How to read this page
Ontario 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 Ontario, that's Mathematics, Grade 9 (De-streamed) — 5 units, 51 skills.
Number
- Telling the story of a number concept across cultures
- Describing how subsets of a number system are defined
- Using patterns to explain the density of a number set
Algebra
- Telling the story of an algebraic concept across cultures
- Creating algebraic expressions from words, numbers, and visuals
- Comparing expressions using concrete, numerical, graphical, and algebraic methods
Data
- Describing implications of collecting, storing, and using large amounts of data
- Representing and analysing single-variable data with quartiles and box plots
- Creating a scatter plot to represent a relationship between two variables
Geometry and Measurement
- Telling the story of a geometric concept or measurement system across cultures
- Creating and analysing designs using circle properties
- Creating and analysing designs using triangle and angle properties
Financial Literacy
- Explaining how a past or current financial situation informs decisions
- Using graphs to answer questions about appreciation and depreciation
- Comparing how interest rate and calculation method affect overall cost
See the full Mathematics, Grade 9 (De-streamed) 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 Ontario, that's English, Grade 9 (De-streamed) — 4 units, 56 skills.
Literacy Connections and Applications
- Online rights, responsibilities, and your digital identity
- Researching with a guard against misinformation
- Identity, self, and belonging in diverse texts
Foundations of Language
- Effective listening skills for real conversations
- Reading and spelling complex words with morphology
- Building complex sentences
Comprehension: Understanding and Responding to Texts
- Comprehending complex texts
- Using prior knowledge to understand new texts
- Analyzing senior-level literary devices
Composition: Expressing Ideas and Creating Texts
- Choosing topic, purpose, audience, and form
- Drafting complex texts in various genres
- Producing polished final texts
See the full English, Grade 9 (De-streamed) curriculum, with the ministry's own wording →
Science this year
Science gets more structured this year — real investigations, real explanations, real vocabulary. In Ontario, that's Science, Grade 9 (De-streamed) — 5 units, 48 skills.
STEM Skills and Connections
- WHMIS and safe practices for hands-on investigations
- Designing an experiment or prototype for a STEM occupation
Biology: Sustainable Ecosystems and the Impact of Human Activities
- Climate-change impacts on ecosystem sustainability
- Interactions of the biosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, and atmosphere
Chemistry: Exploring Matter
- Impacts of consumer-product life cycles
- Properties of matter and ecosystem equilibrium
Physics: Electrical Energy and Its Transfer
- Benefits and challenges of electricity sources
- Behaviour of electric charges
Earth and Space Science: The Solar System and the Universe
- Impacts of space observation and exploration
- The Sun and its importance
See the full Science, Grade 9 (De-streamed) curriculum, with the ministry's own wording →
French this year
French builds through listening, speaking, and simple reading — confidence first, grammar second. In Ontario, that's Core French, Grade 9, Academic — 4 units, 34 skills.
Listening
- Using listening strategies
- Interactive listening strategies
- Hearing about Africa and Asia
Speaking
- Using speaking strategies
- Speaking-interaction strategies
- Speaking about Africa and Asia
Reading
- Using reading strategies
- Purpose of text forms
- Reading about Africa and Asia
Writing
- Identifying purpose and audience
- Pre-writing: gathering ideas
- Writing about Africa and Asia
See the full Core French, Grade 9, Academic curriculum, with the ministry's own wording →
Grade 9 includes the EQAO math assessment
Ontario's Grade 9 students write the EQAO math assessment — and unlike the earlier ones, it can count for up to 10% of the final math mark. It draws directly from the Grade 9 math curriculum below. MapleMind's exam mode runs a timed simulation of it, so the real day has no surprises.
Three ways parents use this list
Common questions
What does my child learn in Grade 9 in Ontario?
Ontario's official curriculum sets out Mathematics, English Language Arts, Science, Social Studies, French for Grade 9 — 235 specific skills in total. The big themes: Mathematics covers number and algebra; English Language Arts covers literacy connections and applications and foundations of language; Science covers stem skills and connections and biology: sustainable ecosystems and the impact of human activities. The full list is on this page.
Is this the official Ontario curriculum?
It's built from Ontario'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.
Does Grade 9 have a provincial test in Ontario?
Ontario's Grade 9 students write the EQAO math assessment — and unlike the earlier ones, it can count for up to 10% of the final math mark. It draws directly from the Grade 9 math curriculum below. MapleMind's exam mode runs a timed simulation of it, so the real day has no surprises.
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.
Social Studies this year
Social studies widens the lens this year — history, geography, and how communities and governments work. In Ontario, that's Geography of Canada, Grade 9 — 5 units, 46 skills.
Geographic Skills and Careers
- Skills geography builds
+ 3 more skills in this unit →Interactions in the Physical Environment
- Canada's landscapes and landforms
- Patterns in physical events
- Land and human activity
+ 8 more skills in this unit →Managing Canada's Resources and Industries
- Types of Canadian resources
- Knowledge-based industries
- Models of sustainable development
+ 10 more skills in this unit →Changing Populations
- Canada's demographic trends
- Effects of population change
+ 7 more skills in this unit →Liveable Communities
- Types of land use
- Sustainable food systems
+ 7 more skills in this unit →See the full Geography of Canada, Grade 9 curriculum, with the ministry's own wording →