Sponsor apprentices at your agency
What sponsoring costs, what it pays back, and the Skilled Trades Ontario steps from sponsor agreement to certificate.
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The business case for sponsoring
What sponsoring apprentices does for recruitment, retention and quality of support, and the Ontario incentive that pays your agency to do it.
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Costs, grants and staffing
How long it takes, what the agency pays and does not pay, the Achievement Incentive milestones, and the staffing question agencies raise most.
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How to sponsor and register an apprentice
Five steps from becoming an approved Skilled Trades Ontario sponsor to your apprentice's certificate, with the forms and contacts for each.
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Your responsibilities as sponsor
The four things Skilled Trades Ontario expects of a sponsoring employer, and who in your agency does each one.
Not sure what a word means? See the glossary of terms.
The pathway at a glance
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Register
- Check you qualify: 16 or older, Canadian citizen or permanent resident (work visas are not eligible), OSSD, GED or equivalent
- Your agency signs a Sponsor Agreement with Skilled Trades Ontario
- You apply on the Skilled Trades Ontario portal
- You and your sponsor sign the Training Agreement; STO registers it
- Download your Training Standard logbook
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Train
- 3,720 hours on the job, with your trainer signing off each skill set
- 780 hours of in-class courses at one of four colleges, usually one or two a semester
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Finish
- Logbook signed off and schooling complete
- You and your sponsor sign the Completion Form
- Skilled Trades Ontario mails your Certificate of Apprenticeship
- Optional: bridge to the DSW diploma at your college
Drawn against the Skilled Trades Ontario process in force since 2 April 2025.
Questions employers ask
How long will the program take?
Apprentices must complete 3,720 on-the-job hours, and the hours they already work for you count, so there is no separate on-the-job requirement to schedule around. The schooling portion usually takes about three years, and between two and four depending on how many courses the employee takes each semester. Most take one or two, in the fall, winter and summer semesters.
What is the financial responsibility of the employer?
Employees typically pay for their own courses. There is no fee to the employer, though the trainer's time and cover for class days are real costs. Employees are not paid by the employer for their time in class. Any incremental costs, such as backfilling a shift or offering tuition reimbursement, are determined by your agency.
Are there grants to support employers?
Yes. The Achievement Incentive pays the sponsor $1,000 when a DSW apprentice is certified. If the apprentice is under 25, there is $1,000 more at registration and again at certification. The same extras apply if they are from an under-represented group. Amounts and eligibility rules change, so check the current details on ontario.ca.
What are the requirements to be an apprentice?
The person must be at least 16 and a Canadian citizen or permanent resident. They must hold an Ontario Secondary School Diploma, GED or equivalent. They need a sponsor in Ontario, which is your agency. Employees on work visas are not eligible. Applicants aged 16 or 17 apply on paper with a parent or guardian's signature.
How is the program delivered?
Coursework is offered through four partner colleges, each with its own format.
- Fanshawe College: all classes online over Zoom, typically one day a week from 8am to 4pm. Contact Holly Duff, hduff@fanshawec.ca.
- St. Clair College: in-person day classes scheduled through the week. Contact Kim Smart, ksmart@stclaircollege.ca.
- Loyalist College: online. Contact onlineapprentice@loyalistcollege.com.
- Georgian College: in-person day classes scheduled through the week. Contact Alison Bates, alison.bates@georgiancollege.ca.
If I have questions, who do I ask?
Contact Skilled Trades Ontario. Phone 1-855-299-0028, toll-free in Ontario, or use the contact form.