Overview

The skilled trades and apprenticeship system plays a critical role in Ontario’s economy. However, the system was outdated and overly complex. As such, the government created Skilled Trades Ontario to replace the Ontario College of Trades. This is part of the government’s plan to build an apprenticeship and skilled trades system that is easier for people to access and navigate. This would attract more people to the skilled trades, better prepare them for good jobs, and address industry needs.

The government created Skilled Trades Ontario to provide clearer access to enhanced services for apprentices, skilled trades workers, and their employers.

Skilled trades workers are at the front line of our economic recovery, with businesses playing a crucial role in training our next generation of workers through apprenticeship programs.

A Skilled Trades Panel appointed by the government learned during consultations with stakeholders that the current skilled trades and apprenticeship system was hard to navigate. With responsibilities shared between the Ontario College of Trades and the Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development, apprentices sometimes had to go back and forth between the college and the ministry to register as an apprentice or write, pay for and receive exam results, among other services. These inefficient, confusing processes may have discouraged people from pursuing a career in the skilled trades and made it harder for businesses to find skilled trades workers.

The legislation addresses this problem by enabling the government to create a new crown agency, Skilled Trades Ontario, which allows apprentices, journeypersons and employers to access all client services in one place, and with more digital self-service options that will make the system more efficient and easier to use. Compliance and enforcement is separated from the agency and handled by the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development. The legislation is being implemented in phases to provide time to adjust to the new system, starting with the establishment of Skilled Trades Ontario in January 2022.

The people of Ontario will benefit from these changes through streamlined service improvements, easier navigation of the system, and the reduction of red tape., Skilled Trades Ontario has a mandate to ensure Ontario’s skilled trades and apprenticeship system is responsive to changes in the economy and delivers the training and skills required by workers.

At maturity, it will bring together services under one industry informed organization, with modernized digital-first services that will be continually improved based on ongoing stakeholder input. This will minimize duplication and provide one point of access to apprentices and tradespeople.

In the new simplified and client-focused model, Skilled Trades Ontario is industry-informed and accountable to the Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training, and Skills Development. The agency’s government-appointed board is made up of individuals with competencies and skills that reflect the agency’s mandate.

Unlike the Ontario College of Trades, at maturity, Skilled Trades Ontario will be the single point of access for all apprenticeship and skilled trades clients, focusing on training and certification. The agency does not have a role in compliance and enforcement activities.

Skilled Trades Ontario has greater accountability to government, including the requirements to submit annual reports, business plans, and audited financial statements.

You can learn more by visiting the Skilled Trades Ontario website.

As part of the government’s commitment to reduce unnecessary regulatory burdens and to transform the apprenticeship and skilled trades system in Ontario, the government announced its intention to wind-down the Ontario College of Trades in fall 2018.

The government has taken a phased and industry-informed approach to the wind-down of the Ontario College of Trades. The introduction of the Building Opportunities in the Skilled Trades Act, 2021 will help support the next phase of wind-down – and the implementation of the proposed new agency.

The ministry has developed a digital portal called the STO Portal (Skilled Trades Ontario Portal). In January 2022 the STO Portal replaced the ministry’s Apprenticeship Online and Change my Sponsor web applications. Apprentices can apply and update their information on the STO Portal. Group sponsors are able to submit applications online for multiple apprentices at once, saving them time.

The paper-based Trade Equivalency Assessment application and payment processes will be digitized by the portal.

The digital portal also enables tradespeople to track their training journey online in some trades. More trades will be added over time. It also features basic profile management, and displays exam results. In the future it will allow certification renewal and online payment of fees.

New releases of digital services will continue over the next 3 years, based on user input, to ensure tradespeople and businesses continue to receive digitally enabled services that meet their expectations.

Skilled Trades Ontario and the ministry will support employers who want to hire an apprentice. The process of registering a training agreement with the ministry will be the same, with improved online functionality for apprentices and sponsors. The full process can be found at ontario.ca. Employers can also use the Job Bank to find a suitable apprentice and to post apprenticeship opportunities.

Finally, employers can also contact the Employment Ontario network to find suitable candidates for apprenticeship. The Employment Ontario network helps match employers with job seekers and job seekers with employers.

To maintain uninterrupted services to the public and to ensure a smooth transition to an agency-led model, the ministry is taking a phased approach to transitioning to the new agency, Skilled Trades Ontario.

The Ontario College of Trades functions that transitioned to the agency in December 2021 are:

• Development and maintenance of apprenticeship training and curriculum standards
• Development and maintenance of exams
• Issuance of certificates for journeypersons
• Assessment of non-apprenticeship stream applicants (trade equivalency assessments).
• Maintenance of the public register
• Ongoing client services and supports

Ministry functions that will continue to be co-delivered until Skilled Trades Ontario t reaches its mature state are:

• Apprentice registration (registered training agreements)
• Monitoring of apprentice progression and in-school scheduling
• Issuance of Certificates of Apprenticeship
• Administration of exams, including exam marking

In September 2020, Ontario appointed a Skilled Trades Panel to provide recommendations on improving the oversight and delivery of apprenticeship training and certification and ensuring the skilled trades sector is more responsive to the province’s changing economy.

The first phase of the panel’s work, from September to December 2020, focused on a new service delivery model to replace the services delivered by the Ontario College of Trades. This work is complete, and the panel’s recommendations can be found on ontario.ca.

The government then introduced a new legislative framework, Building Opportunities in the Skilled Trades Act, 2021, informed by the panel’s Phase 1 recommendations.  When the legislation was passed and fully proclaimed, it replaced the Modernizing the Skilled Trades and Apprenticeship Act, 2019 and the Ontario College of Trades and Apprenticeship Act, 2009, becoming the new legislative framework for skilled trades and apprenticeship.

Recommendations were informed by consultations with the public and industry stakeholders who provided advice on the path forward for the skilled trades and apprenticeship system. The panel engaged a broad range of stakeholders, including apprentices, tradespersons, employers, training delivery agents, unions, businesses, associations, and organizations from each of the four trade sectors.

The panel received approximately 70 written submissions and held over 20 virtual meetings with stakeholders. The panel carefully considered each submission and the included advice. The ministry released the panel’s report, which includes its Phase 1 recommendations, on ontario.ca.

The ministry is taking a thoughtful and measured approach to the transition to Skilled Trades Ontario.

The ministry will continue to co-deliver existing apprenticeship services until the agency has reached a mature state.

The ministry continues to handle apprenticeship registration while the Skilled Trades Ontario is responsible for certification until it reaches a mature state and is able to assume responsibility for the delivery of apprenticeship registration.

Skilled Trades Ontario is responsible for the apprenticeship program standards development.