The vision of the Canadian & World Studies program is to enable students to become responsible, active citizens within the diverse communities to which they belong. As well as becoming critically thoughtful and informed citizens who value an inclusive society, students will have the skills they need to solve problems and communicate ideas and decisions about significant developments, events, and issues. 

The goals of the Canadian and World studies program are for students realize the vision for the program as they:

• develop the ability to use the “concepts of disciplinary thinking” to investigate issues, events, and developments
• develop the ability to determine and apply appropriate criteria to evaluate information and evidence and to make judgements
• develop skills and personal attributes that are needed for discipline-specific inquiry and that can be transferred to other areas in life
• build collaborative and cooperative working relationships
• use appropriate technology as a tool to help them gather and analyse information, solve problems, and communicate.

Geography is about determining the significance of “place” as it relates to the natural environment, the human environment, and interactions within and between them. 

History fulfils a fundamental human desire to understand the past. It also appeals to our love of stories. Through the narrative of history, we learn about the people, events, emotions, struggles, and challenges that produced the present and that will shape the future. 

Politics is about how societies are governed, how public policy is developed, and how power is distributed. It also concerns how citizens take public action, working for the common good within communities at the local, national, and/or global level. 

Law is intended to ensure fairness and to promote and maintain justice in society. Legal studies focuses on how rules are created, how they evolve, and how they are enforced and adjudicated within the legal system. 

(Adapted from: Ontario Ministry of Education. The Ontario Curriculum Grades 9 and 10: Canadian and World Studies, 2013. p. 6, 63,103 &143. and Ontario Ministry of Education. The Ontario Curriculum Grades 11 and 12: Canadian and World Studies, 2015. p.445.)

Find out more about Canadian & World Studies: 

• Link to the Ministry of Education Canadian & World Studies curriculum documents to find out more about our Canadian & World Studies courses.