Specialist High Skills Major
	What Is a Specialist High Skills Major in Manufacturing? A SHSM in Manufacturing enables students to customize their high school experience to suit their interests and talents, to meet the requirements of the Ontario Secondary School Diploma, and to prepare for a successful postsecondary transition to apprenticeship training, college, university, or employment in the manufacturing sector. A SHSM enables students to gain sector-identified preparatory skills and knowledge and to make informed career decisions.
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Advantages of earning a Specialist High Skills Major – Manufacturing

Students in the Specialist High Skills Major – Manufacturing have opportunities to:
• customize their secondary school education to suit their interests and talents;
• select a bundle of 10 required credits identified in a provincial framework focused on sector-specific knowledge and skills:
  • valued by the manufacturing sector and postsecondary educational institutions;
  • planned in a pathway that starts in Grade 10 and leads to a specific destination;
  • designed with flexibility to shift between destinations (e.g., switch from a pathway leading to college to an apprenticeship pathway) or discontinue the SHSM specialization should career plans change in Grades 11 or 12;
  • documented to provide evidence of achievement for prospective employers (e.g., sector recognized certifications, essential skills and work habits) and postsecondary educational institutions (e.g., credits);
• explore, identify, and refine career goals;
• make informed decisions regarding postsecondary destinations;
• reach ahead to have experiences in postsecondary destinations by, for example, earning ministry-approved dual credits for college and/or university courses and/or participating in Level 1 Apprenticeship in-school training; and
• access resources, equipment, and expertise that may not be available in their secondary school. The SHSM provides a student with the opportunity to earn sector-recognized knowledge and skills while earning the OSSD. The SHSM documentation identifies relevant information (e.g., sector recognized certifications) for prospective employers and postsecondary education institutions. The SHSM’s sector-specific skills and knowledge, as well as workplace experience, prepares students