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Canadian and World Studies

CLN4U

Canadian and International Law

This course explores a range of contemporary legal issues and how they are addressed in both Canadian and international law. Students will develop an understanding of the principles of Canadian and international law and of issues related to human rights and freedoms, conflict resolution, and criminal, environmental, and workplace law, both in Canada and internationally. Students will apply the concepts of legal thinking and the legal studies inquiry process, and will develop legal reasoning skills, when investigating these and other issues in both Canadian and international contexts.

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 explores a range of contemporary legal issues and how they are addressed in both Canadian and international law. Students will develop an understanding of the principles of Canadian and international law and of issues related to human rights and freedoms, conflict resolution, and criminal, environmental, and workplace law, both in Canada and internationally. Students will apply the concepts of legal thinking and the legal studies inquiry process, and will develop legal reasoning skills, when investigating these and other issues in both Canadian and international contexts.

What you'll learn

  1. Examine the principles behind Canadian and international law and the contemporary issues they address.

  2. Investigate human rights and freedoms, along with criminal, environmental, and workplace law at home and abroad.

  3. Analyze how nations resolve disputes, and where international law reaches the limits of its power.

  4. Build the legal reasoning and inquiry skills that pre-law and social-science programs value.

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. The Inquiry Process and Skill Development in Legal Studies

  • A1The Inquiry Process in Legal Studies: use the legal studies inquiry process and the concepts of legal thinking when investigating legal issues in Canada and around the world, and issues relating to international law
  • A2Developing Transferable Skills: apply in everyday contexts skills developed through the study of law, and identify careers in which a background in law might be an asset.

B. Legal Foundations

  • B1Principles of Law: identify foundational concepts and principles relating to law and explain their significance
  • B2Legal Theory and Procedures: analyse how and to what extent various legal theories and procedures have influenced the Canadian and international legal systems
  • B3Development of Law: explain various influences, including those of individuals and groups, on the development of Canadian and international law

C. Rights and Freedoms

  • C1Legal Principles of Human Rights Law: explain the principles underpinning human rights law and the legal significance of those laws, in Canada and internationally
  • C2Development of Human Rights Law: analyse issues associated with the development of human rights law, in Canada and internationally
  • C3Protection of Human Rights and Freedoms: compare the roles of the legislative and judicial branches of government in protecting human rights and freedoms, with a particular emphasis on Canada
  • C4Contemporary Issues: analyse various contemporary issues in relation to their impact or potential impact on human rights law

D. Foundations of International Law and Dispute Resolution

  • D1Fundamentals of International Law: explain the legal importance of various key principles and issues in international law
  • D2Development of International Law: analyse how various factors have influenced the development of international law
  • D3Conflict and Cooperation: analyse how various agreements, treaties, and conventions in international law influence international conflict and cooperation

E. International Legal Issues

  • E1Criminal Law: analyse various key concepts, legal systems, and issues in criminal law, in Canada and internationally
  • E2Environmental Protection: analyse factors that influence the effectiveness of domestic and international environmental legislation
  • E3Workplace Legal Issues: analyse legal principles, systems, and processes used to protect various parties’ interests in the workplace, in Canada and internationally
  • E4Emerging Legal Issues: analyse emerging global issues and their implications for international law

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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