Ontario high school students will soon be able to spend most of their time in grades 11 and 12 on apprenticeships if they choose to enroll in a new program to train in skilled trades.

Education Minister Stephen Lecce said last year that the government would move in this direction, and today he and Labour Minister David Piccini unveiled details.

The province is creating a new track within the Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program that will allow students in grades 11 and 12 to spend 80 per cent of their time in co-curricular courses aimed at learning skilled trades.

Lecce added that students will still be required to take math and English classes.

The new track will begin in September 2025.

Piccini says the province will need 500,000 skilled workers over the next decade to meet critical infrastructure needs.

Yuri B