Ontario Liberals promise to end Grade 10 academic and applied streaming

Ontario’s Liberal Party is promising to eliminate streaming in Grade 10 if elected, building on the removal of Grade 9 applied or academic course options put forward by the Doug Ford government last year.

“Our plan calls for ending [streaming] in both Grade 9 and Grade 10. In other words, the government moved in the right direction with making the decision to end the streaming in Grade 9, but they didn't go far enough,” Ontario Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca said on Wednesday.

Up until September, high school students were asked to choose between practical, hands-on applied courses and theoretical academic courses in core subjects like math, science and English.

However, advocates have long argued that streaming ends up dividing students and disproportionately impacting racialized and low-income students.

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In November 2021, the Progressive Conservatives announced that they would put an end to streaming in Grade 9 by September 2022. At the moment, students going into Grade 10 are still expected to choose between academic and applied courses.

Del Duca’s pledge to put an end to streaming was encompassed in a wider announcement containing his party’s plan to fight racism in schools and policing.

If elected, he promised to reverse the Ford government’s decision to scrap the minister solely responsible for anti-racism and refresh the the last Liberal government's anti-Black racism strategy, which aims to target systemic racism through policies, decisions and programs.

The Liberal leader said his government would work closely with police forces across the province to hire more diverse and underrepresented officers, along with enforcing the disclosure of annual statistics on the diversity of officers.

“We are a party that is absolutely determined to, starting on day one, do whatever is required to fight racism, to fight hatred, to fight discrimination and to fight intolerance, all of which have no place in the Ontario,” Del Duca said.