CIE3M — The Individual and the Economy, Grade 11, University/College Preparation
Grade 11 economics, built around the decisions a person actually makes: what is scarce, what it costs to choose, how a market settles on a price, and what to do with an income once there is one. Every class is paired with a short explainer and a Canadian news story from this year.
| Course code | CIE3M |
|---|---|
| Course name | The Individual and the Economy, Grade 11, University/College Preparation |
| Credit value | 1.0 |
| Prerequisite | Any Grade 10 or 11 course in Canadian and world studies, English, or social sciences and humanities |
| Instructor | Alina Yang, OCT |
| School | Lester B. Pearson C.I. · Toronto District School Board |
| School year | 2026–2027 · Semester 1 |
| Curriculum | The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 11 and 12: Canadian and World Studies |
Section 1 — Units of study
What the course covers
Unit 1 as it is planned, class by class. Open it for the topics and for every video, news story and documentary I use along the way — all of them public, so anyone can watch ahead or catch up.
Unit 1 Economic decision making and financial planning Sep 8 – Oct 8
- Course outline; D2L walkthrough; diagnostic — what is economics?
- Needs, wants, scarcity; the economic problem
- Factors of production; the three economic questions
- Opportunity cost and trade-offs
- Production Possibilities Frontier (PPF)
- The circular flow model
- Demand: law, curve, and shifters
- Supply: law, curve, and shifters
- Market equilibrium; strengths and limits of models
- Forms of business organization
- Revenue, cost, profit; Canadian firm case study
- Traditional, market, command, and mixed systems
- Canada's mixed economy
- How political values shape economic choices
- Income and budgeting
- Saving and investing basics
- Credit, debt, and the cost of interest
17 classes · Test Wed, Oct 7
Practice
- Intro to Economics: Crash Course Econ #1 Video · CrashCourse · 12:09
- Back to school costs challenge families, research links finances to child development Article · CBC British Columbia (CBC News)
- Factors of Production | Economics Explained Video · Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis · 5:40
- Canadian economy loses 42,000 jobs in August: StatsCan Article · CBC News
- Opportunity Cost and Tradeoffs Video · Marginal Revolution University · 4:38
- Canadian counter-tariffs target appliances, fish, cosmetics Article · CBC News: The National
- Production possibilities frontier | Microeconomics | Khan Academy Video · Khan Academy · 10:58
- Canada's economy grew a strong 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Can it last? Article · CBC News: The National
- GDP and the Circular Flow - Macro Topic 2.1 Video · Jacob Clifford (ACDC Econ) · 9:25
- Canada's economy grew a strong 3.3% annualized in second quarter, as first quarter revised higher Article · CBC News
- What Shifts the Demand Curve? Video · Marginal Revolution University · 9:54
- 'I've never seen anything like this': Local demand surges for Canadian-made goods Article · CTV News
- What Shifts the Supply Curve? Video · Marginal Revolution University · 9:49
- Steady upwards climb in oil costs as diesel prices hit record numbers Article · CTV News Toronto
- Supply and Demand: Crash Course Economics #4 Video · CrashCourse · 10:22
- Asking rents drop again, but B.C. remains among Canada's most expensive markets Article · CBC News
- Sole Proprietor, Partnership or Corporation. Start a Business in Canada Video · Evgene Jakubov · 4:56
- Canada Post sees $277M quarterly loss after finalizing new union contract Article · Global News
- Economic profit vs accounting profit | Microeconomics | Khan Academy Video · Khan Academy · 8:06
- Canadian Tire turning to AI to drive growth amid economic headwinds (Q2 profit and revenue up from year ago) Article · BNN Bloomberg (The Canadian Press)
