Grade 10 Academic Canadian History – Term Essay Topics
CANADA: 1929 – 1945
Social, Economic and Political Context
1.
Identify the key economic trends and developments that occurred in Canada during this time period (1929-45) and
their affect on Canadians.
Possible Talking Points:

Stock Market Crash of 1929

Pensions for Veterans.

The impact of the Dustbowl on Agriculture.

The expansion of American Branch Plants.

Buying on Margin.

High Unemployment rates.

Government Relief.

Public Works Projects.

The establishment of the Bank of Canada.

The Wartime Economy.

The 1945 Ford Strike
Sample Guiding Questions to help with your research for your essay:

Did the Great Depression affect all communities in Canada to the same extent?

Who faced the greatest challenges?

What was economic impact of the Dustbowl?

How did it contribute to the creation of the Canadian Wheat Board?

What was the significance of the “Royal Twenty Centres”?

How were public work camps viewed at the time?

Do you think they have influenced attitudes towards unemployment today?
2.
Identify the main causes of a key political development/government policy in Canada during this period (1929-45)
and asses its impact on different groups in Canada.
Possible Talking Points:

Mackenzie King’s Five Cent Speech

The formation of the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation or Social Credit

The establishment of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) or the National Film Board (NFB).

Provincial Sexual Sterilization Acts targeting people with disabilities.

Social Welfare policies.

The Dominion Elections Act of 1938.

Quebec women receiving the vote.

Wartime Propaganda.

The decision to intern Japanese-Canadians.

The 1944 Racial Discrimination Act.
Sample Guiding Questions to help with your research for your essay:

What social and political values were reflected in the new political parties that were created in Canada during the
Great Depression?

What amendments were made to the Indian Act in the 1930s? What was their impact?

What was the historical context for Maurice Duplessis’s Padlock Act? What impact did the act have on civil liberties
of various groups in Quebec during this period?
Communities, Conflict and Cooperation
3.
Examine Canada’s participation in WWII and the consequences of their involvement.
Possible Talking Points:

The Battle of the Atlantic.

The British Commonwealth Air Training
Plan.

The Battle of Hong Kong.

Camp X

The Italian Campaign (Ortona)

Contributions of individuals (i.e. Paul

D-Day.
Triquet, Charles Tompkins)

The Liberation of the Netherlands.

The Contributions of Women.

The Liberation of Concentration Camps.
Sample Guiding Questions to help with your research for your essay:

What was the merchant Navy and what contributions did it make to the Allied War effort?

What was Camp X? Why was it given this name?

In what ways was Canada’s contribution to WWII different from its contribution in WWI? In what ways was it similar?
4.
Identify and explain some of the ways in which
WWII affected Canada and Canadians and how the
war changed the lives of various groups in the
country.
Possible Talking Points:

Economic Recovery.

Censorship.

Rationing.

Young men who fought and those who did
not.

Farmers.

Women in the workforces and at home.

“Enemy Aliens”

Veterans
Sample Guiding Questions to help with your research for your essay:

Who is the “Bren Gun Girl”? What does her image tell you about the role of some Canadian women during the war?

In what ways was their role similar to or different from the role of women in WWI?

How did the lives of Japanese Canadians change as a result of the war?
Identity, Citizenship and Heritage
5.
Identify how specific individuals, groups, organizations and symbols contributed to Canadian society and politics
during this period (1929-45) and to the development of identity, citizenship, and heritage in Canada.
Possible Talking Points:

R.B. Bennett

Tommy Prince

Norman Bethune

Sinclair Ross

Therese Casgrain

Kam Len

Moses Coady

Douglas Sam

Lionel Conacher

Portia May White

The Dionne Quintuplets

The Antigonish Movement

Maurice Duplessis

The CBC

Foster Hewitt

The Edmonton Grads

Mackenzie King

The NFB

Dorothy Livesay

The Bren Gun Girl

Elsie MacGill

The Bennett Buggy
Sample Guiding Questions to help with your research for your essay:

How has the CBC contributed to Canadian heritage and identity?

Why is the Bennett Buggy a symbol of the Great Depression? Is it an appropriate symbol? Why or Why not?

What criteria might you use to assess the importance of the NFB to Canadian heritage?
6.
Analyze the impact of the Holocaust on Canadian society and Canadians’ attitudes towards Human Rights.
Possible Talking Points:

Anti-Semitism in Canada in the 1930s and 40s

Changes in Canadian’s responses to minority
groups.

Canada’s reaction to anti-Jewish persecution in Nazi
Germany.

The role of Canadians in liberating Nazi
concentration and death camps.

More open Refugee policies (including those
affecting Holocaust survivors and other displaced
persons)

Canada’s signing of the United Nations Universal
Declaration of Human Rights.

