This resource was developed by the Toronto Catholic District School Board and Citizenship and Immigration Canada (now IRCC) as a companion to Discover Canada, the federal government’s citizenship test study guide. It is intended for program planning and instructional use. The chapters are theme-based with a planning framework for CLB 1-8. It provides reproducible activities, recommended resources and teaching strategies. There are seven chapters covering:
- Rights and Responsibilities of Citizens
- Who We Are
- Canada’s History
- Canada’s Government
- Elections
- Canadian Symbols
- Canada’s Regions and Economy
There is an informative list of suggested resources, including books and online materials, including a virtual Charter of Rights and Freedoms, with translations in 23 languages.
Legal information for ESL students. This workshop is one of a series of workshops that can be used to assist with meeting Civics expectations and the Social and Cultural Competence expectations under ESL and ELD components of the Ontario Curriculum.
Legal Aid Ontario provides legal assistance for low-income people living in Ontario. There are 73 community legal clinics across the province offering free advice and assistance for matters such as:
- Social assistance (Ontario Works and Ontario Disability Support Program)
- Housing (rental issues, social housing matters)
- Human rights
- Workplace safety
- Employment, workers rights
- Consumer matters
- Education
- Elder law
The clinics are mandated to do community outreach and public legal education; lawyers will come into schools to provide information sessions.
This site offers CLB-aligned activities and information about legal issues, including many related to employment rights. It includes a broad range of downloadable booklets about a variety of legal topics written in clear language. One series has been especially developed for ESL teachers and learners.
Twenty-six activity kits with classroom materials for teachers and learners in Adult ESL and Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) classes, based on topics from CLEO's tenants' and workers' rights series.
Designed to teach newcomers about their legal rights and to be used along with the relevant CLEO publications, the materials are intended for learners and levels ranging from Canadian Language Benchmarks 1 to 6+.
The ESL legal conversation examples on this page will let you see how legal words are used in natural conversation. By studying them you will be better prepared for if you ever need to talk about this topic.
This is a series of five videos produced by the Ontario Human Rights Commission. Four of the videos focus on the rights and responsibilities related to rental housing, the Human Rights Code and discrimination. The videos are at an intermediate language level; text and transcripts are provided. The fifth video is a review in quiz format.
Public Legal Education (PLE) Learning Exchange of Ontario has produced a series of 4 podcasts with accompanying CLB lesson plans and assessments. The podcasts vary in length from 15 to 20 minutes and cover common problems for newcomers, such tenant and workplace issues. In each episode, the host interviews a legal expert who provides advice. The podcasts are suitable for CLB 6 and higher.
PLE Tip Sheets are resources for teachers and administrators to assist newcomers facing legal challenges. The tip sheets contain lists of reliable legal information sites and information on free or low-cost legal services. The documents can be printed to post in classrooms or hand out at workshops. The tip sheet titles are:
- Detecting legal problems
- Clues to reliable legal information
- Sources for online legal information
- Legal services in Ontario
- Hiring and working with a lawyer.
Free access:
Canada Revenue Agency Tax System Videos for Newcomers:
http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/vdgllry/ndvdls/menu-eng.html
Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, Government of Canada:
http://www.antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca/
The Canadian Consumer Handbook provides information on identity theft, credit reporting and consumer complaints:
http://www.consumerhandbook.ca/en/
The Charter of Rights and Freedoms is an interactive site for exploring the Virtual Charter in 20 languages:
http://charterofrights.ca/en/27_00_01
Consumer Protection Ontario:
https://www.ontario.ca/page/consumer-protection-ontario
Get Cyber Safe, Government of Canada, provides information on how to keep safe online:
https://www.getcybersafe.gc.ca/index-en.aspx
Human Rights Legal Support Centre, Province of Ontario, provides information in 10 languages:
http://www.hrlsc.on.ca/en/welcome
Legal Aid Ontario: 1-800-668-8258
Legal Line provides easy to understand explanations on many federal and provincial laws, on many topics, and in 65 languages:
http://www.legalline.ca/answers/
The Tenant Survival Manual is produced by the Federation of Metro Tenants’ Associations and is available in 13 languages:
https://www.torontotenants.org/resources/tenant-survival-manual
Voting in Canada, Elections Canada, provides civic education classroom resources developed for elementary and secondary students:
http://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?section=vot&dir=yth/tea&document=index&lang=e
