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Just to add to the Ontario points above, the curriculum has been going through a change for the past few years, so that the 5th year of highschool (old grade 13, or the OAC year more recently) has been dropped. Students graduating from Ontario highschools now have to conform to the new curriculm with it's mandatory credits as described by cellophanedeity.
In addition, all students must pass a Grade 10 literacy exam to get their diplomas. they have 3 attempts to pass (note the grading on this exam is pass/fail). If they do not pass it in 3 attempts, no diploma.
also mandatory, is the 40 hours of community service, alluded to by martian. All students receive a 'passport' or log, in which they keep track of community volunteering, all activities which have to be approved by the principal of their school. the hours are logged, and signed off. If they do not have 40 hours by the end of grade 12, they do not get their diplomas.
One of the big impacts of reducing the number of years in highschool to 4 (grade 12 matriculation) has been universities grappling with the influx of young frosh. It's not rare to see kids who are barely 16 in first year, with adults because they have progressed quickly through highschool. But the majority of frosh are now 17 instead of 18.
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