Languages in Ontario

It has certainly been a very Canadian tradition to take a language program outside of the regular school day. In Ontario, the International Languages Program has been offered under the Ministry of Education for over 40 years. This program, which has often incorporated partnerships with local communities, has allowed hundreds of thousands of students in Ontario to learn/maintain/develop a language of their heritage or a new language.

ILEA is pleased that the program has expanded in recent years to include both Indigenous and International Languages. Due to the limitations of school offerings in languages beyond English and French, many students pursue the study of an additional language via Continuing Education programs or other alternative models.

Recent events worldwide necessitated the adoption of virtual instruction. ILEA Ontario has determined that there is a great need to continue providing courses in both in-person and online formats.  It has become apparent that an ongoing cooperation among school districts will also help to give students across Ontario a wider set of options and opportunities for their language learning needs. Through this cooperation, school districts can share their program offerings in order for students to easily find their target language choices. ILEA has committed to catalogue program offerings regularly as most school districts with IIL-S (Indigenous & International Languages – Secondary) are members of the association. ILEA is thankful for its consultations with the Ministry of Education as well as the support of OSSTF in helping to establish this website. 

This page will be updated on a regular basis. It should be noted that this is only a starting point based on information provided to ILEA by school districts. Those interested in pursuing credit courses in Indigenous and International Languages are to contact school districts directly for more information. It is our hope that in the future a similar listing of programs focused on the elementary division will be available.