Co-op
Focus: Allows learners to gain Canadian work experience, earn credit toward an O.S.S.D., develop employment skills, polish resumé & interview skills, and gain references from the workplace.

Eligibility: 18 years and older

Levels: Must be "credit ready" (i.e. demonstrate grade 9 level academic proficiency or higher) as defined by the service delivery agency.

Cost: Fees are dependent on service delivery site policy (tuition is not charged for credit courses, but refundable materials and other administrative fees may be charged; see links below for details)

CanEx Co-op
Focus: This program is designed to assist foreign trained professionals gain experience in the Canadian workplace. Programming assists them in developing language proficiency and helps them master the job hunting skills so necessary in the current economic environment, all while gaining secondary school credits. In CanEx, students spend a minimum of three weeks in a classroom setting fine tuning their resumes and interview skills, learning about the Canadian workplace and searching for placements relevant to their field. The remaining fifteen weeks are spent in a work placement, performing duties associated with that position on a full time basis.

Eligibility: 21+
CALC site requirements - Assessed for ESL Level EO or better; Able to attend full day (up to 8 hours daily)

Levels: Must be "credit ready" (i.e. demonstrate grade 9 level academic proficiency or higher) as defined by the service delivery agency; assessed for ESL Level EO or better.

Personal Support Worker Certificate Program
Focus: This program enables students to earn a Personal Support Worker Certificate, acquire the skills and knowledge to work as a personal support worker, gain practical experience in a health care environment, and earn nine credits towards Ontario Secondary School Diploma. It is a full-time, eight hundred and ten hours, twenty-seven week program.

• Must be 21 or older at the time of application
• Proof of updated immunization for Hepatitis B, flu shot, T.B. test or x-ray are required prior to program start date
• Police reference check required by co-op placements
• Letter of reference (depending on service delivery site – see links below)

Levels: Must pass service delivery agency English language proficiency assessment (or have completed a grade 12 Ontario English credit)

Cost: Fees are dependent on service delivery site policy (tuition is not charged for credit courses, but refundable materials and other administrative fees may be charged; see links below for details)

Childcare Assistant Certificate Program
Focus: This program offers the opportunity for a learner to achieve 6 secondary credits while gaining work experience in a childcare or junior school setting. The course runs for 18 weeks whereby students attend in-school classes and co-op placement (length of each varies per service delivery site).

• Must be 21 or older at the time of application
• Proof of updated immunization for Hepatitis B, flu shot, T.B. test or x-ray are required prior to program start date
• Police reference check required by co-op placements
• Letter of reference (depending on service delivery site – see links below)

Hairstyling
Focus: Students have the opportunity to learn valuable theory and technical skills needed to earn a hairstyling certificate while also earning credits towards their secondary school diploma. Students can earn 12 credits towards their secondary school diploma and qualify to write the Ministry of Training, Colleges, and Universities basic and advanced exemption exams excusing students from further in school course work. Students may also become registered apprentices while participating in the program.

• Must be 21 or older at the time of application
• Pass interview with service delivery site staff (dependent on site)

Levels: Must pass service delivery agency English language proficiency assessment (or have completed a grade 12 Ontario English credit)

Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program (OYAP)
Focus: The Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program (OYAP) is a School to Work program that opens the door for students to explore and gain training in apprenticeship occupations starting in Grade 11 or Grade 12 through the Cooperative Education program. Students have access to programming related to over 150 skilled trades, have the opportunity to become registered apprentices and work towards becoming certified in a skilled trade while completing their secondary school diplomas. The goals of OYAP are to:

• Provide students with the opportunity to start training in a skilled trade while completing the requirements for an Ontario Secondary School Diploma;
• Enable students to make the school to work transition by direct entry into apprenticeship training;
• Provide employers with the opportunity to train the skilled workers they require;
• Provide a viable solution to address the problem of skilled tradespeople shortages in general, and specifically the lack of young people joining the trades.

• Must be 16 or older
• Must have 16 secondary credits

Specialist High Skills Major (SHSM) Program
Focus: An SHSM is a ministry-approved specialized program that allows students to focus their learning on a specific economic sector while meeting the requirements to graduate from secondary school. It also assists in their transition after graduation to apprenticeship training, college, university or the workplace (Ministry of Education, 2011). SHSM programming is offered through all school boards across Ontario and students benefit by achieving the following:

• an Ontario Secondary School Diploma with an embossed red seal
• an SHSM Record documenting his/her achievement (using the Ontario Skills Passport)
• formal recognition on his/her Ontario Student Transcript

SHSM programming is offered in the following sectors (options are based on service delivery agency):

Agriculture
Arts and Culture
Aviation/Aerospace
Business
Community Safety and Emergency Services
Construction Energy
The Environment
Horticulture and Landscaping
Hospitality and Tourism
Information and Communications
Technology
Manufacturing
Mining
Transportation
Forestry
Health and Wellness

Dual Credit Programming
Focus: Dual credit programs are ministry-approved programs that allow students, while they are still in secondary school, to take college or apprenticeship courses that count towards both the Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD) and a postsecondary certificate, diploma, or degree, or an apprenticeship certification. Students may earn credits towards the OSSD through courses delivered entirely or partially by publicly funded colleges in Ontario that are participating in a ministry-approved dual credit program. Students may earn up to four optional credits through college-delivered courses. There is no limit on the number or type of secondary credits they may earn through team-taught courses (Ministry of Education, 2010). Dual credit programming may be combined with Specialist High Skills Major (SHSM) and/or Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program (OYAP) courses to guide learners to college and apprenticeship opportunities.