Exploring Apprenticeship

This school-to-work program lets students explore and work in apprenticeships starting in Grade 10, Grade 11 or Grade 12 through co-operative education. Students can become registered apprentices and work towards becoming certified in a skilled trade, while completing their secondary school diplomas.

Contact your guidance department at your local high school to find out more. There are so many skilled trades to explore!

With 144 apprenticeable trades and hundreds more that are non-apprenticeable, the sky really is the limit when it comes to exploring the trades as a potential career path. Students in grade 10 (summer only), 11 and 12 have the opportunity to participate.

Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program is in every high school. Students who participate in a high school cooperative education course where their placement is in a skilled trade, can become OYAP students by completing a participation form. During the co-op, the student can experience and learn the many aspects of the chosen skilled trade. The co-op opportunity allows the student to test drive a skilled trade and decide if the trade is a right fit for them. While in a co-op placement, the student gains hours towards their apprenticeship if they choose to follow that career. Many students in Ontario find their future career while at a co-op placement and register as an apprentice in high school. Registering as an apprentice enables the student to complete up to a year of their apprenticeship prior to graduation.