The Canadian province of Ontario announced on Wednesday it would mandate new and expanded learning about the Holocaust for high school students.
The changes to the curriculum will be made to the Grade 10 History course, according to CityNews Toronto.
The expanded learning 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 changes are expected to be added in September 2025.
“[The teachers] just want more time to learn it. This isn’t an easy subject at the best of times,” said Education Minister Stephen Lecce.
“Holocaust education, for me, is about, Never Again. For me it’s the realization that we have a moral imperative to ensure we speak up for people who face genocide and oppression,” he added.
The current Grade 10 History curriculum involves learning how the Holocaust impacted Canadian society and the attitudes of people in Canada toward human rights.
Last year, the Ontario 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.
The changes to the Grade 10 curriculum come after a survey found that one in three teenagers in Canada and in the US believe the Holocaust was fabricated, exaggerated or unsure it actually happened.
Earlier this week, the Canadian province of British Columbia announced that high school students in the province will soon receive mandatory lessons on the Holocaust.
Premier David Eby said British Columbia is committed to ensuring all students graduate with an understanding of this piece of history. He added that the change will be applied through the Grade 10 social studies curriculum and will be implemented beginning in the 2025-26 school year.