The business case for sponsoring

The DSW apprenticeship lets a member of your staff earn the Developmental Services Worker credential while they keep working for you. Of the 4,500-hour program, 3,720 hours are paid on-the-job experience, and those are hours they are already working. The other 780 hours are college courses, usually one day a week or in the evening.

What your agency gets

• A way to attract staff. Offering an apprenticeship is a recruiting message: join us and we will help you become certified.
• A skilled future workforce. The training is aligned with the provincial Training Standard, so the skills you get are the ones the sector has agreed matter.
• Better retention. Training can help keep staff, because they see a path to grow with you.
• Immediate benefit. Apprentices apply what they learn in the lives of the people you support as they learn it, not after.
• A recognised credential. Skilled Trades Ontario issues the Certificate of Apprenticeship. Apprentices can then ask a college about bridging to the full DSW diploma, which takes more courses and possibly a placement.

What it costs you

There is no fee to the employer. Apprentices typically pay their own course fees, which the colleges put at roughly $2,000 over the whole program. You do not have to pay for class time. The "cost" is the possible backfill coordination needed when the apprentice is in class. Any extras, such as reimbursing tuition, are your agency's decision.

What Ontario pays you

The Achievement Incentive pays the sponsor $1,000 when a DSW apprentice is certified. There are extra payments at registration and at certification if the apprentice is under 25 or from an under-represented group. It is a modest amount. The grant helps, but most agencies see more value in recruitment, retention and the quality of support. See Costs, grants and staffing for the details.

The commitment

Sponsoring means five things:

• Sign a Sponsor Agreement with Skilled Trades Ontario.
• Register a Training Agreement with each apprentice.
• Name a trainer in your workplace who signs off their skills. This is usually the apprentice's supervisor.
• Make sure the apprentice can attend their classes.
• Tell Skilled Trades Ontario if anything changes.

How to sponsor and register an apprentice walks through it step by step.

Share this with your agency

The download on this page is a one-page overview you can put your own agency's name and logo on.