Originally an all-girls school, boys were finally allowed to attend after the closure of Collège du Sacré-Cœur in the late 1980s.

Collège Notre-Dame is known for its qualities emphasizing on theoretical academics, offering Enriched Mathematics and Integrated Sciences, as well as possessing a gifted students program (Douance).

In the year 2005-06 the school raised over $40,000 CDN for the foundation through such events as the blitz, where a large majority of the students went throughout the city, on assigned streets acquiring door-to-door donations.

[4] College Notre-Dame boys' hockey team captured their school's first-ever title at the Franco-Ontarien tournament, held in April 2013 in Hamilton.

The students are required to wear classic uniforms, such as a navy blue cardigan or sweater vest, a red tie and grey pants for boys, and a navy blue cardigan or sweater vest and grey pants or skirt for girls, complete with a white shirt for both sexes.