The pre-apprenticeship program is free to participants and gives students the chance to learn on the job while also receiving relevant training like first aid and working at heights. It includes two weeks of in-school training followed by an eight-week paid work placement with local employers. This round of the program, which covers carpentry, plumbing, electrical, and heating, refrigeration and air conditioning (HRAC), starts on June 26 with applications due by June 9. Applicants need to be at least 16, a Canadian citizen or landed immigrant, and not already registered as an apprentice.

“One of the best-kept secrets in Ontario is the fact when you have a career in the skilled trades, you have a career for life,” said Monte McNaughton, Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development. “Our government is proud to support Georgian College’s pre-apprenticeship program, which is helping more young people get the training they need to earn bigger paycheques for themselves and their families.”

“This program is really meant to help someone enter the construction trades that just doesn’t know where to start,” said Michelle Kennedy, Academic Support Officer at Georgian’s Muskoka campus.

The first week of the program includes intensive instruction primarily focused on carpentry training while the second week is focused on safety certifications. After the initial two-week training, students are on the job with local employers from Tuesday to Friday. 

Each Monday they do additional training at the college, including more advanced topics like access structures, roof framing, heating, refrigeration and air conditioning (HRAC), and blueprint reading. The program gives students exposure to working in the field while also having access to experienced faculty that can help them navigate their career options.

“Gaining some of that first-hand knowledge from experienced people in the trades, both at the college and on the job site, that’s a huge piece,” Kennedy said. “Apprenticeships allow students to connect with employers, and that’s a role we play in a program like this; helping guide them through the whole process”

Pre-apprenticeship is a true pathway into a career, she said. Beyond the original placement, the program also provides industry contacts to help participants find success in other potential apprenticeships and jobs if the fit isn’t quite right.

“We can see a student come in who has zero experience and minimal confidence, and throughout their time here as well as on work placement, we see huge growth,” she said. “That’s huge for us, and that’s why we do it.”

In addition to vetting participants through the application process, Kennedy said they also vet the employers for participants to ensure the best experience possible. The college has built up relationships with local employers to make sure students receive consistently valuable training and experience.

“The work placements are paid, and at the end of that work placement, the intent is that each placement leads to an offer of apprenticeship and full-time employment,” said
James Fielding, Campus Manager at Georgian College’s Muskoka Campus.

Fielding said some of their best success stories have come out of the pre-apprenticeship program. Many students have found careers through their placements, including some who have started on a path toward opening their own businesses.

Pre-apprenticeship is an Employment Ontario program funded in part by the Government of Canada and the Government of Ontario. In addition to the necessary training and certifications, funding for the program also covers the cost of toolkits as well as personal protective equipment like safety glasses and work boots.

Trades and transport make up about 25 per cent of the workforce in Muskoka, according to the 2021 census conducted by Statistics Canada, making it an essential and in-demand career, Fielding said. The 10-week session gives local youth and job seekers the ability to jumpstart a career in the skilled trades while also assisting employers during the busy summer construction season in Muskoka.

“It’s a huge piece of the job market in Muskoka,” he said. “There’s also an incredible amount of demand right now across the country for skilled trades workers, particularly in the construction industry.”

The program changes the lives and career paths of its participants, he said, so there are a lot of feel-good stories that emerge. Alisha Cattelan, who was a pre-apprenticeship student in 2021, said the program at Georgian College in Muskoka was an amazing way to test out the trades and help her make an informed career decision.

“The program gave me the confidence to tackle a new skill set and pursue a new career path,” Cattelan said. “The instructors in the program made me feel as though the skilled trades were accessible to me. The knowledge, expertise and patience that they demonstrated really set the students up for success.”

This free program fills up quickly. Visit Muskoka Campus – Georgian College for the application form.

This post is sponsored by the Georgian College Muskoka Campus.

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One option for students is to do a co-op placement through the Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program (OYAP), which allows students to get firsthand experience while accruing hours toward their apprenticeship. The placements include everything from early childhood education and vet technicians to auto mechanics and millwrights. They fall within four categories: service, construction, industrial and motive power. Moore said that co-ops offer many benefits, and one of them is having the opportunity to test drive a career without worrying about the money or time involved.

