Sexuality Education in Canada: What is taught to children and at what age?
Sexuality education is taught in most provinces and territories across Canada. Here's a look at how sexuality education is taught in different parts of the country.
In Canada, there are formal guidelines for sex education at the government level, but most curriculum decisions are left to school boards and individual teachers. Many Canadian students can learn topics such as consent, gender fluidity, or sexual orientation in school, but not mandatorily, and they are given in different amounts in different provinces.
For example, students in British Columbia are not required to learn about different sexual orientations, but such lessons can be taught as electives from age 5 or 6 up until the last grade in school. Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Nunavut have extensive programs about gender identity and fluidity, but they are not part of the compulsory curriculum, which means they can be ignored. Some provinces and territories allow parents to opt out of sex education for their children altogether.
As of today, sex education in Canada is as follows.
Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are taught in BC schools starting in grade 6. In Alberta, sex education classes cover reproductive organs (not just names, but human anatomy and reproduction) from grade 5, and STDs and basic contraception from grade 8. These same topics are covered with students in Manitoba, Nunavut and the Northern Territories. In the Atlantic provinces more topics are taught, including gender fluidity and sexual orientation.
Ontario and Quebec have the most extensive sex education programs. Ontario's curriculum includes reproductive organs (from Grade 6), gender fluidity (from Grade 9), sexual orientation (from Grade 9), STDs (from Grade 7), types of contraception (from Grade 8) and consent issues (from Grade 9). In Quebec, reproductive organs are studied from kindergarten, sexual orientations from grade 7, sexual contact and pleasure from grade 9, STDs, contraception and consent from grade 8.
Note that many curricula are in the process of being updated by the province or territory, so the situation may look very different in a couple of years, but the overall approach remains patchwork and inconsistent.
In Ontario, for example, students in kindergarten through eighth grade learn about sex education based on the old curriculum developed in 1998. Students in grades nine and up follow the new 2015 curriculum. The new curriculum additionally addresses issues such as the potential consequences of online activity (texting and sending personal photos), prevention of reproductive system problems, and relationships at different stages. Students are also taught how to deal with the stress of separation, divorce, toxic relationships, conflict resolution strategies, and more.
Now the provincial government is writing a brand new curriculum for the 2019/2020 school year.
