SHSM Construction: Trades, Certifications, and Pathways

The construction SHSM is Ontario’s most direct in-school path into the skilled trades. It is the only Specialist High Skills Major sector built end-to-end around apprenticeship, with safety certifications that mirror what the Ministry of Labour requires on real job sites and a co-op structure that plugs straight into the Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program (OYAP).

This guide covers the construction shsm credit bundle, the five compulsory plus two elective certifications, how the program connects to OYAP and Skilled Trades Ontario, the partners that work for Sector-Partnered Experiences (SPE), and how LearnIt helps boards run the sector. For the broader program overview, start with our SHSM requirements guide.

What Is the SHSM Construction Sector?

The SHSM Construction sector is an Ontario Ministry of Education program that lets Grade 11 and 12 students focus their diploma on construction trades. Like every SHSM sector, construction SHSM runs on a structured bundle of credits, sector-recognized certifications, co-op placements, and reach-ahead activities. The construction SHSM requires a 10-credit bundle: 4 major credits, 4 other required credits including English and math, and 2 cooperative education credits. Up to 3 sector-related co-op credits may substitute for major credits, in addition to the 2 mandatory co-op credits, which is the mechanism that makes SHSM and OYAP integration work. Construction SHSM students must also complete 5 compulsory certifications (Intermediate First Aid (formerly Standard First Aid), CPR Level C with AED, WHMIS, basic health and safety, and Working at Heights) plus 2 electives drawn from the Ministry’s construction list. Every graduating student earns an embossed SHSM seal on the Ontario Secondary School Diploma, plus board-delivered certification wallet cards valid from 3 to 5 years depending on the credential.

Source: Ontario Ministry of Education, “Specialist High Skills Major Policy and Implementation Guide – Construction” (updated August 28, 2026; ontario.ca/document/specialist-high-skills-major-shsm-policy-and-implementation-guide/construction). Credit-bundle composition from “Components of an SHSM” (ontario.ca/document/specialist-high-skills-major-shsm-policy-and-implementation-guide/components-shsm).

A new pipeline now feeds the sector: effective with the Grade 9 cohort starting September 2024, every Ontario student must earn a Grade 9 or 10 Technological Education credit to graduate. That requirement expands the pool of Grade 11 students arriving with hands-on shop experience, which is exactly the entry point Construction SHSM coordinators recruit from.

Course Requirements for the Construction Sector

The four major credits are drawn from the Ministry-approved course list maintained annually by school boards. The Ministry does not publish that list publicly. SHSM leads request the current version from their board SHSM lead, and the list shifts year to year by board.

In practice, boards build the four majors out of three discipline areas plus sector-related co-op:

• Construction Technology, the core discipline, covering framing, finishing, electrical, plumbing, and concrete fundamentals
• Custom Woodworking, used by boards that run cabinetmaking or millwork streams
• Technological Design, used in boards offering an architecture or design-and-build focus
• Sector-related cooperative education, which can replace up to 3 of the 4 major credits

Schools structure program variants by weighting these majors differently: residential build leans on Construction Technology, green building pairs it with Technological Design, and architecture-focused programs put Technological Design in the lead. Coordinators should confirm with their board SHSM lead which courses currently qualify, because the same course can move on or off the approved list between school years.

For the cross-sector breakdown of credit bundles and how majors, certifications, co-op, SPE, and reach-ahead fit together, see our SHSM requirements guide.

SHSM Construction Certifications: The Compulsory Five Plus Two Electives

Construction SHSM students must complete seven certifications: five compulsory and two electives, drawn from the Construction sector’s official list. The five compulsory items are Intermediate First Aid, CPR Level C including AED, WHMIS (generic, not site-specific), basic health and safety, and Working at Heights. Substitutions are not permitted and the minimum counts cannot be reduced. The compulsory five reflect what the Ministry of Labour and the Occupational Health and Safety Act expect on every construction site in the province.

Source: Ontario Ministry of Education, “Specialist High Skills Major Policy and Implementation Guide – Construction” (updated August 28, 2026; ontario.ca/document/specialist-high-skills-major-shsm-policy-and-implementation-guide/construction).

First Aid and CPR Level C in construction SHSM are typically delivered by Canadian Red Cross, St. John Ambulance, or Heart and Stroke Foundation instructors. WHMIS is the one cert in the bundle that does not require a certified third-party trainer and is usually teacher-delivered in a single period. Working at Heights is the most logistically loaded of the five: a full-day program with theory and practical components (the Ministry standard sets minimum hours for each), valid for three years, delivered only by a Chief Prevention Officer-approved provider at the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development. Most boards run it through the Infrastructure Health and Safety Association (IHSA), the designated health and safety association for the construction sector under section 22.5 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act. Every certification in construction SHSM maps to a credential an employer or training centre legally expects on a Registered Training Agreement, which is why the sector treats the compulsory five as the minimum viable safety stack.

The two electives are chosen from the construction list. Common options include basic electrical safety, CWB flat welding, confined space awareness, elevated work platforms, fall protection, fire extinguisher use, hoisting and rigging, insulated concrete forming, and lockout/tagging. Boards align elective choices to the variant they offer.

One detail teachers should pass to students before they graduate: Working at Heights records are stored in the MLITSD Prevention Certification Management System, not with the training provider. Students who lose their card later should request a replacement from the Ministry.

For the cross-sector view of how certifications work and how they map to the ICE (Industry Certification or Equivalent) framework, see the SHSM certifications and ICE training guide.

Apprenticeship and Red Seal Pathways

The apprenticeship architecture underneath SHSM Construction changed in 2022. The Building Opportunities in the Skilled Trades Act (BOSTA), 2021 came into force on January 1, 2022 and dissolved the Ontario College of Trades. Its successor, Skilled Trades Ontario (STO), is now the Crown agency that administers apprenticeship registration, Certificates of Qualification, trade equivalency, and (as of April 2, 2025) apprenticeship completion. Compliance and enforcement sits with the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development. Ontario currently recognizes 144 skilled trades, of which roughly two dozen are in the construction sector.

Source: Skilled Trades Ontario, trade information and apprenticeship registration (skilledtradesontario.ca/trade-information). BOSTA effective date and STO mandate from Government of Ontario, “Building Opportunities in the Skilled Trades Act, 2021.”

OYAP is the on-ramp from construction SHSM into apprenticeship. A regular OYAP placement lets students in Grades 11 and 12 explore an apprenticeable trade through a co-op placement. Hours accumulated as an OYAP Participant can later count toward the apprenticeship once the student signs a Registered Training Agreement with Skilled Trades Ontario. Accelerated OYAP, branded OYAP-FAST, lets eligible students earn Level 1 in-school training (the same block delivery adult apprentices receive) through dual credits at a partner college while still in high school. Graduates of OYAP-FAST receive an OYAP-FAST seal on the OSSD, separate from the SHSM red seal, which together signal apprenticeship progress to both post-secondary admissions officers and the employers who sponsor new apprentices.

A registration detail catches coordinators every year: students aged 16 or 17 cannot use the online STO portal. They must submit a paper application by email or mail to Skilled Trades Ontario with parent or guardian signature.

The construction sector splits trades into compulsory (where working without a Certificate of Qualification or Registered Training Agreement is illegal) and voluntary categories. Compulsory examples include Construction and Maintenance Electrician, Plumber, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Mechanic, Sheet Metal Worker, and Mobile Crane Operator. Voluntary examples include General Carpenter, Brick and Stone Mason, Cement Finisher, Ironworker, Painter and Decorator, and Roofer. Apprenticeship hours are set by STO; a representative compulsory trade like Construction and Maintenance Electrician runs about 9,000 hours total (8,160 on-the-job plus 840 in-school), or roughly five years.

For more on what the embossed seal means on the diploma and how apprenticeship completion translates into a Red Seal credential, see our SHSM Red Seal guide.

Experiential Learning and SPE Opportunities

Sector-Partnered Experiences are where Construction coordinators have the most planning latitude and the most logistical friction. The friction comes from one regulation. Under Ontario Regulation 213/91 section 16, a person under 16 cannot be employed in or about, or permitted to be present at, an active construction project. SHSM co-op and SPE placements on live sites therefore require students to be 16 or older, and many cohorts are not. The practical workaround is to anchor SPE around training centres, pre-fab shops, supervised on-school-property builds, and union-operated learning facilities rather than live job sites.

The partner stack that works for most Ontario boards:

• Habitat for Humanity runs the most school-friendly construction programming in the province. Habitat for Humanity Halton-Mississauga-Dufferin runs a Tiny Homes school program where students build 250-square-foot homes for delivery to Indigenous communities, and Habitat for Humanity GTA runs a Youth Leadership Program for 16 to 30 year olds through its ReStores.
• Union training centres host school tours, demonstration events, and OYAP student rotations. The LIUNA Local 183 Training Centre in Vaughan is the largest construction union training facility in North America. The Carpenters’ District Council of Ontario operates training centres in Toronto, Hamilton, London, Ottawa, Sudbury, and Thunder Bay.
• The Level Up! career fair, run by STO with the Ministry of Labour and the Ministry of Education, ran a province-wide 2025-26 tour that STO reports was experienced by nearly 50,000 students, closing at Northern College in Timmins on April 8 to 9, 2026. Level Up! days double as SPE and reach-ahead experiences.
• Construction Training & Apprenticeship Ontario (CTAO) at ctaontario.ca hosts trade-exploration content useful for in-class SPE prep when travel is not possible.

Source: Skilled Trades Ontario, “Level Up! Skilled Trades Career Fair in Timmins, April 8-9” (2026; skilledtradesontario.ca/level-up-skilled-trades-career-fair-in-timmins-april-8-9/). LIUNA Local 183 training-centre size from Government of Ontario news release, “Ontario Investing $26 Million in Skilled Trades Training” (2024).

BuildForce Canada projects roughly 92,500 construction retirements in Ontario over the coming decade (2024 projection), and the province has invested $224 million through the Skills Development Fund Capital Stream to expand training-centre capacity at union partners. Those numbers are the labour-market context coordinators should bring to parent meetings.

How LearnIt Supports Construction SHSM Programs

LearnIt delivers SHSM workshops across 20+ Ontario school boards and ran the on-the-day programming for the Mayor’s Mississauga Building Challenge on May 1, 2026 at the Living Arts Centre. The challenge brought together 100 Grade 10 to 12 students from PDSB, DPCDSB, and Conseil scolaire catholique MonAvenir. Teams of three built scale models of Mississauga buildings and presented them to industry judges in a science-fair format. The day counted toward SHSM requirements for eligible students. LearnIt designed the workshop format and delivered it on-site with the City of Mississauga Mayor’s Office and myBlueprint.

LearnIt was also the Official Media Partner for the Ontario Cooperative Education Association 50th Anniversary Conference in spring 2026, where the Monday keynote came from Candice White, CEO of Skilled Trades Ontario, a useful touchpoint for any board lead connecting Construction SHSM co-op programming with the broader apprenticeship picture.

For the certification side, LearnIt delivers compulsory and elective SHSM workshops alongside ICE-format SPE programming. Facilitators are early-career professionals in their 20s and 30s, intentionally relatable so students see the trades through the eyes of people closer to their own age.

If you are running or planning a Construction SHSM, explore how LearnIt can support your program with certification training, SPE workshops, and student-facing career events.

Key Takeaways

The Construction SHSM is a 10-credit bundle (4 majors, 4 other required, 2 co-op) layered with five compulsory and two elective certifications. The compulsory five are Intermediate First Aid, CPR Level C with AED, WHMIS, basic health and safety, and Working at Heights. The Ministry-approved major course list is held by each board’s SHSM lead and shifts year to year, so confirm before publishing pathway charts.

OYAP is the on-ramp into apprenticeship; OYAP-FAST adds Level 1 in-school training via dual credit and a separate seal on the OSSD. Skilled Trades Ontario has been the apprenticeship registration authority since January 1, 2022, and currently recognizes 144 trades (as of 2026), of which roughly two dozen are construction.

The under-16 site-access rule (Ontario Regulation 213/91 section 16) is the single biggest SPE planning constraint. Habitat builds, training-centre tours, and Level Up! career fairs work for younger cohorts; live sites require students to be 16 or older. With BuildForce projecting roughly 92,500 Ontario construction retirements over the coming decade (2024 projection) and the province investing $224 million in training-centre capacity, the labour-market case for the sector is in front of every coordinator.

For the program overview, start with the SHSM guide. For credit and certification mechanics, see SHSM requirements and SHSM certifications and ICE training. For the apprenticeship credential pathway, see the SHSM Red Seal guide, and for entrance awards, see SHSM scholarships. To compare related sectors, see the ICT SHSM and Business SHSM guides.