How to apply and register with Skilled Trades Ontario

Since 2 April 2025, Skilled Trades Ontario registers apprenticeship Training Agreements, approves sponsors and issues Certificates of Apprenticeship. Older guides that send you to a ministry apprenticeship office are out of date. Everything below goes through Skilled Trades Ontario.

Step 1: Check you qualify

You need to be at least 16, be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, and hold an Ontario Secondary School Diploma, GED or equivalent. People on work visas are not eligible for this program. You also need a sponsor in Ontario. In practice that is an agency that supports people with developmental disabilities, where you work or will work, full-time or part-time.

Step 2: Talk to your agency about sponsoring you

Your sponsor is the agency, or the person at the agency, responsible for your apprenticeship training. They guide you through the application and they sign the Training Agreement with you.

Ask two questions: will the agency sponsor me as an apprentice, and who would be my trainer? Your agency also needs a Sponsor ID from Skilled Trades Ontario. If it has never sponsored an apprentice before, it signs a Sponsor Agreement first. The employer pages on this site explain how.

Step 3: Apply on the Skilled Trades Ontario portal

Enter your information and your sponsor's information on the Skilled Trades Ontario portal. This creates your portal account and submits your Application for Apprenticeship Training. Skilled Trades Ontario reviews it and notifies you and your sponsor when it is approved.

Have ready: proof of age, your Social Insurance Number, and proof of your education.

If you are 16 or 17, you cannot use the online application. Download the paper Application for Apprenticeship Training instead; a parent or guardian signs it with you, and you submit it by email or mail. Skilled Trades Ontario can send secure email instructions at 1-855-299-0028.

Step 4: Sign and register your Training Agreement

Once approved, you and your sponsor sign a Training Agreement through the portal. Skilled Trades Ontario registers it. From that point you are an apprentice, and your on-the-job hours count.

Step 5: Download your logbook and register with your college

Download your Apprenticeship Training Standard logbook from Skilled Trades Ontario. It lists every skill you have to demonstrate, and it is the official record of your progress. Go through it with your trainer early on.

Next, arrange your first course. Skilled Trades Ontario records your college preference. The college coordinator may contact you to register, and you can also contact the college yourself. See In-class training and the four colleges.

Start early

Registration and course scheduling can take time, sometimes up to a year before classes begin. The sooner you start the conversation with your agency, the sooner the hours start counting.