Agriculture

Overview

The Specialist High Skills Major in Agriculture (SHSM–Agriculture) helps students build a foundation of sector-focused knowledge and skills before graduating and entering apprenticeship training, college, university or an entry-level position in the workplace.

This SHSM program has 5 required components: 

• bundle of 9 credits
• certifications and training recognized by the agriculture sector
• experiential learning and career exploration activities
• reach ahead experiences
• sector-partnered experiences (SPEs)

Find a list of some of the careers that this SHSM can lead to.

Variants of this SHSM

The SHSM–Agriculture can focus on a specific area (for example, agricultural equipment or animal and crop science) by varying the mix of its 4 major credits.

Where local circumstances allow, your school board may offer 1 or more variants of this SHSM.

Bundle of 9 credits

The SHSM–Agriculture requires students to complete a bundle of 9 Grade 11 and Grade 12 credits, made up of 4 major credits, 3 other required credits and 2 cooperative education (co-op) credits.

These credits are required for all students, regardless of the pathway a student chooses after graduation:

• apprenticeship training
• college
• university
• the workplace

Four major credits

These credits provide agriculture-specific knowledge and skills.

These 4 credits:

• can be any combination of Grade 11 and Grade 12 credits
• may include up to 3 agriculture-related co-op credits (these are additional to the 2 required co-op credits in the bundle)

We (the Ministry of Education) maintain an SHSM-approved course list for the agriculture sector. Contact the SHSM lead at your school board to get the list.

Three other required credits

These are required credits from the Ontario curriculum.

They must include:

• one English credit (a compulsory English credit is required in Grade 11 and Grade 12 to graduate)
• one mathematics credit
• one:
  • science credit
  • business studies credit
  • Canadian and world studies credit
  • additional major credit
  • additional agriculture-related co-op credit (in addition to the 2 co-op credits required in the bundle)

Your school may commit to including a contextualized learning activity (CLA) for the agriculture sector in each of these 3 credits. If your school offers this, then:

• some of the course expectations for these credits are met through the CLA
• your school decides if the CLA for English is completed in Grade 11 or in Grade 12

Even if your school does not formally commit to including CLAs, it can still offer them in 1 or more of these credits.

Two cooperative education co-op credits

Co-op credits in the agriculture SHSM provide students with real learning experiences in an agriculture workplace setting. This lets students refine, extend, apply and practice:

• knowledge and skills they learned in the cooperative education curriculum
• agriculture-specific knowledge and skills learned through their SHSM program

Certifications and training

Students must complete 3 compulsory and 3 elective certifications and/or training courses/programs that are recognized by the agriculture sector.

Compulsory certifications and training

Students must complete:

• Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) Level C — includes automated external defibrillation (AED)
• Standard First Aid
• Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS) — generic, not site-specific, instruction

These are the proper names of the specific certifications or training courses/programs for this SHSM.

Elective certifications and training

These are names of an area, type or category of training. In these cases, your school board selects the specific certifications or training courses and programs.

Students must complete any 3 of the following electives:

• advanced training in a technique such as specific equipment maintenance, tilling, irrigation
• advanced training in a technology, land and forest survey skills
• animal first aid
• anti-oppression and allyship training
• approaches to healing
• basic electrical safety
• chainsaw safety/compass/map/global positioning system (GPS)
• customer service
• equipment operation safety
• fall protection
• fire safety and fire extinguisher use
• first aid/CPR/AED awareness
• fundamentals of the combine — level 1
• grain grading
• hazardous atmospheres and confined spaces
• health and safety — basic
• herbicide and pesticide
• hydraulics — basic
• infection control
• introduction to pest management
• ladder safety training
• land and forest survey skills
• large animal handling
• leadership skills
• livestock medicine
• livestock production
• lockout/tagging
• nutrient management
• portfolio development
• principles of drainage
• project management
• safe lifting
• sector-specific software 1
• sector-specific sustainability practices
• sector-specific vehicle operation and safety
• seed saving
• small engine maintenance
• soil classification and testing
• sustainable resource management planning
• theory of combine settings and adjustments — level 2
• transgenic plant identification
• vehicle lift safety
• weed and pest identification and management
• working at heights

Learn more about certification and training in SHSM programs.

Experiential learning and career exploration activities

Experiential learning and career exploration opportunities relevant to the agriculture sector might include instances where an SHSM student:

• observes a co-op student one-on-one at a placement in the agriculture sector (an example of job twinning)
• shadows an agriculture skilled tradesperson for a day (an example of job shadowing)
• works with a member of an agriculture industry association or professional for 1 or 2 weeks (an example of work experience)
• grooms an animal (such as a dog, a cow or a horse) for a competition
• cares for and feeds farm animals
• visits a farmers' market or farm machinery supplier

Learn more about SHSM program experiential learning and career exploration opportunities.

Reach ahead experiences

The SHSM-Agriculture must provide students with 1 or more reach ahead experiences. These are opportunities to take the next steps along their chosen pathway – as shown in the following examples:

• apprenticeship: visiting an approved apprenticeship delivery agent in the agriculture sector
• college: interviewing a college student enrolled in an agriculture-specific program
• university: observing a university class in an agriculture-related program
• workplace: interviewing an employee in the agriculture sector

Learn more about reach ahead experiences.

Sector-partnered experiences (SPEs)

Students engage with a sector partner to learn about agriculture and how it connects with ICE (innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship), coding and/or math literacy skills. 

For example, students could visit a dairy farm to learn about and use coding techniques. They could observe how computer-controlled auto-milking devices and biometric tags work.

Learn more about SPEs in SHSM programs.

Careers in the agriculture sector

These are examples of careers in the agriculture sector, sorted by the type of postsecondary education or training the careers usually require.

Information and resources

Partnership opportunities

For local labour market opportunities in agriculture, please contact your school board’s SHSM lead.

The SHSM model

This SHSM’s requirements are unique and geared to the agriculture sector. However, the design of all SHSM programs follows a consistent model with 5 required components.

Find more information about the components of an SHSM.

Resources

Checklist for planning and delivering an SPE