the High School of Commerce became Ottawa's fourth public high school.

In 1967 the High School of Commerce moved to an even larger and newer facility on Preston Street

Preston Street (Ottawa)

Preston Street is a street in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, running between Wellington Street and Carling Avenue. It is the main commercial district in Little Italy, home to numerous small business and Italian restaurants, and is synonymous with "Little Italy" to many Ottawa residents when referring to...

. This was considered an extremely modern facility, most notable for having an IBM 1401

IBM 1401

The IBM 1401 was a variable wordlength decimal computer that was announced by IBM on October 5, 1959. The first member of the highly successful IBM 1400 series, it was aimed at replacing electromechanical unit record equipment for processing data stored on punched cards...

 computer on the third floor.

The school offered both a secretarial program and an extensive and intensive art program.

The program was highly respected and afforded an excellent foundation in Fine Art, Textile Design, Theatre Arts, and Commercial and Graphic Arts. Graduates of the 4 year art program moved directly into art or craft programs at colleges and universities such as Mount Allison, The Ontario College of Art, Sheridan College, and Queens University. Most students were able to secure second-year standing on the strength of their experience at the High School of Commerce.

However, enrollment in the commercial programs began to steadily decline as most students opted for the composite schools and demographics made for fewer young people. In 1983 part of the building was given to the adult education program. This program gradually grew and in 1990 the High School of Commerce was closed and the Adult High School

Adult High School (Ottawa)

The Adult High School is a Ottawa-Carleton District School Board high school for adults in Ottawa, Canada. It is the only regular high school entirely for adults in the province of Ontario. Current enrollment is some 1200 students....

 took over.

The art program transferred to Canterbury High School

Canterbury High School (Ottawa)

Canterbury High School is an Ottawa-Carleton District School Board high school in the Elmvale Acres neighbourhood of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.It is an arts magnet school, and located at 900 Canterbury Ave...

.