The evolution of laws against Hate Crimes.
Sample Guiding Questions to help with your research for your essay:

When you look at the paintings of Canadian war artists made during the liberation of Nazi concentration and
death camps, what impact do you think they would have had on people in Canada?
CANADA: 1945 – 1982
Social, Economic and Political Context
7.
Identify the major demographic trend(s) that occurred in Canada’s Population between 1945 and 1982 and assess
their impact on Canada’s development.
Possible Talking Points:

Origins of immigrants and refugees.

Arrival of War Brides.

The Baby Boom.

The Growth of Suburbs.

Increased Urbanization.

Changing status of established ethnocultural groups.
Sample Guiding Questions to help with your research for your essay:

What was new about the teen subcultures that developed after WWII?

In what ways were the lives of the youth in the 1950s different from those who lived in the 1920s?
8.
Identify the main causes of a key political development/government policy in Canada during this period (1945-82)
and asses its impact on different groups in Canada.
Possible Talking Points:

Response to the Cold War, including joining North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

Newfoundland’s joining Confederation.

The Massey Commission

The Creation of the CRTC

The Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism.

Social Welfare legislation.

The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Sample Guiding Questions to help with your research for your essay:

In what ways were government social programs from this period different from those created during the Depression?

Do you think the Royal Commission on the Status of Women was a turning point for women in Canada? Why or Why
not?
Communities, Conflict and Cooperation
9.
Identify key factors that affected the relationship between French
and English Canada during this period and assess their
significance for both French and English Canadians.
Possible Talking Points:

The Quiet Revolution.

Bilingualism and Biculturalism.

The Flag Debate.

Expo ’67.

Formation of the Parti Quebecois.

The October Crisis.

The Montreal Olympics.

Bill 101.

Negotiations to patriate the Constitution.
Sample Guiding Questions to help with your research for your essay:

What was the significance of the Asbestos Strike for FrenchEnglish relations?

How did language rights affect the relationship between
French and English Canada?

Why might language rights be more important to French
Canadians than to English Canadians?
10. Identify some major social movements in Canada during this period (1982-45) and explain their goals and
perspectives.
Possible Talking Points:

Civil Rights.

Peace.

Women’s Rights.

Sovereignty.

Aboriginal Rights.

Labour Rights.

Environmental Rights.

Youth movements.
Sample Guiding Questions to help with your research for your essay:

What were some of the issues that motivated the early environmental movement in Canada?

What were some of the main goals of the women’s movement in this period? Whose perspectives did these goals
reflect?

What impact did the Civil Rights movement in the United States have on African-Canadians?

What were some of the issues around which Aboriginal people organized during this period?
11. Identify key developments related to Canada’s participation in the international community during this period with a
particular focus on the context of the Cold War and assess their significance.
Possible Talking Points:

Membership in the United Nations.

The North American Air Defense Command
(NORAD).

NATO.

The Gouzenko Affair.

The Korean War.

The Suez Crisis.

The Arms Race and the Non-Proliferation of
Nuclear Weapons Treaty.

Peacekeeping.
Sample Guiding Questions to help with your research for your essay:

How significant was the Cold War in influencing Canada’s participation in the international community during this
period?
Identity, Citizenship and Heritage
12. Identify how specific individuals, groups, organizations and symbols contributed to Canadian society and politics
during this period (1945-82) and to the development of identity, citizenship, and heritage in Canada.
Possible Talking Points:

Doris Anderson

Lester B. Pearson

Kenojuak Ashevak

Maurice Richard

Rosemary Brown

Buffy Sainte-Marie

Frank Arthur Calder

David Suzuki

Leonard Cohen

Pierre Trudeau

Tommy Douglas

Jean Vanier

Terry Fox

Gilles Vigneault

Chief Dan George

Convening of the Massey Commission

Daniel G. Hill

Demolition of Africville

Rene Levesque

1972 Summit Series

Norval Morrisseau

The Canadian Flag

Madeleine Parent

The Ontario Flag
Sample Guiding Questions to help with your research for your essay:

What was the significance of Expo ’67 for Canadian heritage and
identity?

In what ways did Viola Desmond contribute to the development of
Canadian citizenship?

Why has Paul Henderson’s goal during the 1972 Hockey Summit Series
become an enduring symbol for Canadians?

Why do you think that certain people or events from this period have
become national symbols?
13. Identify some significant developments/issues that affected First Nations, Metis, and Inuit people in Canada during
this period (1945-82) and explain the impact of these developments/issues on identity, citizenship and heritage in
Canada.
Possible Talking Points:

Continuing existence of Residential

The founding of the Assembly of First
Schools.
Nations

Enfranchisement in 1960.

The Calder Case

Aboriginal title and land claims.

The James Bay Project.

The White Paper and the Red Paper

Efforts to secure equality for First Nations
Women.
Sample Guiding Questions to help with your research for your essay:

When did Status Indians in Canada gain the right to vote? What was the significance of this development for First
Nations people? For citizenship in Canada?

