History

In this unit you will investigate the forty years when Canada was created and grew from sea to sea. You will study the causes of Confederation, the Charlottetown, Quebec and London conferences and the British North America Act of 1867; the Red River Resistance, Louis Riel and the creation of Manitoba; how British Columbia and Prince Edward Island joined; the numbered treaties; the Indian Act of 1876; the beginnings of residential schools; the National Policy, the Canadian Pacific Railway and the Chinese workers who built it; and the North-West Resistance of 1885.

Alongside these events you will learn about the significant contributions of Black individuals and communities to Canada's foundation and the obstacles they faced: Mary Ann Shadd and the Provincial Freeman, Harriet Tubman in St. Catharines, Abraham Shadd's election in 1859, the Black pioneers of Victoria and Mifflin Gibbs, Dr. Anderson Ruffin Abbott, Albert Jackson and John Ware. You will compare the perspectives of First Nations, Métis, Inuit, French and English Canadians, women, workers and newcomers, compare life then with life today, and carry out your own historical inquiry.

Remember from Grade 7: Grade 7 History ended in 1850 with responsible government, the Robinson Treaties and early Black settlements like Dawn and Buxton. This unit picks up the story there. The unit Canada, 1890–1914 continues it.

Some lessons deal with residential schools, armed conflict and racism; each has a note for grown-ups.

Curriculum expectations covered: A1 (application), A2 (inquiry) and A3 (understanding historical context), Grade 8 History, Strand A: Creating Canada, 1850–1890 (The Ontario Curriculum: Social Studies, Grades 1 to 6; History and Geography, Grades 7 and 8, 2026 edition). Overall expectation codes are used because the 2026 specific-expectation codes could not be confirmed. In line with the 2026 revision, the unit gives particular attention to the contributions of Black individuals and communities and the obstacles they faced.

In this unit you will investigate the years 1890 to 1914, when Canada changed faster than ever before. You will study Wilfrid Laurier and the French-English debates over the Manitoba Schools Question, the South African War, the Naval Service Act and Ontario's Regulation 17. You will follow Clifford Sifton's campaign to settle the West and meet the newcomers who came. You will learn about Black Canadians of this period: rancher John Ware, the Black homesteaders of Amber Valley and the Eldon district near Maidstone, and sleeping-car porters, and about the government's 1911 attempt to keep Black Americans out. You will examine the Chinese head tax, the 1907 Vancouver riot, the continuous journey regulation and the Komagata Maru (1914). You will explore the Klondike Gold Rush, the new Yukon Territory and the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan (1905); Treaties 8, 9 and 10 and the lives of First Nations, Métis and Inuit; the Indian Act and residential schools; industrialization; city life, working conditions and unions; and women's suffrage and reform. Finally, you will carry out your own inquiry comparing Canada then and now.

Remember from earlier: Grade 7 History taught primary and secondary sources, the inquiry process and the four historical thinking concepts, and Strand A of Grade 8 History covers Creating Canada, 1850–1890. This unit picks up where Strand A ends.

Some lessons deal with racism, residential schools and child labour; each has a note for grown-ups. Every lesson has a hands-on activity, lots of practice and a short quiz.

Curriculum expectations covered: B1 (application), B2 (inquiry) and B3 (understanding historical context), Grade 8 History, Strand B: Canada, 1890–1914: A Changing Society (The Ontario Curriculum: Social Studies, Grades 1 to 6; History and Geography, Grades 7 and 8, 2026 edition). Overall expectation codes are used because the 2026 specific-expectation codes could not be confirmed. In line with the 2026 revision, this unit gives particular attention to the significant contributions of Black individuals and communities and the obstacles they faced.