HREC Education Advances Holodomor Education Across Canada Through Landmark Curriculum Partnerships
Two major national curriculum initiatives are transforming how the Holodomor can be taught in Canadian classrooms—bringing rigorous, curriculum-aligned, free and open-access resources to educators and students at an unprecedented scale.
After more than a decade of sustained leadership in Holodomor education, HREC Education, led by Director of Education Valentina Kuryliw and Associate Director of Education Sophia Isajiw, has achieved two major curriculum milestones that significantly expand the reach and impact of Holodomor education across Canada.
Importantly, all of these resources are available in both English and French, significantly expanding access to reliable Holodomor knowledge and classroom-ready teaching resources for educators and students across Canada. This bilingual availability substantially strengthens access to Holodomor education within French-language education communities and broadens the national reach of HREC Education’s work.
Together, these initiatives represent a fundamental shift: HREC Education’s longstanding expertise, research, and educational resources are now being integrated directly into mainstream curriculum delivery—through a provincially mandated course in Ontario and through new curriculum-aligned learning units developed for educators across Canada.
Embedding the Holodomor in Ontario’s Mainstream Curriculum
At the same time, HREC Education has played a significant role in a historic development in Ontario education.
Beginning in September 2026, the Holodomor will be included as a mandated area of learning in Ontario’s updated Grade 10 Canadian History curriculum (CHC2D/P)—bringing the history of the Holodomor into mainstream public education across the province.
HREC Education was invited to consult with the Ontario Ministry of Education on the inclusion and historical treatment of the Holodomor in the revised curriculum expectations and is subsequently partnering with TVO Learn to support the development of curriculum-aligned digital learning materials for teachers and students.
HREC Education contributed subject expertise, historical content, and educational resources to the development of TVO’s two currently available, curriculum-aligned digital learning modules. HREC Education’s learning materials are embedded within these modules, providing teachers and students with authoritative resources to support the teaching of the Holodomor through historical inquiry, critical thinking, and human rights education. HREC Education and TVO are continuing discussions about further opportunities to incorporate HREC’s learning materials into TVO’s educational resources. As part of Ontario’s publicly supported education system, these resources will reach hundreds of thousands of Grade 10 students annually, substantially expanding access to credible, evidence-based Holodomor education in Canadian classrooms.
Ontario curriculum and TVO resources
View the Ontario Grade 10 Canadian History curriculum expectations
(See Strand C3.4)
Explore the TVO Learn Grade 10 Canadian History course resources
View Unit 2: Canada 1929-1945; 2.2 – Responses to the Great Depression, then scroll down to The Holodomor.
View the two Holodomor-related learning modules and teacher toolkits
Can media shape historical memory?
How does injustice affect communities?
IDÉLLO–L’Holodomor : de l’histoire à la mémoire collective
Building National Access: HREC Education and the Critical Thinking Consortium
A landmark three-year initiative commissioned by HREC Education and developed in partnership with The Critical Thinking Consortium (TC²) has now been completed and launched nationally.
The initiative has produced comprehensive, inquiry-based Holodomor learning units for Grades 6–12, giving more than 60,000 educators across Canada access to classroom-ready resources through the TC² platform, with additional international reach. Designed to engage students in critical and historical thinking, the units provide educators with rigorous, evidence-based approaches to teaching the Holodomor within broader historical, human rights, and civic contexts.
The initiative substantially expands the availability of high-quality Holodomor education beyond specialized programming, placing it within an established national network of educators and classrooms.
The achievement was made possible through the generous support and enduring commitment to Holodomor education of Eugene Yakovitch, whose legacy donation enabled the initiative, and the Temerty Foundation. Thank you to our co-creators and collaborative partners at TC2, Warren Woytuck, Atul Bahl and team.
Explore the TC² Holodomor units
Explore the TC² Holodomor source documents
From Advocacy to Educational Impact
These two achievements are more than individual partnerships. Together, they demonstrate the growing institutional integration of Holodomor education within Canada’s education systems.
Through sustained curriculum advocacy, consultation, teacher professional learning, strategic partnerships, and the development of high-quality open educational resources, HREC Education has helped build the infrastructure needed for the Holodomor to be taught accurately, meaningfully, and at scale.
The result is a significant expansion of access:
National reach through the Critical Thinking Consortium platform.
Mainstream curriculum integration through Ontario.
Curriculum-aligned resources for educators.
Free and open access for classrooms.
Resources available in both English and French.
Rigorous historical and critical thinking.
And, ultimately, greater opportunity for students across Canada (and beyond) to understand the history and significance of the Holodomor.
These milestones reflect the sustained work of HREC Education leadership, which has helped to move Holodomor education from the margins of the curriculum toward meaningful, enduring integration in Canadian education.