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Canadian and World Studies

CIA4U

Analysing Current Economic Issues

This course examines current Canadian and international economic issues, developments, policies, and practices from diverse perspectives. Students will explore the decisions that individuals and institutions, including governments, make in response to economic issues such as globalization, trade agreements, economic inequalities, regulation, and public spending. Students will apply the concepts of economic thinking and the economic inquiry process, as well as economic models and theories, to investigate, and develop informed opinions about, economic trade-offs, growth, and sustainability and related economic issues.

Tuition

$580

One Ontario credit, enrolled online.

Grade
12
Credit
1.0
Delivery
Online

Prerequisite for this course: Any university or university/college preparation course in Canadian and world studies, English, or social sciences and humanities

Tuition

$580

About this course

This course examines current Canadian and international economic issues, developments, policies, and practices from diverse perspectives. Students will explore the decisions that individuals and institutions, including governments, make in response to economic issues such as globalization, trade agreements, economic inequalities, regulation, and public spending. Students will apply the concepts of economic thinking and the economic inquiry process, as well as economic models and theories, to investigate, and develop informed opinions about, economic trade-offs, growth, and sustainability and related economic issues.

What you'll learn

  1. Examine current economic issues in Canada and abroad, including globalization, trade agreements, inequality, and public spending.

  2. Analyze the choices that individuals, firms, and governments make when the stakes are economic.

  3. Apply economic models and theories to weigh the trade-offs between growth, sustainability, and fairness.

  4. Develop informed, evidence-based opinions on the debates shaping the economy today.

Curriculum expectations

The overall expectations set by the Ontario curriculum, grouped by strand. Drawn from The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 11–12: Canadian and World Studies (2015).

A. Economic Inquiry and Skill Development

  • A1Economic Inquiry: use the economic inquiry process and the concepts of economic thinking when investigating current Canadian and international economic issues
  • A2Developing Transferable Skills: apply in everyday contexts skills developed through economic investigation, and identify various careers in which a background in economics might be an asset.

B. Fundamentals of Economics

  • B1Scarcity and Choice: demonstrate an understanding of the significance of the concept of scarcity and how it influences economic choices and decisions of various economic stakeholders
  • B2Supply and Demand Models: demonstrate an understanding of supply and demand models, including how to apply these models, and of factors that affect supply and demand
  • B3Growth and Sustainability: analyse aspects of economic growth/development, including its costs, benefits, and sustainability
  • B4Economic Thought and Decision Making: analyse how economic and political ideas and various sociocultural factors affect economic decision making

C. Firms, Markets, and Economic Stakeholders

  • C1The Firm and Market Structures: demonstrate an understanding of markets and theories of the firm
  • C2Economic Trade-Offs and Decisions: analyse economic trade-offs from the perspective of different stakeholders, including those in different countries, and how trade-offs influence economic decisions
  • C3The Role of Government in Redressing Imbalance: explain ways in which governments, both in Canada and internationally, intervene in the economy to help address social needs and economic imbalances

D. Macroeconomics

  • D1Macroeconomic Models and Measures: demonstrate an understanding of various macroeconomic models and measures, including indicators used to measure economic inequalities, and assess their usefulness
  • D2Fiscal Policy: demonstrate an understanding of fiscal policy in Canada, including how it is shaped and its impact
  • D3Monetary Policy: analyse various aspects of monetary policy in Canada and their impact on the economy

E. Global Interdependence and Inequalities

  • E1Theories and Models of International Trade: analyse various theories, models, and issues relating to international trade
  • E2International Economic Developments: analyse the impact of some key international economic events and developments as well as various responses to them
  • E3International Economic Power and Inequality: explain the main causes and effects of global economic disparities and assess the effectiveness of responses to these disparities

How you'll study

DeliveryOnline
Delivered fully online through Vaughan College's learning platform, with live teacher support. Online students can also call into the live in-person classroom through Google Classroom anytime they want extra guidance.
Fast-trackAvailable
Complete the credit in a condensed schedule. Useful for upgrading, course recovery, or summer acceleration.
Credit value1.0 OSSD credit
Counts toward the 30 credits required for the Ontario Secondary School Diploma.

Assessment and evaluation

Every Vaughan College course follows Ontario’s Growing Success policy. Assessment is continuous: teachers gather evidence of learning through observation, conversation, and student work, and give feedback that helps a student improve before the work is graded.

Evaluation — the judgement that produces a mark — measures achievement of the Ontario curriculum expectations across four categories: Knowledge and Understanding, Thinking, Communication, and Application. A student’s grade reflects how well they have met the expectations, with greatest weight given to their most consistent and most recent work.

