Environment

Overview

The Specialist High Skills Major in Environment (SHSM–Environment) 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 environment 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–Environment can focus on a specific area (for example, environmental science or environmental studies) 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–Environment 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 environment-specific knowledge and skills.

These 4 credits:

• can be any combination of Grade 11 and Grade 12 credits
• may include up to 3 environment-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 environment 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:

• two English credit (a compulsory English credit is required in Grade 11 and Grade 12 to graduate)
• one mathematics credit

Your school may commit to including a contextualized learning activity (CLA) for the environment 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 environment SHSM provide students with real learning experiences in a environment workplace setting. This lets students refine, extend, apply and practice:

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

Certifications and training

Students must complete 4 compulsory and 3 elective certifications and/or training courses/programs that are recognized by the environment sector.

Compulsory certifications and training

Students must complete:

• Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) Level C — includes automated external defibrillation (AED)
• compass/map/global positioning system (GPS)
• 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 knots techniques)
• animal and plant management
• approaches to healing
• Below Zero
• customer service
• fire safety and fire extinguisher use
• geographic information system (GIS)
• Hike Ontario
• introduction to stream assessment protocol
• land and forest survey skills
• Leave No Trace
• Ontario Hunter Education
• Pleasure Craft Operator
• project management
• radio operator
• sector-specific vehicle operation and safety
• search and rescue
• species identification (such as fish, birds, plants, trees, small mammals)
• tourism – basic
• watershed management
• wilderness survival
• advanced training in a technology
• anti-oppression and allyship training
• bear safety
• chainsaw safety
• fall protection
• first aid/CPR/AED awareness
• habitat restoration
• infection control
• ladder safety training
• leadership skills
• life-saving (Bronze Cross or higher)
• paddling techniques
• portfolio development
• Project Wild
• sector specific regulations and legislations
• seed saving
• soil classification and testing
• sustainable resource management planning
• water/ice safety
• wilderness first aid
• 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 environment sector might include instances where an SHSM student:

• observes a co-op student one-on-one at a placement in the environment sector (an example of job twinning)
• shadows an environmental sector worker for a day (an example of job shadowing)
• works with a member of an environment non-governmental organization (NGO) or an employee in the environment sector for 1 or 2 weeks (an example of work experience)
• attends a trade show (such as Toronto Sportsmen's Show or Outdoor Adventure Show), conference or workshop focusing on the environmental sector
• assists with trail maintenance and trail cleanup
• participates in Envirothon

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

Reach ahead experiences

The SHSM-Environment 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 environment sector
• college: interviewing a college student enrolled in an environment-specific program
• university: observing a university class in an environment-related program
• workplace: interviewing an employee in the environment sector

Learn more about reach ahead experiences.

Sector-partnered experiences (SPEs)

Students engage with a sector partner to learn about environment 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 environment sector

These are examples of careers in the environment 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 environment, please contact your school board’s SHSM lead.

The SHSM model

This SHSM’s requirements are unique and geared to the environment 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