Ontario Making It Easier to Enter Skilled Trades

We’re working hard to attract and train more workers to help fill the almost 500,000 skilled trades jobs expected to open over the next decade. 

That’s why our government is introducing new measures to attract more people to the skilled trades and promote the skilled trades to youth and workers – setting them on a path to rewarding, well-paying careers. 

This includes creating a new stream under the Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program (OYAP) called Focused Apprenticeship Skills Training (FAST), which will allow Grades 11 and 12 high school students to participate in more apprenticeship learning, through additional co-operative education credits, while completing high school – putting them on a fast-track to highly-paying careers in the skilled trades. 

Under the Focused Apprenticeship Skilled Trades (FAST) Program, senior high school students can now get an accelerated hands-on learning with access to all 144 trades, while earning an income.

This builds on our government’s initiative to require all students next September to take at least one technological education course, ensuring that we tackle the skilled trades shortage by accelerating pathways for more students into these good-paying jobs.

We are also making it easier to find apprenticeship opportunities by launching a new online job-matching platform for potential apprentices, journeypersons, and employers to network and share opportunities. 

These changes are part of a larger package that will expand on the ground-breaking actions introduced in the previous Working for Workers Acts, which will be unveiled in the coming weeks to protect workers, help them earn bigger paycheques, and help newcomers contribute to building Ontario.

By continuing to put workers first, we are building a brighter future for all Ontarians and ensuring our province remains the best place to live, work and raise a family. 

Under the leadership of Premier Ford, our government is reimagining how students learn by removing distractions, getting back to basics and integrating learning with working.