The ASL Curriculum of Ontario Canada. An Interview with Heather Gibson

Up to date (2023), few countries have official sign language curricula (MERTZANI, BARBOSA, FERNANDES, 2022). Canada is among these countries, with a long tradition in bilingual and multilingual education, as it recognises its three main founding groups and their languages: the Native peoples, the French, and the English. However, the Official Languages Act (1969; 1985) recognises English and French only as the official languages of Canada for all purposes, with equal status, rights, and privileges. The sign languages of Canada, the American Sign Language (ASL) in Anglophone communities, the Langue des signes québécoise (LSQ) in Francophone communities, and the Indigenous Sign Languages (ISL) have not achieved constitutional recognition as the country’s official languages. However, the 2019 Accessible Canada Act (also known as An Act to Ensure a Barrier-Free Canada or Bill C-81) recognises them “as the primary languages for communication by deaf persons in Canada.