Ontario to include mandatory education on Ukraine Holodomor famine in Grade 10

Education about the Ukrainian famine of the 1930s that left millions dead at the hands of the Soviet Union will become a mandatory for students in Grade 10.

Speaking on Tuesday, Education Minister Stephen Lecce announced new mandatory learning about the Holodomor famine and its impacts on the Ukrainian community in Canada. It will include education about extreme political ideologies and how they enabled “political repression.”

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The new learning will begin in September 2025.

“This terror famine against Ukrainian people was an act of genocide, and it is our duty as Canadians to ensure we remember it,” Lecce said.

“I'm not sure I would agree that many non-Ukrainians truly understand the scale of barbarity that took place against Ukrainian people.”

The province is also spending $400,000 to support initiatives that will begin interactive hands-on lessons about the famine to students across Ontario. Part of that includes a 40-foot mobile vehicle that will travel to schools across the province to engage with students in Grade 6 to Grade 12.

The minor curriculum change builds on previously announced expanded learning on the Holocaust, which is also anticipated to begin in 2025.