The final grade

The final percentage grade is based on two parts. Seventy percent comes from work completed throughout the course, weighted toward more recent and more consistent achievement. The remaining thirty percent comes from a final evaluation near the end of the course — an examination, performance, essay, or other culminating task suited to the subject.

Grades are reported against the provincial standard, where Level 3 (70 to 79 percent) represents the standard expected of students at that grade. A grade of 50 percent or higher earns the credit.

The report card

Achievement is reported on the Ontario Provincial Report Card, which records the percentage grade and the credit earned for each course. Grades for completed credits carry forward onto the Ontario Student Transcript, the official record used for graduation and post-secondary admission.

The report card also reports six learning skills and work habits, separately from the academic grade: responsibility, organisation, independent work, collaboration, initiative, and self-regulation. These describe how a student approaches their learning, and universities and colleges do read them.

Considerations for program planning

The Ontario curriculum asks every course to account for a set of cross-curricular considerations — the ways a subject connects to students’ broader development and to the world beyond the classroom. They shape how each course is planned and taught.

Students with special education needs

Teachers plan for the full range of learners. Where a student has an Individual Education Plan, the accommodations, modifications, or alternative expectations it sets out are built into how the course is taught and assessed, so the student can demonstrate learning in the way that works for them.

English language learners

Students who are still developing their English receive scaffolding — adjusted materials, extra time, and language support — while working toward the same curriculum expectations. Assessment separates what a student knows and can do from their stage of English acquisition.

Environmental education

Wherever the subject allows, coursework draws connections to the environment and sustainability, helping students understand how the topics they study relate to the natural world and their responsibilities within it.

Healthy relationships

Every course contributes to a school culture built on respect. Students practise the communication and collaboration skills that underpin healthy, equitable relationships with peers and teachers.

Equity and inclusive education

Materials and discussion reflect a range of experiences and perspectives so every student sees themselves in the work. An inclusive classroom holds high expectations for all learners and treats difference as a strength.

Financial literacy

Where it fits the subject, students apply mathematical and analytical thinking to real financial questions — budgeting, credit, and informed decision-making — so the skills carry into life after graduation.

Literacy, mathematical literacy, and inquiry skills

Reading, writing, oral communication, numeracy, and structured inquiry are developed in every subject, not only in English and mathematics. These are the cross-curricular skills that make learning in every other course possible.

Critical thinking and critical literacy

Students learn to weigh evidence, question assumptions, and interpret what they read, watch, and hear — distinguishing fact from opinion and recognising point of view and bias.

The role of the school library

Library and information resources support research and independent reading. Students learn to locate, evaluate, and use sources responsibly, building the research habits that post-secondary study assumes.

Information and communications technology

Technology is used to support learning and to build the digital skills students need, alongside an understanding of how to work online safely, responsibly, and with attention to their own well-being.

Education and career/life planning

Coursework helps students connect what they are learning to their goals beyond high school, so each credit is a step in a deliberate plan rather than an isolated requirement.

Cooperative education and experiential learning

Where a subject supports it, hands-on and experiential learning connect classroom study to real settings, giving students a clearer sense of how the material is used in work and in the community.

Health and safety

In any course involving activity, equipment, or materials, safe practice is taught and expected. Students learn the procedures that protect themselves and others.

Ethics

Many subjects raise questions of right and wrong. Students learn to examine ethical issues thoughtfully, consider more than one position, and support a view with reasons — including academic honesty in their own work.

Teaching and learning at Vaughan College

Courses are taught in small classes, which lets teachers adapt to how each student learns. A single lesson might combine direct instruction, discussion, independent practice, collaborative work, and hands-on or inquiry-based tasks, chosen to suit the material and the students in the room.

Students receive regular, specific feedback and can move at a pace that fits their goals, whether they are working ahead, recovering a credit, or balancing school with other commitments. The aim is that every student understands not just what they are learning, but why it matters and where it leads.

In-class learning, from anywhere

Be in the classroom from anywhere in the world.

Some of our online courses run alongside a live class in our Vaughan classroom, and which ones changes each semester. When a course offers it, you’ll see a Live now tag on the course or a Hybrid toggle on its page. Turn it on and you can join the real in-person lesson through Google Classroom instead of a separate online-only section, with the same teacher as it happens. Add it when you enrol or anytime after; in-person students can join the same way on the days they study from home.

How it works

Next Step

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Add the course to your cart for enrolment, or speak with our admissions team about pathway sequencing, prerequisites, and credit equivalency from a previous school.

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