Ontario expands Holocaust education in schools to combat rise in antisemitism

Ontario is expanding mandatory Holocaust education in Grade 10, including to add learning about contemporary impacts of rising antisemitism.

Education Minister Stephen Lecce says the expansion will help to combat a rise in hate and promote fundamental Canadian values.

"By including new mandatory learning in Holocaust education in elementary and secondary schools, we are ensuring students are never bystanders in the face of hate and division," Lecce said.

"We will ensure that 'Never Again' is our legacy to the next generation, as we safeguard and promote those fundamental Canadian values of democracy, freedom, civility and respect."

The government says that starting in September 2025, the Grade 10 history course will explicitly link the Holocaust to extreme political ideologies including fascism, antisemitism in Canada in the 1930s and 1940s, and the contemporary impacts of rising antisemitism.

The current Grade 10 History curriculum involves learning on how the Holocaust impacted Canadian society and the attitudes of people in Canada toward human rights.

Last year, the government announced mandatory learning on the Holocaust would be included in Grade 6, which includes the responses of the Canadian government to human rights violations during the Holocaust.

Lecce also says the government is putting $650,000 this year to community organizations such as the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies and the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs to provide resources on antisemitism and on Holocaust learning.