The Ontario government is introducing new policy and legislative measures to attract more young people to the skilled trades, including adding a new apprenticeship pathway and an online job matching platform.
These initiatives are designed to promote the skilled trades to youth and workers and help set them on a path to rewarding, well-paying careers as electricians, plumbers, carpenters and other skilled trades.
Building on the Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program (OYAP), Ontario is creating a new stream, called Focused Apprenticeship Skills Training (FAST), that will allow students in Grades 11 and 12 to participate in more apprenticeship learning through additional co-operative education credits while completing high school.
Graduates would receive a new seal on their Ontario Secondary School Diploma to signify their successful completion of the program and recognize them for their dedication to learning in the skilled trades.
The new Focused Apprenticeship Skills Training program will allow students to take up to 80 per cent of their senior courses in co-op education.
The government intends to launch FAST for the second semester of the 2024-25 school year to give students the option to choose the OYAP-FAST pathway during the course selection process for the 2025-26 school year.
Additional program details will be shared with school boards later this summer through updates to the 2024-25 OYAP guidelines. For more information, individuals can contact their school board Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program (OYAP) Recruiter. Please click here to obtain the contact information for OYAP Recruiters.
This will accelerate entrance into the skilled trades, supported by the mandatory requirement for all students to take at least one Technological Education course starting this September.
Ontario would also make it easier to find apprenticeship opportunities by launching a new online job-matching portal for potential apprentices, journeypersons and employers to network and share opportunities.
Currently, Ontario does not have a dedicated provincial system to match potential apprentices with hiring employers or sponsors.
A government-housed platform, developed in partnership with the private sector, would help streamline the process for potential apprentices to find interested sponsors, register and begin their training.
Additionally, Ontario is proposing legislative measures to reduce barriers to apprenticeship training for workers who have prior professional experience, but cannot meet certain academic entry requirements to register as an apprentice.
This policy would create alternative pathways for people interested in the skilled trades as a second career if they meet alternative criteria that may include minimum years out of high school and history of prior work experiences.
The proposed change sets the stage for the ministry to develop these alterative criteria which would be set out by future regulations under the Building Opportunities in the Skilled Trades Act, 2021.
The government intends to launch FAST for the second semester of the 2024-25 school year to give students the option to choose the OYAP-FAST pathway during the course selection process for the 2025-26 school year.
Additional program details will be shared with school boards later this summer through updates to the 2024-25 OYAP guidelines. For more information, individuals can contact their school board Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program (OYAP) Recruiter. Please click here to obtain the contact information for OYAP Recruiters.
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