Expert-Informed Foundations
Explore Canada’s defence, security, and history through the collective insight of 40+ experts.
Core International Relations Concepts
Learn essential IR theory terms such as sovereignty, anarchy, diplomacy and understand how they shape global affairs.
Practical, Real-World Application
Develop the tools to interpret international events and assess their impact on Canada’s security and global role.
Our Purpose
In the last few years, the world has grown increasingly unstable and the need to understand Canada’s power in the international community has become a necessity for every Canadian. Canada’s sovereignty has come increasingly under threat in recent years, whether through tariffs or security threats in our cities and in our North. Beginning to tackle this challenge requires understanding the tools that Canada has to work with in the international community as well as a strong understanding of Canadian defence, security and history.
The NATO Association of Canada
The NATO Association of Canada has developed a set of freely accessible educational resources and materials through its flagship Security in Community (SIC) Project. These multimedia resources are enriched with subject-matter expert interviews from across the Canadian academic, military and professional landscape, with those who have hands-on experience as practitioners and scholars on Canadian international relations. This legacy project was developed by the NATO Association of Canada (NAOC) and made possible through partial funding from DND’s MINDS Program, and partial funding from NATO’s Public Diplomacy Division grants.
Curriculum
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1
Module 1: Intro to Canadian multiculturalism, civic freedoms, and basic terms in international relations
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(Included in full purchase)
Video Section 1 - Introduction & Section 2 - Why does Security matter?
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(Included in full purchase)
Reflective Quiz
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(Included in full purchase)
Place Holder Video
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(Included in full purchase)
Section 1 – Canada today, and what it means to be Canadian + Multiculturalism and Canadian rights and freedoms.
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(Included in full purchase)
Section 2 – Why is Security important (to you)? Freedoms to not live without.
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(Included in full purchase)
Place Holder Video
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(Included in full purchase)
Section 3 – What is international RBIO?
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(Included in full purchase)
Place Holder Video
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(Included in full purchase)
Section 4 – Base look at Canada’s current presence in international community
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(Included in full purchase)
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2
Module 2: Canada, the First World War, and the Interwar Period
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(Included in full purchase)
Video Section 1 – Canada and the First World War
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(Included in full purchase)
Quiz
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(Included in full purchase)
Video Section 2 – Canada, The League of Nations and the Great Depression
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(Included in full purchase)
Quiz
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(Included in full purchase)
Video Section 3 – The 1930s, Appeasement, The Road to War, and Canada
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(Included in full purchase)
Quiz
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(Included in full purchase)
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3
Module 3: Canada and the Second World War
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(Included in full purchase)
Video Section 1 – Canada, Society, and the Start of the War
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(Included in full purchase)
Quiz
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(Included in full purchase)
Video Section 2 – Canada’s contributions to the Second World War
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(Included in full purchase)
Quiz
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(Included in full purchase)
Video Section 3 – The Atomic Bomb and the New Dawn
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(Included in full purchase)
Quiz
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(Included in full purchase)
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4
Module 4: Canada, the Foundation of the UN, and the Early Cold War
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(Included in full purchase)
Video Section 1 - Canada, The UN, and the Early Cold War
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(Included in full purchase)
Quiz
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(Included in full purchase)
Video Section 2 - The Functions of the UN
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(Included in full purchase)
Quiz
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(Included in full purchase)
Video Section 3 - Canada and the Early Cold War
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(Included in full purchase)
Quiz
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(Included in full purchase)
A Glimpse Into Security in Community
Get a preview of the lessons that shape this course. These excerpts are pulled directly from the video modules, offering you a look at the core concepts, guiding principles, and real-world insights you’ll explore in full. Think of this as a small window into the conversations, strategies, and mindset shifts that make Security in Community a transformative learning experience.
Security is important because as a country we want to be safe from aggression, we want to prosper, we want to be on tolerably good terms with other nations and none of that is possible if you don't have a degree of security, physical, economic, political.
Professor of International Relations, Trinity College, University of Toronto Program Coordinator, Bill Graham Centre for Contemporary International History
Security is important to me because it is the foundation of everything we expect. Security is really woven into all of our favourite moments, our greatest enjoyments of life.
President of the NATO Association
If you don’t have security in any society, you cannot have democracy, you cannot have order.
Former Canadian Minister of Defence, Chair of the NATO Association of Canada
Security is important to me because it means the things that matter to us are safe, and we can thrive and grow as people. I think it's really the most basic need—one that allows us to fulfill all our other needs: to prosper, to dream, to thrive.
Task Force Commander of Operation UNIFIER Canadian Armed Forces Liaison Officer to Canada's Ambassador for Women, Peace and Security
Security makes everything else possible. Without security, we can't go about our daily lives, we can't have jobs, we can't have businesses. If we have possessions, we can't keep them. Security is what makes societies possible.
Foremost Canadian Historian and Professor, International History, University of Oxford and University of Toronto
40+ Experts Include
Robert Baines, President & CEO of the NATO Association of Canada Andrew Leslie, Former Commander of the Canadian Armed Forces, Dr Robert Bothwell, foremost Cold War Scholar Dr John Meehan, Director, Bill Graham Centre Kevin Rex, Director General Human Security, GAC Alison Grant, Former Director General International Security, GAC Dr. Tim Cook (- 2025), Former Chief of the Canadian War Museum Hon. David Collenette, Former Canadian Minister of Defence LCol. Melanie Lake, Former Commander, Op. UNIFIER Major-Gen. Scott Clancy, Former Director Operations, NORAD Dr. Andrew Burtch, Canadian War Museum's post-1945 Historian Dr. Margaret Macmillan Foremost Canadian Historian and Professor, International History, University of Oxford and University of Toronto Dr. Jennifer Tunnicliffe- Professor, History, Toronto Metropolitan University; Author, Resisting Rights: Canada and the Intl. Bill of Rights
Deepen Your Understanding of Canada’s Global Impact
Whether you’re an adult who has always wanted to understand Canada’s role in the world better, or you’re a student new to Canadian International Relations, this is the course for you. This educational initiative was produced to equip the general public with a set of critical thinking skills to apply towards understanding the impact of global events on Canada, and Canada’s role in international governance, order, security, and justice.