- Economic Systems and Macroeconomics: Crash Course Economics #3 Video · CrashCourse · 10:18
- Retaliatory tariffs could raise costs for Canadian businesses already weathering the trade war Article · CBC News
- Y1 37) Economic Systems - Market, Command and Mixed Economies Video · EconplusDal · 11:04
- PM Carney unveils multibillion-dollar rail project as Canada seeks to reduce its reliance on U.S. Article · CTV News
- Political Ideology: Crash Course Government and Politics #35 Video · CrashCourse · 8:47
- Carney 'doubled our deficit and the policies that the Liberals have brought forward': Poilievre Article · CTV News
- Budgeting Basics! Video · Two Cents (PBS) · 5:13
- Parents navigate rising costs as back-to-school season begins Article · CBC News
- Compound interest introduction | Interest and debt | Finance & Capital Markets Video · Khan Academy · 6:38
- Soaring cost of post-secondary school education leaves RESP relief in the dust: Dale Jackson Article · BNN Bloomberg
- What Goes Into Your Credit Score? Video · Two Cents (PBS) · 4:54
- BoC holds key interest rate at 2.25 per cent amid U.S. trade talks, Middle East conflict Article · CTV News
- Cobalt | Crossroads: Beyond Boom & Bust (Full Episode) Documentary · TVO Docs (TVO Original) on YouTube · 50:46
- What's going on with sky-high food prices? - The Fifth Estate Documentary · CBC The Fifth Estate (official YouTube channel) · 41:43
- Commanding Heights: The Battle for the World Economy - Episode 1, The Battle of Ideas Documentary · YouTube (Daniel Yergin's official channel; PBS, 2002) · 1:56:48
- The truth about high-interest loans: Hidden camera investigation (Marketplace) Documentary · CBC Marketplace (CBC News on YouTube) · 22:56
Section 2 — Day by day
The plan, class by class
What happens on each date, so a class that was missed can be picked up without asking.
| Date | Type | Topic |
|---|---|---|
| Tue, Sep 8 | Teaching | Course outline; D2L walkthrough; diagnostic — what is economics? |
| Wed, Sep 9 | Teaching | Needs, wants, scarcity; the economic problem |
| Thu, Sep 10 | Teaching | Factors of production; the three economic questions |
| Fri, Sep 11 | Teaching | Opportunity cost and trade-offs |
| Mon, Sep 14 | Teaching | Production Possibilities Frontier (PPF) |
| Tue, Sep 15 | Teaching | The circular flow model |
| Wed, Sep 16 | Teaching | Demand: law, curve, and shifters |
| Thu, Sep 17 | Teaching | Supply: law, curve, and shifters |
| Fri, Sep 18 | Teaching | Market equilibrium; strengths and limits of models |
| Mon, Sep 21 | Teaching | Forms of business organization |
| Tue, Sep 22 | Teaching | Revenue, cost, profit; Canadian firm case study |
| Wed, Sep 23 | Teaching | Traditional, market, command, and mixed systems |
| Thu, Sep 24 | Teaching | Canada's mixed economy |
| Fri, Sep 25 | Teaching | How political values shape economic choices |
| Mon, Sep 28 | Teaching | Income and budgeting |
| Tue, Sep 29 | Teaching | Saving and investing basics |
| Wed, Sep 30 | Teaching | Credit, debt, and the cost of interest |
| Thu, Oct 1 | Work period | Unit 1 written task — launch, rubric, planning |
| Fri, Oct 2 | Work period | Unit 1 written task — work period |
| Mon, Oct 5 | Work period | Unit 1 written task — final work period |
| Tue, Oct 6 | Review | Unit 1 test review |
| Wed, Oct 7 | Test | Unit 1 Test |
| Thu, Oct 8 | Buffer | Buffer / catch-up day |
Unit 1 only. The later units are added to this page as I finish planning them, rather than sketched in now.
Section 3 — Assessment calendar
Every quiz and test date
One test, dated before the first class so studying can be planned ahead.
| Date | Type | Covers |
|---|---|---|
| Wed, Oct 7 | Test | Unit 1 Test |
Section 4 — Shape of the semester
Where the days go
23 days, allocated before the first class rather than discovered in December.
| Day type | Share | Days |
|---|---|---|
| Teaching | 17 | |
| Work periods | 3 | |
| Review | 1 | |
| Test | 1 | |
| Buffer | 1 | |
| Total | 23 |
Alina Yang, OCT