Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program

Find Success in the Skilled Trades

A skilled trade is a career path that requires a particular skill set, specialty knowledge and training and is usually hands-on.

Some skilled trades require an apprenticeship. Why would you try an apprenticeship trade?

Watch this video!

Vinh
LEARN MORE ABOUT APPRENTICESHIP

Explore Careers in

140+

Skilled Trades

DISCOVER EACH TRADE

Earn money while you learn

It all starts with OYAP

FAQ

Are there any costs for an employer to take on an OYAP apprentice?

Is the student guaranteed employment upon graduation?

Are students paid for their apprenticeship training?

MORE ANSWERS TO YOUR QUESTIONS

MYTH BUSTING

There are a lot of myths about apprenticeship and the skilled trades.

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SKILLED TRADES JOBS DO NOT PAY WELL.

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FIND OUT THE TRUTH

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Skilled trades are a dead-end job.

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FIND OUT THE TRUTH

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Working in the trades is dangerous.

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FIND OUT THE TRUTH

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Skilled trade work isnโ€™t important.

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FIND OUT THE TRUTH

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Skilled trades are for men.

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FIND OUT THE TRUTH

How you can help as an employer

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Skilled Trades on Social Media

What’s up in the Skilled Trades?

Mar 28

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Thanks so much to Jared at Richardson Plumbing for taking on Domonic this semester. They are taking a short break here before continuing to do their part to help with our housing shortage. Keep up the great work Domonic and welcome to the SDCI co-op family to Richardson Plumbing. #sdcicoop #oyap #plumbing

Mar 27

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Thank you HDSBschools - OYAP for sponsoring Women as Career Coaches 2025! โœจ Thanks to their support, students will have the opportunity to connect with mentors, explore different career paths and gain the confidence to take on the future! HDSB - OYAP is helping break barriers and open doors for the next generation, and weโ€™re so grateful for their partnership! ๐Ÿ’œ Want to be part of WACC 2025? Join us! Link in bio. #WACC2025 #ThankYou #MentorshipMatters #WomenSupportingWomen #CareerInspiration #OYAP #SkilledTrades

Mar 27

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Hereโ€™s James preparing to head out for a day of work. James will be starting trade school next month as a Refrigeration Mechanic at Fanshawe College as part of the accelerated apprenticeship program. Thanks to Hyde Park Plumbing and Heating for providing a co-op experience for James. #sdcicoop #oyap #hvac

Mar 26

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Why enroll in a Specialist High Skills Major (SHSM) at your secondary school? The Specialist High Skills Major (SHSM) is a specialized program approved by the Ministry of Education that allows students to focus their learning on a specific economic sector while meeting the requirements of the Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD). ๐ŸŽ“ These programs enable students to gain sector specific skills and knowledge in engaging, career related learning environments, and prepare in a focused way for graduation and postsecondary education, training or employment. #lps_oyap_shsm #SHSM #takeTech #careerpathways #handsonlearning #skilledtrades #oyap

Mar 26

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Ava is learning about hairstyling at Turning Heads Salon & Spa this semester. Tracey, Brittney and Amberleigh are coaching Ava through tasks such as: โ€ข answering the phone โ€ข booking services for clients โ€ข styling techniques (on her #oyap mannequin) โ€ข general maintenance duties (laundry, cleaning) Great start Ava! โœ‚๏ธ

Mar 26

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Curious about how products are made and eager to turn raw materials into finished goods? Enroll in Manufacturing courses and step into the world of production, innovation, and hands-on craftsmanship! Learn to design, fabricate, and assemble products using advanced tools and techniques. Unlock your potential as a future maker and innovator! ๐Ÿš€ How to Get Started? ๐Ÿ‘‰Explore: Research Manufacturing courses at your school. ๐Ÿ‘‰Prepare: Strengthen your skills in math, science, and technology. ๐Ÿ‘‰Engage: Participate in projects that challenge your creativity and technical expertise. #Manufacturing #HandsOnLearning #Machining #Welding #CNCProgramming #3DPrinting #TakeTech #OYAP #SHSM #ThinkSkilledTrades #SKilledTradesOntario #SkilledTradesMatter

Mar 26

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A big thank you to righttempmechanical for hosting our very own knightzonejoa coop student - Dylan! He is gaining hands-on experience, developing transferable skills, and gaining a competitive edge in his future HVAC career! These are all benefits of the 4 credit co-op program at JOA! #oyap #thetrades #coopworks

Mar 25

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Tristan is working hard at AutoTech Solutions in Barrie! He is another example of the benefits of the knightzonejoa 4 Credit Co-op Program! He is gaining hands-on experience in a field of interest, and applying classroom knowledge in a real-world setting. Thank you AutoTech Solutions for partnering with our program! #oyap #thetrades #310s #automotiveservicetechnician

Mar 25

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New custom computer cart for our VR simulators is complete! a#WeAreRAVENS #WeSOARAbove #shsm #oyap hpe_shsm

