Finishing and getting your Certificate of Apprenticeship

You are ready to finish when two things are done. Your trainer has signed off every skill set in your Training Standard logbook. You have completed all 780 hours of in-class training. Then you close the program out with Skilled Trades Ontario.

The four closing steps

1. Check your records are complete. Your logbook is signed off, and you have received your Notice of completion of schooling requirements.
2. Submit the Apprenticeship Completion Form. You and your sponsor both sign it. Download it from Skilled Trades Ontario and submit it by email or mail. Call 1-855-299-0028 for secure email instructions, or post it to Skilled Trades Ontario, PO Box 2354 RPO SQ1 Shoppers, Mississauga ON L5B 3C8. Keep proof of your hours in case you are asked for it.
3. Skilled Trades Ontario reviews it to confirm the program is complete.
4. Your Certificate of Apprenticeship arrives by mail.

What the certificate is

The Certificate of Apprenticeship is the highest certification in this trade. Developmental Services Worker has no certifying exam, so Skilled Trades Ontario does not issue a Certificate of Qualification for it. There is no exam to write. Because the trade is not compulsory, your name does not appear on the public register, which is normal.

Money on completion

The Apprenticeship Completion Bonus pays $2,000, one time and taxable, to apprentices who complete the highest certification in a non-Red-Seal trade. DSW qualifies. Apply within 180 days of your certificate being issued. Your sponsor may also be eligible for the Achievement Incentive when you are certified.

What comes next

Some apprentices bridge to the full DSW diploma. Much of your coursework already counts. See Bridging to the DSW diploma.