Hospitality and tourism
This guide is for school and school board staff who are planning and delivering SHSM programs.
Overview
The Specialist High Skills Major in Hospitality and Tourism (SHSM–Hospitality and Tourism) 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 hospitality and tourism 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–Hospitality and Tourism can focus on a specific area (for example, tourism or hospitality) 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–Hospitality and Tourism 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 hospitality and tourism-specific knowledge and skills.
These 4 credits:
- can be any combination of Grade 11 and Grade 12 credits
- may include up to 3 hospitality and tourism-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 hospitality and tourism 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 of the following:
- science credit
- business studies credit
- additional major credit
- additional hospitality and tourism-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 hospitality and tourism 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 hospitality and tourism SHSM provide students with real learning experiences in a hospitality and tourism workplace setting. This lets students refine, extend, apply and practise:
- knowledge and skills they learned in the cooperative education curriculum
- hospitality and tourism-specific knowledge and skills learned through their SHSM program
| Credits | Apprenticeship training Grades 11–12 | College Grades 11–12 | University Grades 11–12 | Workplace Grades 11–12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Major credits May include up to 3 co-op credits related to the sector (this is in addition to the 2 required co-op credits) | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| English may include a CLA | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Mathematics may include a CLA | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Business studies or science may include a CLA May be substituted with 1 additional major credit or 1 co-op credit (this is in addition to the 2 required co-op credits) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Cooperative education | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Total number of credits | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 |
Certifications and training
Students must complete 4 compulsory and 2 elective certifications and/or training courses/programs that are recognized by the hospitality and tourism sector.
Compulsory certifications and training
Students must complete:
- Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) Level C — includes automated external defibrillation (AED)
- customer service
- 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 2 of the following electives:
- advanced training in a technique (such as paddling)
- advanced training in a technology
- anti-oppression and allyship training
- cash handling and register training
- compass/map/global positioning system (GPS)
- cook/line cook
- dietary considerations
- event coordination
- fire safety and fire extinguisher use
- first aid/CPR/AED awareness
- fishing guide
- Food Handler Certification
- geographic information system (GIS)
- guest services
- heritage interpreter
- housekeeping services
- infection control
- introduction to hospitality management
- leadership skills
- life-saving (Bronze Cross or higher)
- portfolio development
- project management
- safe food handling – basic
- Smart Serve
- spa etiquette
- spa service
- ticket agent
- tour guide
- tourism – basic
- wilderness first aid
- wilderness survival
Learn more about certification and training in SHSM programs.
Experiential learning and career exploration activities
Experiential learning and career exploration opportunities relevant to the hospitality and tourism sector might include instances where an SHSM student:
- observes a co-op student one-on-one at a placement in the hospitality and tourism sector (an example of job twinning)
- shadows a chef for a day (an example of job shadowing)
- has a placement at a local tourist attraction for 1 or 2 weeks (an example of work experience)
- participates in a local, provincial or national Skills Canada competition
- attends a hospitality sector trade show, conference or job fair
- tours a tourism or hospitality business
- assists a community competition or event
- participates in a wilderness survival camp
Learn more about SHSM program experiential learning and career exploration opportunities.
Reach ahead experiences
The SHSM-Hospitality and Tourism 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 hospitality and tourism sector
- college: interviewing a college student enrolled in a hospitality and tourism-specific program
- university: observing a university class in a hospitality and tourism-related program
- workplace: interviewing an employee in the hospitality and tourism sector
Learn more about reach ahead experiences.
Sector-partnered experiences (SPEs)
Students engage with a sector partner to learn about hospitality and tourism 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 hospitality and tourism sector
These are examples of careers in the hospitality and tourism sector, sorted by the type of postsecondary education or training the careers usually require.
Apprenticeship training
- bakers
- butchers, meat cutters and fishmongers – retail and wholesale
- chefs
- conference and event planners
- cooks
College
- accommodation service managers
- conference and event planners
- food service supervisors
- professional occupations in advertising, marketing and public relations
- restaurant and food service managers
- travel counsellors
University
- biologists and related scientists
- dietitians and nutritionists
- inspectors in public and environmental health and occupational health and safety
- professional occupations in advertising, marketing and public relations
Workplace
- airline ticket and service agents
- executive housekeepers
- food and beverage servers
- food counter attendants, kitchen helpers and related support occupations
- ground and water transport ticket agents, cargo service representatives and related clerks
- hotel front desk clerks
- other customer and information services representatives
- other service support occupations
- pursers and flight attendants
- receptionists
- sales and account representatives – wholesale trade (non-technical)
- theatre, fashion, exhibit and other creative designers
Information and resources
Partnership opportunities
For local labour market opportunities in hospitality and tourism, please contact your school board’s SHSM lead.
The SHSM model
This SHSM’s requirements are unique and geared to the hospitality and tourism 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.