I'm in Canada too (Ontario). We started our son in public school for JK and SK, but despite an IEP, he was desperately bored and unhappy. We had him tested so he was identified as gifted and the school's plan was... more of the same. Their greater (only?) concern was social skills. When I tentatively asked about acceleration, they warned me of its perils and then rhapsodized on differentiation within the classroom, despite the clear evidence that it wasn't working for our son.
In my city's public and Catholic schools, there aren't any gifted programs, and acceleration is extremely rare. It's all supposed to be covered by differentiation within the classroom which translates to "not much of anything" unless the teacher is really exceptional.
I researched all our options and we chose to move him to a small private school. We have never looked back. He was accelerated, was therefore more engaged, and then he made friends without difficulty. It was amazing.
The first school closed a few years ago and we moved to a second small private school. It has also been great. In our experience, both private schools have been far more flexible and accommodating than the public or Catholic schools. I'm sure it depends on the school, but in our case, it was definitely the solution and well worth the money.
Side note--we're non-religious in a religious school. It's been fine.
Good luck! I remember how awful it was when DS was so unhappy and bored and what a great relief it was when we found a solution!
