A transgender student in Canada is now allowed to use the men's toilets after the school previously banned him.

James Spencer, 16, was angry after Clarke High School in Ontario's Durham Region, near Toronto, told him he can only use the female washroom or a private bathroom which requires a key from the office.

Spencer enrolled at the school as a boy and collected signatures from about half the pupils for a petition in support of his complaint.

Under pressure, the school has decided Spencer can now use the men's toilets.

'We decided it would be most appropriate...and that’s the direction we’ve taken,' said Martin Twiss, superintendent of education at the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board.

The school has also made sure its private gender neutral toilet no longer requires a key, reported the Hamilton Spectator.

Twiss added: 'We’re piloting (the accommodations) at this school...it’s certainly teaching us a lot.'