Aviation and aerospace

Overview

The ever-changing nature of aviation and aerospace, the complexity of supply chain dynamics and the accelerated pace of change in the aerospace sector provide a variety of career opportunities for Ontario students.

The Specialist High Skills Major in Aviation and Aerospace (SHSM–Aviation and Aerospace) helps students to 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 aviation and aerospace 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–Aviation and Aerospace can focus on a specific area (for example, aircraft maintenance and engineering, flight operations and air traffic control, aerospace design and manufacturing, avionics and systems technology or airport services and logistics) 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–Aviation and Aerospace 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 aviation and aerospace-specific knowledge and skills.

These 4 credits:

• can be any combination of Grade 11 and Grade 12 credits
• may include up to 3 aviation and aerospace-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 aviation and aerospace 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.

These 3 credits 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 aviation and aerospace-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 aviation and aerospace 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 aviation and aerospace SHSM provide students with real learning experiences in an aviation and aerospace workplace setting. This lets students refine, extend, apply and practice:

• knowledge and skills they learned in the cooperative education curriculum
• aviation and aerospace sector-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 aviation and aerospace 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 4 of the following electives:

• advanced training in a technique
• advanced training in a technology
• anti-oppression and allyship training
• basic electrical safety
• compass/map/global positioning system (GPS)
• computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM)
• confined space awareness
• customer service
• elevated work platforms
• environmental compliance
• environmental spill
• ergonomics
• fall protection
• fire safety and fire extinguisher use
• first aid/CPR/AED awareness
• health and safety – basic
• infection control
• leadership skills
• lockout/tagging
• portfolio development
• project management
• propane safety
• sector-specific vehicle operation and safety
• transit security
• 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 aviation and aerospace sector might include instances where an SHSM student:

• observes a co-op student one-on-one at a placement in the aviation and aerospace sector (an example of job twinning)
• observes an aviation and aerospace sector worker (such as turbine engine technician) for a day (an example of job shadowing)
• has a 1- or 2-week work experience with a member of an industry association or a professional in the aviation and aerospace sector such as aircraft maintenance engineer) (an example of work experience)
• goes to an aviation and aerospace sector trade show, conference, symposium or job fair
• participates in a local, provincial or national contest or competition with a focus on aviation and aerospace
• tours of a local aviation museum, air force base, airport or manufacturing facility

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

Reach ahead experiences

The SHSM-Aviation and Aerospace 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 aviation and aerospace sector
• college: interviewing a college student enrolled in an aviation and aerospace-specific program
• university: observing a university class in an aviation and aerospace-related program
• workplace: interviewing an employee in the aviation and aerospace sector 

Learn more about reach ahead experiences.

Sector-partnered experiences (SPEs)

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

Learn more about SPEs in SHSM programs.

Careers in the aviation and aerospace sector

These are examples of careers in the aviation and aerospace sector, sorted by the type of postsecondary education or training the careers usually require. Many of the careers listed below can be obtained by following several different pathways. For example, "air pilot" appears under the college pathway but may also be achieved by following the university or workplace pathway.

Information and resources

Partnership opportunities

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

The SHSM model

This SHSM’s requirements are unique and geared to the aviation and aerospace 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