Climate Change Education within Canada’s Regional Curricula - A Systematic Review of Gaps and Opportunities

Oct 15, 2026

This paper analyzes how climate change education expectations are reflected across Canadian provincial K-12 curricula. Guided by critical policy studies, it examines curriculum policy for grade, subject, and required versus elective course inclusion, then applies a ranking tool to assess depth. Results show fractured, uneven integration of climate change topics across grades 7–12, with most expectations concentrated in elective senior secondary offerings. The study concludes with recommendations to address identified gaps.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages30

Reading Time1 h 16 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Literature Review

Urgency of Climate Change

Methodology

Findings and Recommendations

Conclusion and Future Research Directions

Climate Change Education within Canada’s Regional Curricula: A Systematic Review of Gaps and Opportunities Ellen Field1, Gia Spiropoulos1, Anh Thu Nguyen2, & Rupinder K. Grewal1 1 Lakehead University, 2 Mount Royal University Abstract This paper reports on curriculum analysis of climate change expectations in Canada’s provincial curricula. The research is focused on curriculum policy in Canadian provinces; however, it pertains to an international audience as Article 12 of the Paris Agreement, the international treaty on climate mitigation, adaptation and finance, calls for signatories to “enhance climate change education,” and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) have called for environmental education to be a core curriculum component by 2025, which will require all countries to evaluate and improve their curricula globally. Curriculum policy within Canada has not yet been aligned with these policy calls, and our analysis showed fractured and uneven inclusion of climate change. Data findings present explicit climate change education curriculum expectations for each province according to grade, subject, and mandatory versus elective courses. The review shows uneven inclusion of climate change topics, themes, and units within grade 7 – 12 curricula, with most expectations occurring in elective senior secondary courses. A second level of analysis with a ranking tool indicates shallow inclusion. The paper concludes with recommendations for addressing gaps. Keywords: climate change, education, curriculum analysis, formal education Canada Introduction Climate change has been identified as a critical issue of our time and the United Nations has highlighted the essential role of climate change education (UNESCO, 2016). This has called for a proactive revamp of the climate change education curriculum within the K-12 school system that is responsible for developing climate change awareness and knowledge as well as mitigation capabilities in young generations. There have been some investigations into how K-12 curriculum has addressed the need for effective climate change education (e.g., Chang & Pascua, 2017, Siegner, 2018; Siegner & Stapert, 2020). However, prior research only focused on case studies of schools implementing the existing curriculum. There isan absence of climate change curriculum review within the K-12 system to provide an overall picture. A question exists regarding the current status of climate change education in curriculum policies. The research is situated within critical policy studies and aims to provide a review of climate change education curriculum within the Canadian context for researchers and policymakers. This review is timely and salient, given the urgency of climate change, the rise of the youth climate strikes, increased levels of climate anxiety expressed by children and young people, increased climate change education policies globally, and the given evidence of effective climate change education practices. The review is of significance because of the moral, imperative duty of schools to prepare young people for 21st century contexts and to provide increased climate literacy among the public, along with addressing higher public expectations from school authorities to provide more climate change education. In the literature review, these shifts are foregrounded to give an overview of the dynamic geophysical and social shifts that are unfolding as climate change impacts continue to mount. Beyond this, increasing curricula focused on climate change is important for scaffolding knowledge and climate action explicitly in curricula policy. Without clear policy, climate change education often relies on the competence, dedication, commitment, and enthusiasm of devoted teachers (Eames, 2017; Nicholls, 2017; Whitehouse, 2017). This overview is important to situate climate change education policy within a time of rapid change, uncertainty, and existential

FAQs

What does the systematic review examine in Canadian provincial curricula?

It reviews curriculum policy expectations for climate change education across provinces, focusing on how topics are included by grade, subject, and whether they appear in required or elective courses.

What does the ranking tool add to the analysis?

It evaluates the depth of climate change education inclusion, indicating that coverage is comparatively shallow despite being present in the curricula.

What key gaps does the study identify, and what do the recommendations target?

The review finds uneven and fractured inclusion across grades 7–12, with expectations largely concentrated in elective senior secondary courses. Recommendations are provided to address these gaps and improve alignment with education policy calls.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Danger Angel