ABSTRACT
Comprehensive reviews of policies governing official, aboriginal, and heritage language (HL) education and programs within a historical context can be found in several volumes by Jim Cummins and his colleagues published in the 1980s and 1990s. Although there is considerable interest in policy, research, and professional development in HL education in the United States and other countries featured in this volume, Canada has for several decades attracted attention for its proactive policies and initiatives supporting minority and heritage language instruction and maintenance. The dearth of scholarship on HL education in Canada since the early 1990s probably reflects the decline of federal funding for programs and research in the 1990s. The chapter describes research on HL education in Canada and outlines current and future issues. It provides examples of research, policies and issues that have arisen from different regions in a variety of HL program contexts.
