The course descriptions are also available in French.
Introduction
This document contains the course descriptions for all courses in Grades 9 to 12, along with course lists (including course codes) and prerequisite charts, in the following subjects/disciplines:
- American Sign Language as a Second Language
- The Arts
- Business Studies
- Canadian and World Studies
- Classical Studies and International Languages
- Computer Studies
- Cooperative Education
- English
- English as a Second Language and English Literacy Development
- First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Studies
- French as a Second Language
- Guidance and Career Education
- Health and Physical Education
- Interdisciplinary Studies
- Mathematics
- Native Languages
- Science
- Social Sciences and Humanities
- Technological Education
The purpose of this document is to assist students, with the help of their parents and guidance counsellors, in selecting the courses that will put them on the right path to their postsecondary destination. The course descriptions are standard, one-paragraph descriptions that summarize what students will learn in each course. The descriptions are gathered here in a separate section for each discipline, and each section is introduced by a course list and a prerequisite chart. (A prerequisite is a course deemed essential for the successful understanding and completion of a subsequent course.) The prerequisite charts diagram the relationships among courses.
The policy regarding prerequisites is stated as follows in Ontario Schools, Kindergarten to Grade 12: Policy and Program Requirements, 2016 (section 7.2.3).
Courses in Grades 10, 11, and 12 may have prerequisites for enrolment. All prerequisite courses are identified in ministry curriculum policy documents, and no courses apart from these may be identified as prerequisites. Schools must provide parents and students with clear and accurate information on prerequisites.
If a parent or an adult student (a student who is eighteen years of age or older) requests that a prerequisite be waived, the principal will determine whether or not the prerequisite should be waived. A principal may also initiate consideration of whether a prerequisite should be waived. The principal will make his or her decision in consultation with the parent or the adult student and appropriate school staff. In cases where the parent or adult student disagrees with the decision of the principal, the parent or adult student may ask the appropriate supervisory officer to review the matter.
Course codes consist of five characters:
- The first three characters identify the subject
- The fourth character identifies the grade (i.e., Grade 9 courses are represented by 1, Grade 10 by 2, Grade 11 by 3, and Grade 12 by 4)
- The fifth character identifies the type of course (i.e., W refers to “de-streamed”, P to “applied”, D to “academic”, U to “university”, M to “university/college”, C to “college”, E to “workplace”, and O to “open”).
About secondary school credits
A credit is granted in recognition of the successful completion (that is, completion with a final percentage mark of 50 per cent or higher) of a course that has been scheduled for a minimum of 110 hours. Credits are granted by a principal on behalf of the Minister of Education for courses that have been developed or authorized by the ministry. A half-credit may be granted for each 55-hour part of a 110-hour ministry-developed course in accordance with the policy outlined in the curriculum policy documents. Most courses are offered as single-credit courses. Some courses, such as technological education, interdisciplinary studies, and cooperative education courses, may be offered as multiple-credit courses.
Information about course codes, descriptions, and prerequisites is current as of December 2023, and each section indicates the year(s) the current curriculum was issued.
