British Columbia · Grade 9 · 2026–27 · For parents

What your child learns in Grade 9 in British Columbia

In Grade 9, British Columbia students work through Mathematics, English Language Arts, Science, Social Studies, French — 149 specific skills across 26 units, set by the province's official curriculum. This page lists them all in plain words, subject by subject, so you know exactly what "how was school?" is actually covering this year.

5Subjects
26Units
149Skills

Built from the official British Columbia curriculum · free to start · web, iPhone & Android

How to read this page

British Columbia publishes its curriculum as long official documents written for teachers. This page is the same content, translated for the fridge door: each subject below shows this year's units and the skills inside them. If a skill sounds unfamiliar, that's the point — now you know what to ask about at dinner.

Mathematics this year

Math builds in layers, and this year's layer matters — each unit below leans on the ones before it. In British Columbia, that's Mathematics 9 — 7 units, 22 skills.

Number

  • Adding and subtracting rational numbers
  • What a whole-number exponent means
+ 4 more skills in this unit →

Polynomials

  • Adding and subtracting polynomials
+ 2 more skills in this unit →

Linear Relations

  • From a table of values to a graph
+ 2 more skills in this unit →

Linear Equations

  • Equations with the variable on both sides
+ 2 more skills in this unit →

Spatial Proportional Reasoning

  • Scale factor in scale diagrams
+ 2 more skills in this unit →

Statistics in Society

  • Sampling methods and bias
+ 1 more skill in this unit →

Financial Literacy

  • Building a simple budget
+ 1 more skill in this unit →

See the full Mathematics 9 curriculum, with the ministry's own wording →

English Language Arts this year

Reading, writing, and speaking skills deepen this year — less "can they read it," more "what do they make of it." In British Columbia, that's English Language Arts 9 — 3 units, 82 skills.

Story and Text

  • Forms of text
  • Using text features
  • Characterization
+ 18 more skills in this unit →

Strategies and Processes

  • Using contextual clues
  • Focusing on the speaker
  • Reflecting
+ 19 more skills in this unit →

Language Features, Structure, and Conventions

  • Tone (spoken)
  • Multi-paragraphing
  • Language change
+ 36 more skills in this unit →

See the full English Language Arts 9 curriculum, with the ministry's own wording →

Science this year

Science gets more structured this year — real investigations, real explanations, real vocabulary. In British Columbia, that's Science 9 — 4 units, 15 skills.

Reproduction

  • Mitosis
  • Meiosis
+ 2 more skills in this unit →

The Periodic Table and Chemical Bonding

  • Element properties in the periodic table
  • Ionic and covalent compounds
+ 1 more skill in this unit →

Circuits and Electricity

  • Complete circuits let electrons flow
  • Voltage
+ 2 more skills in this unit →

Sustainability of Ecosystems

  • How the sun drives matter and energy cycles
  • Matter moving between living and non-living parts
  • Judging whether a system is sustainable
+ 1 more skill in this unit →

See the full Science 9 curriculum, with the ministry's own wording →

Social Studies this year

Social studies widens the lens this year — history, geography, and how communities and governments work. In British Columbia, that's Social Studies 9 — 7 units, 12 skills.

Revolutions

  • Political and social revolutions
  • Economic and technological revolutions

Imperialism and Colonialism

  • Colonialism in Canada and its continuing effects on indigenous peoples
  • Imperialism around the world

Demographic Shifts

  • Global demographic shifts, migration, and population growth

Nationalism and Nation-States

  • Nationalism and the development of modern nation-states

Conflict

  • Local and regional conflicts
  • Global conflicts, including the world wars

Discriminatory Policies and Injustices

  • Discriminatory immigration and wartime policies against racialized communities
  • Discriminatory policies against First Peoples

Canada's Physical Geography

  • Physiographic features in Canada
  • Natural resources in Canada

See the full Social Studies 9 curriculum, with the ministry's own wording →

French this year

French builds through listening, speaking, and simple reading — confidence first, grammar second. In British Columbia, that's Core French 9 — 5 units, 18 skills.

Listening and Viewing with Intent

  • Same-sound letter groupings and rhyming words
  • Recognizing elements of common types of texts
+ 1 more skill in this unit →

Meaningful Conversations

  • Describing what happens now
  • Talking about the past with the passé composé
  • Talking about the future with the futur proche
+ 8 more skills in this unit →

Experiences and Perspectives Through Stories

  • Identifying the common elements of stories

Francophone Creative Works and Cultures

  • Traditions and cultural practices across Francophone regions
  • Ethics of cultural appropriation and plagiarism

Cultural Identity From a New Perspective

  • Connections between indigenous communities and the French language

See the full Core French 9 curriculum, with the ministry's own wording →

Three ways parents use this list

At report-card timeMatch the teacher's comments to the units above — "working on number sense" stops being a mystery phrase.
At parent-teacher nightPick one unit per subject and ask "how is my child doing with this?" — specific questions get specific answers.
When they're stuckFind the exact skill on this page, open it in MapleMind, and the tutor teaches just that — step by step, as many times as it takes.

Common questions

What does my child learn in Grade 9 in British Columbia?

British Columbia's official curriculum sets out Mathematics, English Language Arts, Science, Social Studies, French for Grade 9 — 149 specific skills in total. The big themes: Mathematics covers number and polynomials; English Language Arts covers story and text and strategies and processes; Science covers reproduction and the periodic table and chemical bonding. The full list is on this page.

Is this the official British Columbia curriculum?

It's built from British Columbia's official program of studies, reorganized into plain language — and each subject links to a course page that quotes the ministry's own wording and links to the government source, so you can check our work. One honest caveat: we're not the ministry, curricula do change, and we can't guarantee this reflects the very latest revision, so confirm anything important against the live provincial curriculum data.

My child is finding one of these skills hard. What can I do?

That's normal — every skill on this page is one most kids wobble on at first. MapleMind teaches any of them one-on-one: a short lesson in plain words, a worked example, then solving together. It's free to start, on any device, in 14 languages.

Keep exploring

Knowing the list is half the job

The other half is the teaching — and that's what MapleMind does. Pick any skill on this page and see it taught properly, free, in under a minute.

MapleMind isn't affiliated with any ministry of education. We build these guides from each province's official program of studies and refresh them from time to time — but curricula change, and we can't guarantee this page reflects the very latest revision. Always confirm against the live provincial curriculum data. Last updated 2026-08-15.