“Instead of investing time and money in that college or university program that may or may not work for a student, with apprenticeship, students are paid to learn,” said Christine Moore, OYAP recruiter and Pathways consultant for Trillium Lakelands District School Board. “They end up coming out of an apprenticeship knowing that they love what they’re doing and not having any of that student debt.”

Co-op students who start their apprenticeships in high school aren’t typically paid hourly wages before they graduate, but they do receive tuition-free credits and job experience. They can also start earning money through their placement as soon as they graduate if they continue as an apprentice, and even if they don’t, the co-ops can give students valuable insight into their career search.

Moore recalls a student who was determined to be a vet tech. The student started her co-op and within two weeks, she realized that it was too upsetting for her to witness animals in surgery and being put down. Instead of waiting until graduation and paying tuition to find out that she didn’t want to pursue that career, she was able to find out through co-op and choose something different while still in high school.

“There’s lots of students who take a co-op course and they do something and they love it, and so then they feel so much more confident in the path that they’re taking,” Moore said. “Then [there are] others who figure out what they don’t want to do, which is equally as powerful.”

Going beyond the basic co-op

Some fields are hours-based while others require apprenticeship-specific schooling, which students can apply to take as part of the accelerated OYAP program. The students chosen for the program go to a delivery agent like Georgian College to do their first level of apprenticeship schooling.

The program is funded by OYAP, so the provincial government covers the cost of the course, transportation, textbooks and other supplies. It’s a rare opportunity to start post-secondary education in high school, so Moore encourages interested students to apply.

“Most trades have three levels of schooling,” Moore said. “Some have two, some have one, depends on the trade, but typically the schooling is approximately eight weeks in length, and so what we offer is this really cool opportunity for students to start their apprenticeship schooling while they’re still in high school.”

If students have an employer who is willing to take them on after graduation, another option is to sign a registered training agreement. Once they graduate from high school, they can continue their apprenticeship without creating a new legal document. It simply rolls over and they become a regular apprentice.

On top of the career-specific skills students gain, they also learn general employability skills. Moore said she thinks that sometimes people don’t realize how amazing students can be as employees, especially because they come without preconceived notions or bad habits to break.

“They’re enthusiastic, they’re energetic and they’re fabulous workers,” Moore said. “When you invest in a student, they often want to invest in the employer. There’s that loyalty, which is a recipe for a great future workforce.”

The placements are typically unpaid and the Ministry of Education covers the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) benefits, so there’s no cost to the employer to have the additional help on hand. The program is flexible too, she said, so just like a student can change their placement if it’s not the right fit for them, so can employers. 

Moore urges business owners to reach out to their local schools and learn more about co-op placements. They don’t necessarily have a student for every business every semester, but they do find a lot of great matches. She seems to see former co-op students everywhere she goes, and she hopes that trend will continue.

“These co-op placements allow students to make connections with people in the community,” Moore said. “That’s really important because we’re hoping that they’re going to maybe find an employer that they love working with and they make the decision that they want to settle in Muskoka, which is really great for our economy.”

Careers in the skilled trades are often lucrative, have great work-life balance and help employees stay physically fit, Moore said. She and other recruiters like her are encouraging students to pursue a career in the skilled trades to help fill gaps in the workforce and to give them stable and rewarding jobs.

Co-op careers at Huntsville High School

Jennifer Cooper is a history and civics teacher at Huntsville High School and she’s been working with co-op students on and off since about 2015. Some students come in with placements already arranged through friends or family, while others come in with no idea of what job they want to do. 

The co-op staff encourages students to go through a job search as part of the learning process, but they also help guide students to find the right fit. They often go back to employers where they’ve had successful co-op placements, partly because past students make great teachers.

“That’s always nice to see when the program keeps growing, and then the kids that went through it are now teaching the newer kids,” Cooper said. “That really helps build it because then they understand what we’re trying to do, they know what it did for them and they’re really good teachers for the next group of co-op students.”

Huntsville High School’s co-op program is unique because they have more Specialist High Skills Major (SHSM) programs than any other school in the district, according to Cooper. The school offers six of the 19 possible sectors: manufacturing, construction, transportation, art and culture, hospitality and tourism, and health and wellness.

Along with doing a co-op placement, the SHSM program allows students to gain credits toward their diploma while focusing their studies on a specific field. They take eight to 10 courses in their area, earn industry certifications like first aid and receive a special diploma to reflect their studies.

