Transportation
Get a jump-start on your career
A Specialist High Skills Major allows you to focus on a career area that interests you while you earn your high school diploma. No matter what education you plan to pursue after high school—apprenticeship, college, university or workplace training—a transportation major can help you focus on a future career.
Profile of the transportation sector
Transportation affects our lives in a multitude of ways. We drive cars for everyday purposes, use mass transit to commute to work, and take flights and cruises on holidays. Transportation systems move raw materials to manufacturers and finished products to consumers – locally, nationally, and globally.
In addition to being essential to our daily lives, transportation and transportation systems are an important area of employment in our economy. Transport Canada’s Transportation in Canada 2008 reports that the industry provided work for approximately 900,000 people in 2008 and that employment in this sector has grown steadily since 2000, reflecting a high demand for qualified personnel.
The transportation major provides students with a strong foundation for a wide variety of careers in the transportation sector, from those focusing on the service, repair, and modification of vehicles and vehicle systems to those related to the organization and management of transportation services and mass-transit systems. Depending on local circumstances, this SHSM may be designed to have a particular focus.
A Specialist High Skills Major in transportation offers:
- high school courses in grade 11 and 12 tailored to the career you want to pursue
- the chance to work with industry leaders and experience cutting-edge training in transportation
- experience working in the sector you're interested in, while you're still in high school
- skills and work habits that are required in the transportation sector, using tools connected with the Ontario Skills Passport
- recognition on your high school diploma
The transportation major includes the following five components:
- A bundle of nine grade 11 and 12 credits that comprise of:
- four transportation major credits
- three other required credits from the Ontario curriculum, in English, mathematics, and science or business studies
- two co-operative education credits tied to the sector
- Seven sector-recognized certifications and/or training courses/programs (four compulsory and a choice of three electives)
- Experiential learning and career exploration activities within the sector
- Reach ahead experiences connected with the student’s postsecondary plans
- Development of Essential Skills and work habits required in the sector, and documentation of them using the OSP
Sector-recognized certification and training
As part of the transportation major, you will earn seven certifications, including the following four that are compulsory:
- Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) Level A
- health and safety - basic
- generic instruction about the Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS)
- standard first aid
Future career paths for transportation majors
For transportation majors, possible careers include:
- apprenticeship – auto body repairer, automotive service technician, motorcycle technician, truck and coach technician
- college – automobile production manager, industrial designer, small engine mechanic, transportation manager
- university – aerospace engineer, automotive engineer, electrical engineer, mechanical engineer
- entry level workplace – pilot, aircraft assembler, airline sales and service agent, bus driver, transit operator, small business manager
Get more information
Call the guidance department at the following schools that offer the program: