Specialist High Skills Major

Specialist High Skills Major

The SHSM is a program that provides students in secondary school an opportunity to focus on a specific sector and gain valuable experiences while meeting the requirements of the OSSD (Ontario Secondary School Diploma).

Students develop skills for their future careers, graduate high school with industry certifications and training and earn an SHSM seal on their high school diploma.

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What Is SHSM?

The Specialist High Skills Major (SHSM) is a specialized high school program in Ontario that allows students to focus their learning on a specific economic sector while earning their Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD).

This program offers Toronto District School Board (TDSB) students in Grades 11 and 12 the opportunity to explore a specific area or career of interest and to acquire the skills and experience that will assist them in their post-secondary pathway:

  • Apprenticeship training
  • College
  • University
  • Workplace

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Upon completion, students receive a high school diploma with an SHSM seal and formal recognition on their Ontario Student Transcript.


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The 5 Components of SHSM

#1 BUNDLE OF CREDITS

Students complete a specific bundle of 8-10 courses related to their chosen field consisting of:

  • Four major credits.
  • Two to four other required credits.
  • A minimum of two required cooperative education credits

 

#2 CERTIFICATIONS

They earn Compulsory and Elective certifications connected to the industry: Compulsory certifications or training courses (e.g., Standard First Aid, CPR level C). Elective certifications and/or training courses, which are selected from a list provided by the Ministry of Education for each sector.

 

#3 CAREER EXPLORATION

Students learn about careers in specific economic sectors. Experiential learning and career exploration activities allow students to explore, observe, participate in and reflect on a variety of industry sector experiences and careers. These activities enable students enrolled in the SHSM program to learn about the opportunities available to them in careers that interest them (i.e., Skills Canada competition, job shadowing and career fair/panel conference).

#4 REACH AHEAD EXPERIENCES

These are learning experiences that are connected with the student’s post-secondary plan (i.e., attending a conference/workshop, touring a post-secondary institution, completing a Dual Credit course, etc.).

 

#5 SECTOR POWERED EXPERIENCES (SPE)

SPE activities are experiential activities co-delivered with a sector partner. They provide students with the opportunity to gain insight into the relationship between their sector program and how the following are used within the sector:

  • Mathematical Literacy
  • Contextualized Coding
  • ICE (Innovation, Creativity and Entrepreneurship)

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