What impact did First Nations and Inuit art from this period have on Aboriginal and Canadian heritage and identity?

What impact did the recognition of Metis in the 1982 Constitution have on Metis and Canadian heritage and identity?
14. Identify key developments in immigration and immigration policy in Canada during this period (1945-1982) and
assess their significance for Canadian heritage and identity.
Possible Talking Points:

The Points System

Development of Canada as a multicultural
society.

Origins of immigrants and refugees

Cultural festivals.
Sample Guiding Questions to help with your research for your essay:

What impact did the Canadian Citizenship Act of 1946 have on immigrants to Canada?

What changes in policy were reflected in the Immigration Act of 1978? What impact did they have on Canadian
heritage?
CANADA: 1982 to the Present
Social, Economic and Political Context
15. Identify the main causes of a key political development/government policy in Canada since 1982 and asses its impact
on different groups in Canada.
Possible Talking Points:

Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement

NAFTA

New political parties (i.e. Reform Party, Green Party)

Introduction of the Goods and Services Tax/Harmonized Sales Tax

Aboriginal Rights in section 25 of the Constitution Act.

Fishing Moratoria.

The Montreal Protocol.

The Kyoto Accord.

The Civil Marriage Act
Sample Guiding Questions to help with your research for your essay:

How has the moratorium on cod fishing affected the lives of people in Atlantic Canada?

How has the Marshall decision affected how Canadians view Aboriginal rights?
Communities, Conflict and Cooperation
16. Identify some significant issues/developments that have affected the
relationship between Quebec and the Federal Government since 1982 and
explain some changes that have resulted from them.
Possible Talking Points:

Meech Lake Accord

Charlottetown Accord

Creation of the Bloc Quebecois

1995 Referendum

The Clarity Act

The Calgary Declaration
Sample Guiding Questions to help with your research for your essay:

What was the purpose of the Charlottetown Accord? How did its defeat
change the relationship between Quebec and Ottawa?
17. Identify some significant issues/developments that have affected relations between governments and First Nations,
Inuit and Metis Peoples in Canada since 1982 and explain some changes that have resulted from them.
Possible Talking Points:

Meech Lake Accord

Disputes over land (i.e. Oka, Ipperwash, Caledonia)

The Nisga’a final Agreement (1998)

Ottawa’s apology for the Residential School System

The creation of Nunavut

The New Credit Settlement

The Idle No More Movement
Sample Guiding Questions to help with your research for your essay:

What progress has been made with respect to Aboriginal land claims since 1982?
Identity, Citizenship and Heritage
18.
Identify how specific individuals, groups, organizations and symbols contributed to Canadian society and politics
since 1982 and to the development of identity, citizenship, and heritage in Canada.
Possible Talking Points:

Lincoln Alexander

Stephen Harper

Louise Arbour

Michaelle Jean

Shawn Atleo

Craig Keilburger

Maude Barlow

Brian Mulroney

Lucien Bouchard

Jeanne Sauve

June Callwood

Jean Vanier

Jean Chretien

The Assembly of the First Nations

Matthew Coon Come

The Reform Party

Romeo Dallaire

The Romanow Commission

Phil Fontaine
Sample Guiding Questions to help with your research for your essay:

What criteria would you use to assess the contribution of Stephen Lewis to Canadian society and politics and to
Canadian identity?
19. Identify the significance of responses by Canada and Canadians to
some key international events/developments since 1982.
Possible Talking Points:

The Gulf War

Events in Bosnia, Somalia and Rwanda

The War on Terror and the mission in Afghanistan.

Famine in Ethiopia.

The AIDS crisis.

The Refugee crisis in Darfur.

Natural disasters such as Indian Ocean Tsunami or the
Earthquake in Haiti.

Climate Change
Sample Guiding Questions to help with your research for your essay:

What was Canada’s involvement in Rwanda during the time of the
genocide?

What effect did this involvement have in Rwanda, Canada and
internationally?
20. Identify some ways in which Canada and Canadians have, since 1982, acknowledged the consequences of and/or
commemorated past events, with a focus on human tragedies and human rights violations that occurred in Canada or
elsewhere in the world and explain the significance of these commemorations for identity and heritage in Canada.
Possible Talking Points:

Apologies for the Chinese Head Tax

The internment of Japanese-Canadians.

Residential Schools.

Memorial days such as Remembrance Day.

Persons Day.

Government recognition of the Holocaust and
Holodomor and of genocide in Armenia, Rwanda,
Srebrenica

Plans to build a Human Rights museum or a memorial to
Africville.

Black History or Aboriginal History Month
Sample Guiding Questions to help with your research for your essay:

When you review various types of commemorations, what criteria do you think have determined whether an event is
commemorated by Canadians?

What do these criteria tell you about Canadian identity/heritage?