Mar 24

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A huge thank you to studicacanada for being a Titanium Sponsor, again! We appreciate their incredible support of both our organization and the OCTE 25th Anniversary Spring Conference! ๐ŸŒŸ Speaking of the conference, we still have some spots left, itโ€™s time to register for OCTE's 25th Anniversary Spring Conference! ๐ŸŽ‰ You can still get early bird pricing too! Join us May 8โ€“10, 2025, at the Delta Hotel Ottawa City Centre for exciting workshops, tours, and networking with 500+ educators, counselors, administrators, community organizations, and industry leaders. Explore new tour and workshop opportunities while connecting with your peers! ๐Ÿ—“ Early Bird: $615+HST (until April 1, 2025) ๐Ÿ’ป Click on the link in our bio! #taketech #skilledtradesontario #skilledtradesmatter #teachtech #sponsorship #partnership #thinkskilledtrades #oyap #shsm #octeconference

Mar 24

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Congrats to Tycen on winning the London area student welding competition. He will compete next month in Toronto at The Skills Ontario competition. Tycenโ€™s employer Parmerit is also helping him prepare for Level 1 trade school in May and June as part of the Accelerated Apprenticeship program. Thanks to Dave and the team at Parmerit. #sdcicoop #oyap #welding

Mar 24

Open
๐Ÿ”ง๐Ÿ’ก ๐„๐ฑ๐œ๐ข๐ญ๐ž๐ ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐’๐ค๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ž๐ ๐“๐ซ๐š๐๐ž๐ฌ ๐๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐š๐ญ ๐๐ž๐š๐ซ ๐‚๐ซ๐ž๐ž๐ค ๐’๐ž๐œ๐จ๐ง๐๐š๐ซ๐ฒ ๐’๐œ๐ก๐จ๐จ๐ฅ! ๐Ÿ’ก๐Ÿ”ง On Wednesday ๐Œ๐š๐ซ๐œ๐ก ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ”๐ญ๐ก, Iโ€™ll be attending ๐’๐ข๐ฆ๐œ๐จ๐ž ๐‚๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ญ๐ฒ ๐ƒ๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐ข๐œ๐ญ ๐’๐œ๐ก๐จ๐จ๐ฅ ๐๐จ๐š๐ซ๐โ€™๐ฌ ๐’๐ค๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ž๐ ๐“๐ซ๐š๐๐ž๐ฌ ๐๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ, an incredible event helping students, parents, and educators explore ๐ซ๐ž๐ฐ๐š๐ซ๐๐ข๐ง๐  ๐œ๐š๐ซ๐ž๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ฌ๐ค๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ž๐ ๐ญ๐ซ๐š๐๐ž๐ฌ. ๐Ÿ“ ๐๐ž๐š๐ซ ๐‚๐ซ๐ž๐ž๐ค ๐’๐ž๐œ๐จ๐ง๐๐š๐ซ๐ฒ ๐’๐œ๐ก๐จ๐จ๐ฅ ๐Ÿ•” ๐Ÿ“:๐ŸŽ๐ŸŽ โ€“ ๐Ÿ–:๐ŸŽ๐ŸŽ ๐๐Œ ๐–๐ก๐ฒ ๐๐จ๐ž๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฆ๐š๐ญ๐ญ๐ž๐ซ? ๐Ÿš€ ๐’๐ค๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ž๐ ๐ญ๐ซ๐š๐๐ž๐ฌ ๐จ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ๐ž๐ซ ๐ก๐ข๐ ๐ก ๐ฌ๐œ๐ก๐จ๐จ๐ฅ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ฎ๐๐ž๐ง๐ญ๐ฌ ๐š ๐๐ข๐ซ๐ž๐œ๐ญ ๐ฉ๐š๐ญ๐ก๐ฐ๐š๐ฒ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ข๐ง-๐๐ž๐ฆ๐š๐ง๐, ๐ฐ๐ž๐ฅ๐ฅ-๐ฉ๐š๐ฒ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐œ๐š๐ซ๐ž๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ without the heavy cost of university. ๐Ÿ’ช ๐‡๐š๐ง๐๐ฌ-๐จ๐ง ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค, ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐›๐ฅ๐ž๐ฆ-๐ฌ๐จ๐ฅ๐ฏ๐ข๐ง๐ , ๐š๐ง๐ ๐ข๐ง๐ง๐จ๐ฏ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง define these careers. ๐Ÿ—๏ธ ๐Ž๐ง๐ญ๐š๐ซ๐ข๐จโ€™๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ๐œ๐ž ๐ง๐ž๐ž๐๐ฌ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ๐ž ๐ฌ๐ค๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ž๐ ๐ญ๐ซ๐š๐๐ž๐ฌ๐ฉ๐ž๐จ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ž, and this event is a great way to learn how students can get started! Looking forward to hearing from ๐‰๐จ๐ก๐ง ๐Œ๐œ๐‚๐จ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ฆ and a panel of former students who are now thriving as apprentices. If youโ€™re in the area, come join the conversation about ๐›๐ฎ๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ข๐ง๐  ๐š ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐จ๐ง๐  ๐Ÿ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ž ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ฌ๐ค๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ž๐ ๐ญ๐ซ๐š๐๐ž๐ฌ! #NextGenSkilledTrades #SkilledTrades #OYAP #Apprenticeship #FutureWorkforce #TradesMatter Simcoe County District School Board John McCollum Elaine McLachlin Bear Creek Secondary School
View the Intro Video

Discover your true passion!

Consider a career in the skilled trades!