Lesson Plan - Three Levels of Government

Recommended for grades 4/5/6 
Duration: Approximately 60 minutes

Introduce your students to government in Canada and Ontario, its function and responsibilities. This lesson plan is designed to engage students in a meaningful group discussion through an interactive activity, where they will learn the structure of government, understand the responsibilities at all levels of governments, and recognize governance in their communities.

Background Information:

Canada's Three Levels of Government

Introductory Discussion - Relating every day responsibilities to general governance (15-20 minutes)
Examples of introductory questions: What are some chores in your house? (Examples: taking out the garbage, making beds, doing dishes)
Who is responsible for doing these chores? (brother, sister, mother etc.) Similar to family homes where chores need to be divided in order for them to be completed, Canada as an entire country has many responsibilities that need to be divided so that all of them can be done.

Follow up: How many levels of government are there in Canada? What are they? (federal, provincial, municipal)

  1. The federal government takes care of things that affect the entire country, for example money (currency), military, citizenship. Ask your students, have you been to another province or traveled abroad? Did they need a passport or buy something? All people across the country use the same money and have a Canadian passport - like them.  
  2. The provincial level looks after things that affect only the people in the province. What do you do if you're feeling sick or if you have an accident? Go to the doctor or the hospital - how do they pay? Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) for all people in Ontario. 
  3. The municipal level is responsible for things that affect only the city or town. Can you think of some things that are or happen in your own neighbourhood or town? Fire hall, Police station, public library, snow removal, bus or subway stop - use exploratory questions, such as: If there's a snow storm or a fire nearby, can a snowplow or fire truck come from another city or province? What is written on the side of a police car or bus (name of city).

Group discussion (10 minutes)
Discuss how the various levels of government are present in each community and how the each government affects the way people live their day-to day lives.
• Education – in Ontario, students go to school 5 days per week.  Is that the same all across Canada? 
• Transportation – In Ontario you must be at least 16 years old to apply for a driver’s license. Is it the same in each province? Local roads versus provincial highways.
•

Subsequent discussions:
Where do governments meet? At the parliament buildings. Where are the parliament buildings - in what cities? Who is the Prime Minister, Premier or Mayor? 
Relate the location of each level of government to their responsibilities, for example, Canada's Parliament is in Ottawa - Canada's capital city. Ontario's Parliament is in Toronto - the provincial capital city.  The municipal governments meet in each city or town called a city or town hall.  

Interactive Activity: Government Responsibilities (15 minutes)
Print out the list of responsibilities below and share the list with your students. For younger students you can use corresponding images. Write the three levels of government on the classroom board:  Federal, Provincial, Municipal.  Group students into small groups of 2 or 3 - invite one student from each group to write one responsibility under the corresponding level of government. Students can also write a responsibility on a piece of paper and affix it under the appropriate heading.  Encourage students to discuss with each other which level of government is responsible for each item on the list.

Activity: Three Levels of Government in Canada - Match each responsibility below to the corresponding level of government

Federal, Provincial, Municipal -

Adoption, Birth Certificates, Agriculture, Boating Safety, Airports, Canada Post, Armed Forces, Canadian Currency, Citizenship, Recycling, Councillors, City Parks, Civil Rights, Consumer Services, Copyrights, Criminal Law, Education, Driver's Licences, Energy, Fire Services, Fisheries, Foreign Affairs, Health Care, Garbage Collection, Immigration, Library Services, Lottery, Marriage Certificates, Road Signs, Old Age Pensions, Water and Sewage, Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), Public Health,   Provincial Parks, Transportation, Snow Removal, Public Transit, Police Services, Tourism, Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)

Additional Activities:

  • As a class, go for a walk around the block of your school. Have students (either working alone or in groups) take photos of signs or symbols that identify various levels of government in the community. When students return to the classroom, they can present their photographs and describe which levels of government they captured in their images. See example below (photo).
  • Play the Levels of Government game.

Sample image

Answer Key

Federal:
Agriculture – shared with provincial powers
Immigration – shared with provincial powers
Foreign Affairs
Criminal Law
Canadian Currency
Army
Canada Post
Citizenship
Copyrights
Civil Rights
Boating Safety
Fisheries
Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)
Old Age Pensions

Provincial:
Health Care
Adoption
Education
Road Signs
Lottery
Tourism
Transportation
Driver’s License
Ontario Provincial Police (OPP)
Provincial Parks
Marriage Certificates
Birth Certificates
Energy
Consumer Services

Municipal:
City Councillors
City parks
Library Services
Fire Services
Garbage Collection
Snow Removal
Recycling
Public Transit
Police Services
Water and Sewage
Airports
Public Health