Indigenous, Canadian, and World Studies

Indigenous, Canadian and World Studies courses offer the opportunity to explore history, geography, law, and politics in order to enhance students foundation for future study. All the courses emphasize evidence-based reasoning, critical thinking, and qualitative and quantitative research skills.

Intermediate Courses

Exploring Canadian Geography

Course Codes: CGC1W/F (Ontario English or Immersion); CGC1WE/J (Internatioal Baccalaureate Preparation, English or Immersion)

This course builds on learning in Grades 7 and 8 in geography. Students will explore relationships within and between Canada’s natural and human systems and how they interconnect with other parts of the world. Students will also examine environmental and economic issues, and their impact related to topics such as natural resources and industries, careers, land use and responsible development, and sustainability. In addition, students will understand the connections that diverse communities and individuals have with the physical environment and each other throughout Canada, including First Nations, Métis, and Inuit perspectives. Students will apply geographic thinking, use the geographic inquiry process, and use geospatial technologies throughout their investigations.

Canadian History since World War I

Course Codes: CHC2D/F (Ontario English/Immersion); CHC1DE/J (Internatioal Baccalaureate Preparation English/Immersion)

This course explores social, economic, and political developments and events and their impact on the lives of different individuals, groups, and communities, including First Nations, Métis, and Inuit individuals and communities, in Canada since 1914. Students will examine the role of conflict and cooperation in Canadian society, Canada’s evolving role within the global community, and the impact of various individuals, organizations, and events on identities, citizenship, and heritage in Canada. Students will develop an understanding of some of the political developments and government policies that have had a lasting impact on First Nations, Métis, and Inuit individuals and communities. They will develop their ability to apply the concepts of historical thinking and the historical inquiry process, including the interpretation and analysis of evidence, when investigating key issues and events in Canadian history since 1914.

Civics and Citizenship

Course Codes: CHV2O (Open English)

This course explores rights and responsibilities associated with being an active citizen in a democratic society. Students will explore issues of civic importance and the influence of social media, while developing their understanding of the role of civic engagement and of political processes in the local, national, and/or global community. Students will apply the concepts of political thinking and the political inquiry process to investigate, and express informed opinions about, a range of political issues and developments that are both of significance in today’s world and of personal interest to them. This course also includes learning on digital literacy and critical-thinking skills, the mechanisms of government, Indigenous governance systems and structures, the historical foundations of the rights and freedoms we enjoy in Canada, ways in which government policy affects individuals’ lives and the economy, and ways for students to serve their communities.

Grade 11 Courses

Canadian Law

Course Code: CLU3M

This course explores Canadian law, with a focus on legal issues that are relevant to the lives of people in Canada. Students will gain an understanding of laws relating to rights and freedoms in Canada; our legal system; and family, contract, employment, tort, and criminal law. Students will develop legal reasoning skills and will apply the concepts of legal thinking and the legal studies inquiry process when investigating a range of legal issues and formulating and communicating informed opinions about them.

World History to the End of the Fifteenth Century

Course Code: CHW3M

This course explores the history of various societies and civilizations around the world, from earliest times to around 1500 CE. Students will investigate a range of factors that contributed to the rise, success, and decline of various ancient and pre-modern societies throughout the world and will examine life in and the cultural and political legacy of these societies. Students will extend their ability to apply the concepts of historical thinking and the historical inquiry process, including the interpretation and analysis of evidence, when investigating social, political, and economic structures and historical forces at work in various societies and in different historical eras. 

The Individual and the Economy

Course Code: CIE3M

This course explores issues and challenges facing the Canadian economy as well as the implications of various responses to them. Students will explore the economic role of firms, workers, and government as well as their own role as individual consumers and contributors, and how all of these roles contribute to stability and change in the Canadian economy. Students will apply the concepts of economic thinking and the economic inquiry process, including economic models, to investigate the impact of economic issues and decisions at the individual, regional, and national level. 

Grade 12 Courses

Contemporary Indigenous Issues and Perspectives in a Global Context

Course Code: NDW4M

This course examines global issues from the perspectives of Indigenous peoples. Students will explore the depth and diversity of Indigenous cultures, traditions, and knowledge. Students will consider how diverse Indigenous communities persevere despite current global environmental and economic trends, and will investigate topics such as identity, social justice, human rights, spirituality, resilience, and advocacy for change.

World Geography: Urban Patterns and Population Issues

Course Code: CGU4M

The world’s population is growing, it is moving and intermixing, and it is increasingly found in cities. This course explores these changes and the challenges that come with them. It investigates the forces that are shaping the world’s communities, the patterns of interaction between them, the quality of life within them, and their impact on the world around them. Students will apply the concepts of geographic thinking, the geographic inquiry process, and spatial skills and technologies as they investigate issues related to population change and urban life and propose ways of enhancing the sustainability of communities around the world.

Canadian and International Politics

Course Code: CPW4U

This course explores various perspectives on issues in Canadian and world politics. Students will explore political decision making and ways in which individuals, stakeholder groups, and various institutions, including governments, multinational corporations, and non-governmental organizations, respond to and work to address domestic and international issues. Students will apply the concepts of political thinking and the political inquiry process to investigate issues, events, and developments of national and international political importance, and to develop and communicate informed opinions about them.