Engaging Teacher Candidates about Aboriginal Education Perspectives in Ontario Angela Nardozi University of Toronto Angela Mashford-Pringle University of Toronto Knowledge of the Aboriginal socio-political history in Canada has historically been excluded from public education in Ontario. The Ontario Ministry of Education has created the Aboriginal Education Strategy, which includes policies and resources for teachers. However, teachers frequently only teach the minimum required curriculum about Aboriginal peoples as they do not have adequate knowledge or feel that they lack the ability to teach about this subject. The Ontario Institute of Studies in Education (OISE) at the University of Toronto has implemented the Deepening Knowledge Project to provide teacher candidates with an increased awareness and knowledge about Aboriginal histories, cultures and worldviews for their future teaching careers. This article will provide insight into the project and the curriculum developed for working with teacher candidates. _______________ ENGAGING TEACHER CANDIDATES ABOUT ABORIGINAL EDUCATION PERSPECTIVES IN ONTARIO ONTARIO CONTEXT There are 301,425 people who identify as having Aboriginal ancestry in Ontario, which is 21.5% of the total Aboriginal population in Canada (Statistics Canada, 2013) and 2.4% of the total population of the province (Ontario Ministry of Finance, 2013). The Aboriginal population is Ontario increasing “ive times faster than the 4.8% rate of growth for the non-Aboriginal population (Ontario Ministry of Finance, 2013; p. 1). Approximately 22.6% of the total Ontario Aboriginal population is between 0 and 12 years of age according to the 2006 Census (Ontario Trillium Foundation, 2011). It is estimated that one-third (approximately 33%) of the Aboriginal population in Ontario is under the age of 19 years compared to 23.8% of the non-Aboriginal population (Ontario Ministry of Finance, 2013). First NatioNs PersPectives 6, 1 (2014): 52-66