Canada does not have a national curriculum. Under the Constitution, education is the exclusive responsibility of the provinces and territories, there is no federal ministry of education, and each province writes its own curriculum with its own structure, vocabulary and review cycle. That is why a resource labelled “Grade 4 math” can mean subtly different things in Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary - and why generic AI tools, which usually default to US grade levels and US standards, so often miss what a Canadian classroom is actually accountable to.
This guide covers the three largest provincial frameworks - Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta, which between them educate the large majority of Canadian students - plus a quick word on everywhere else.
Ontario: the Ontario Curriculum
Ontario’s curriculum is set by the Ministry of Education and published as the Ontario Curriculum. It is the most traditionally structured of the three. Elementary (Grades 1–8) is organised by grade and subject - Language (rewritten in 2023), Mathematics (rewritten in 2020), Science and Technology, Social Studies, Health and Physical Education, The Arts. Secondary (Grades 9–12) is organised into courses with codes like MTH1W or ENL1W. Within every grade or course, the curriculum lists overall expectations (the big goals) and specific expectations (the detailed, coded statements teachers plan and assess against). Kindergarten sits outside this system: it has its own play-based program without coded expectations.
British Columbia: the redesigned K–12 curriculum
BC rebuilt its curriculum in the mid-2010s around a concept-based model rather than long lists of coded outcomes. Every subject at every grade is described through the Know-Do-Understand triad: Content standards (what students will know), Curricular Competencies (what they will be able to do) and Big Ideas (what they will understand). Sitting across all subjects are the Core Competencies - communication, thinking, and personal and social capability. Notably, BC’s learning standards carry no official code numbers, so alignment evidence in BC is naturally expressed as “subject, grade and strand” rather than a code.
Alberta: programs of study, old and new
Alberta Education is midway through a generational change. A new K–6 curriculum has been rolling out since 2022, organised around learning outcomes grouped under organising ideas, while Grades 7–12 continue on the established programs of study pending their own renewal. In practice an Alberta teacher plans from outcome statements in both halves; like BC, Alberta’s outcomes have no compact official codes, so references are made by subject, grade and strand, with LearnAlberta as the canonical source.
The three at a glance
| Province | Framework | Structure | Coded outcomes? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ontario | The Ontario Curriculum (Grades 1–12) | Overall + specific expectations; secondary organised into courses | Yes - coded expectations |
| British Columbia | BC K–12 curriculum | Big Ideas, Curricular Competencies and Content (Know-Do-Understand) | No - standards are uncoded |
| Alberta | New K–6 curriculum + 7–12 programs of study | Learning outcomes under organising ideas (K–6); programs of study (7–12) | No - outcomes are uncoded |
And the rest of Canada?
Every other province and territory runs its own framework too: Quebec has the Quebec Education Program (with its distinctive competency-based structure and different grade span), Saskatchewan and Manitoba publish their own curricula, the Atlantic provinces coordinate some frameworks regionally, and the territories largely adapt BC’s or Alberta’s. The practical takeaway is the same everywhere: check resources against your own province’s documents, not a generic “Canadian” label, because no such curriculum exists.
Why this matters when you pick resources
A worksheet or AI-generated lesson aligned to nothing in particular usually defaults to US Common Core assumptions, which order topics differently and name them differently. If you are accountable to an Ontario expectation or planning a BC report, you want the resource grounded in your province’s actual standards. That is how Sprout Lessons’ Canadian support works: pick Ontario, BC or Alberta before generating, and the lesson is grounded in that province’s standards, with the footer recording exactly what it aligned to - coded expectations linked to the Ministry site in Ontario’s case, subject-grade-strand references linked to the provincial curriculum sites for BC and Alberta. The lesson itself is interactive and built around the individual student’s interests, with practice that marks itself.
Try Sprout free with your province selected - new accounts start with free lessons. And if you are comparing notes with Australian colleagues, the same story plays out there: which curriculum each Australian state uses is just as much of a map.
FAQ
Does Canada have a national curriculum?
No. Education in Canada is the exclusive responsibility of the provinces and territories, and there is no federal ministry of education. Each province writes its own curriculum with its own structure and vocabulary, so a “Grade 4” resource can mean different things in Ontario, BC and Alberta, and no resource can honestly claim to be aligned to “the Canadian curriculum”.
What curriculum does Ontario use?
The Ontario Curriculum, set by the Ministry of Education. Elementary (Grades 1–8) is organised by grade and subject, and secondary (Grades 9–12) into courses with codes like MTH1W. Every grade or course lists overall expectations and coded specific expectations that teachers plan and assess against. Kindergarten has its own play-based program without coded expectations.
What curriculum does British Columbia use?
BC’s own redesigned K–12 curriculum, introduced in the mid-2010s. Each subject and grade is described through the Know-Do-Understand model: Content standards (know), Curricular Competencies (do) and Big Ideas (understand), with cross-cutting Core Competencies. BC’s learning standards carry no official code numbers, so alignment is expressed by subject, grade and strand.
What curriculum does Alberta use?
Alberta Education runs a new K–6 curriculum, rolled out progressively since 2022 and organised around learning outcomes grouped under organising ideas, while Grades 7–12 continue on the established programs of study pending renewal. Alberta’s outcomes have no compact official codes; LearnAlberta is the canonical source.