History of Canada, Grade 11

Unit 1: First Peoples and Nouvelle-France (to 1763)

Cluster 1: the First Peoples and the founding of Nouvelle-France to 1763 — what history is and why we study it, the First Peoples and how they structured their world, French and other European arrival and interaction with First Peoples, and the meeting of peoples in the Northwest.

• What history is and thinking historically
• Why we study history

• Diverse First Peoples societies
• How First Peoples structured their world

• Why the French and Europeans came
• Interaction, alliance, and Nouvelle-France

• Interaction in the Northwest
• Results, including the emergence of the Métis

Unit 2: British North America (1763-1867)

Cluster 2: British North America from the Conquest to Confederation — how British colonial rule changed and affected life, how the fur trade and European settlement transformed the Northwest and gave rise to the Métis nation, and why and how the Dominion of Canada was created in 1867.

• Changing British colonial rule
• Impact of British rule on life

• Fur trade and settlement transform the Northwest
• The rise of the Métis nation

• Why Confederation happened
• How Confederation was achieved

Unit 3: Becoming a Sovereign Nation (1867-1931)

Cluster 3: Canada's growth from Confederation toward sovereignty — the Métis resistance to westward expansion, the transformation of life through expansion, immigration, and industrialization, the changing post-Confederation relationship with First Nations, Métis, and Inuit peoples, and the shaping of Canadian identity by the First World War and Canada's changing tie to Britain.

• Why the Métis resisted
• Consequences of the resistance

• Expansion and immigration
• Industrialization and the lives of men and women

• The numbered treaties
• The Indian Act and residential schools

• Canada and the First World War
• War, identity, and the tie to Britain

Unit 4: Achievements and Challenges (1931-1982)

Cluster 4: Canada's achievements and challenges from the Depression to patriation — the pursuit of economic security and social justice, the national institutions that defined Canadian identity, Canada's role in the Second World War and the wider international community, and the federal-provincial tensions and the debate over Québec's status.

• The Depression and its response
• Building social security and justice

• National institutions and identity

• Canada in the Second World War
• Canada in the postwar international community

• The Quiet Revolution and Québec
• Federal-provincial tensions

Unit 5: Defining Contemporary Canada (1982-present)

Cluster 5: contemporary Canada since patriation — how the Charter, diversity, and demographic and technological change have shaped Canada, how national unity has influenced federalism and constitutional debate, how First Nations, Métis, and Inuit peoples pursue self-determination, and how Canada's international relations and global commitments have evolved.

• The Charter of Rights and Freedoms
• Cultural diversity and multiculturalism
• Demographic and technological change

• Québec referendums and sovereignty
• Constitutional debate and political change

• Land claims and self-government
• Cultural revitalization and reconciliation

• Canada's changing international relations
• Canada's future global commitments