“It’s open to all pathways,” Cooper said. “It doesn’t matter if you are doing straight to apprenticeship or workplace, or if you’re planning to go to college or apply to go to university, the Specialist High Skills Major can give you opportunities.”

The SHSM program gives students with a strong sense of what they want to do the chance to kickstart their careers while other co-ops allow students to get job experience and career guidance as they figure it out. Cooper also wants students to remember that co-ops are available for roles like chefs, youth workers and arborists in addition to traditional trades jobs like carpenters, electricians and plumbers.

She often hears people express the belief that a person needs to go to university to get a decent job, and that’s just not the case, she said. Doing a co-op can go hand-in-hand with college or university, but whether or not typical post-secondary education is part of the process, the skilled trades offer a solid career path.

“That’s the biggest battle I think we face is trying to get rid of that stigma that that’s where you go as a last resort,” Cooper said. “It’s absolutely a first choice for many.”

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The pre-apprenticeship program covering carpentry; construction small engines; and heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) kicks off on July 12 and runs until October 15, followed by a 12-week paid work placement. During the free 14-week program, students will learn about topics like trades math, blueprint reading and career development through online courses while also getting a chance to get hands-on experience in the shop. There’s been confusion surrounding the in-person portion of the program due to the pandemic, said Muskoka Campus Associate Dean Mac Greaves, but students will still receive hands-on instruction in carpentry, small engines and HVAC, just with smaller class sizes.

“They will still have the same number of hands-on hours that they would have even if there was no pandemic,” Greaves said. “In many ways it’s a great opportunity because the [student-to-teacher] ratio is much lower than in normal times because basically there will be a maximum of 10 students to one teacher when they’re in the shop doing the hands-on activities.”

Greaves said the program is “like a taste tester for the trades.” Because it’s a tuition-free program funded by the Government of Ontario, it gives people a chance to gain skills and test out multiple career paths for free. Participants must simply be 16 or older, a Canadian citizen or landed immigrant, and not already registered as an apprentice.

“It’s great for someone who is looking to get into the trades, maybe doesn’t know what trade to get into, and they want to learn a little bit more about the construction industry,” Greaves said. “We know that the construction industry makes up about 23 or 24 per cent of full-time employment in the Muskoka region. It is actually the largest employer of full-time people, and we know that there’s a huge need for entry-level workers in the construction industry.”

Georgian can help open doors for students, Greaves said, and get them into a career they may not have considered before, so he encourages men and women alike to check out the program and consider a career in the skilled trades. Many participants in the pre-apprenticeship program have signed on as apprentices after completing their work placements with local contractors while others have chosen to continue their studies at Georgian. 

The pathways are many for students in the trades, Greaves said, and in addition to a fantastic shop and experienced faculty, the program offers additional training like first aid, working at heights and lockout tagout training.

“These are things that a normal entry level worker would have to pick up on their own, so this is being provided for them in the pre-apprenticeship program,” Greaves said. “We’re doing everything we can to have them career ready in 14 weeks [for] an entry-level career in the construction trades.”

John Pearce, a member of the faculty for the pre-apprenticeship program as well as the general carpentry apprenticeship course, has been teaching in various carpentry programs for 17 years. Throughout that time, he said he’s been fortunate to work with participants of all ages from diverse backgrounds.

“During the four-week long carpentry portion of the program, participants work in teams to build small wood-frame structures,” Pearce said. “I have witnessed first-hand as participants gain skills and confidence during our brief time together in the carpentry shop each session. Typically strangers to one another at the outset of the program, the participants quickly divide themselves into teams and collaborate to build full scale buildings.”

Current pre-apprenticeship student Scarlett McTavish said the program provides an excellent avenue to explore multiple trades. 

“As someone who came into the program with zero experience, I feel supported and encouraged by the instructors,” McTavish said. “I was also thrilled to see the large number of young women participating in the program which fosters a safe and inclusive environment for us to pursue our career explorations.”

Those interested in the pre-apprenticeship program should apply by June 30. For more information on the Georgian College Muskoka Campus, visit their website, or watch this video to see what a day in the life is like at the Muskoka Campus.

This post is sponsored by the Georgian College Muskoka Campus.

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