Qualifying Competitions

2025 Skills Ontario Qualifying Competitions: April 5th, 2024.

Prior to the provincial-level competition, we host Skills Ontario Qualifying Competitions for four select secondary contests (Culinary, Carpentry Individual, TV Video (team of two), and Welding) that students must participate in first to determine who will continue to the provincial level.

If you have any questions, please email competitions@skillsontario.com. For latest developments, follow us on Twitter at @skillsontario.

Overview

Locations

Scopes

FAQ

Results

 


Overview

Four of the secondary contests held at the Skills Ontario Competition are so in demand for spaces that Skills Ontario holds Qualifying Competitions to ensure that the most prepared and skilled students ultimately compete at the provincial competition. Secondary school competitors in the following four contests must first compete at a Qualifying Competition:

  • Carpentry Individual
  • Culinary Arts
  • TV & Video Production - Team of 2
  • Welding 

 The Qualifying competition is only for these four contests, and only at the secondary level.

 

How it Works

Students who are interested in competing at the Skills Ontario Competition must follow certain steps to be able to participate:

1. Let your instructor know you're interested. They'll be able to pass along your request to your school board/college/training delivery agent's designated contact person who will then let you know the process specific to your institution.

Note: You can not register directly for the Skills Ontario Competition, it must be done through your institution's contact person. See the "Registration" section of this website for more information.

2. Regional/Institutional Competition. Some insitutions host their own internal competition to determine who will be selected to represent them, while some will allow competitors to move directly to the Qualifying or Provincial competition. Your instructor will let you know if there is a regional competition for your institution.

3. Register by entering your information and submitting your signed informed consent form. Students that have been selected to represent their institution, either through a regional competition or by direct entry, must register and submit their informed consent form to Skills Ontario. Your instructor or your institution's contact person will explain the steps to register yourself.

4. Qualifying Competition. Four secondary level contests (Carpentry, Culinary Arts, TV & Video Production, Welding) require students to participate in qualifying competitions that are held at 7 colleges across Ontario. Students will compete against the best students in their region to determine who will advance to the Provincial competition.

5. Provincial Competition. Students from across the province attend the Skills Ontario Competition at the Toronto Congress Centre.

6. National Competition. For certain contest (see the table in the "Contest List" section), the gold medal winners from the Provincial Competition will be invited to represent Ontario at the National level.

7. World Competition. Skills Canada leads a selection process to determine who will represent the country at the international level.

You can also refer to the flow chart here for more information.

 


Locations

Qualifying Competitions are hosted by colleges across the province. To find out where you will be competing, please refer to the table below. Click on the name of the college to access a location specific information package. The packages provide directions, maps, information on meals, agendas, accommodations and advancement.

 

School Board
Qualifying Location
Algoma District School Board Canadore College
Algonquin and Lakeshore Catholic District School Board St. Lawrence College
Avon Maitland District School Board Fanshawe College
Bluewater District School Board Georgian College
Brant Haldimand-Norfolk Catholic District School Board Niagara College
Bruce-Grey Catholic District School Board Georgian College
Catholic District School Board of Eastern Ontario St. Lawrence College
Conseil scolaire catholique de district des Grand Rivières Canadore College
Conseil scolaire catholique MonAvenir Niagara College / Georgian College
Conseil des écoles catholiques du Centre-Est St. Lawrence College
Conseil scolaire de district catholique de l’Est ontarien St. Lawrence College
Conseil scolaire catholique du Nouvel-Ontario Canadore College
Conseil scolaire de district catholique des Aurores boréales Confederation College
Conseil scolaire de district catholique Franco-Nord Canadore College
Conseil des écoles publiques de l'Est de l'Ontario St. Lawrence College
Conseil scolaire catholique Providence Fanshawe College

Conseil scolaire public du Grand Nord de l'Ontario

Canadore College
Conseil scolaire public du Nord-Est de l'Ontario Canadore College
Conseil scolaire Viamonde Niagara College
District School Board of Niagara Niagara College
District School Board of Ontario North East Canadore College
Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board Niagara College
Durham Catholic District School Board Humber College
Durham District School Board Humber College
Grand Erie District School Board Niagara College
Greater Essex County District School Board Fanshawe College
Halton Catholic District School Board Niagara College
Halton District School Board Niagara College
Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board Niagara College
Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board Niagara College
Hastings and Prince Edward District School Board St. Lawrence College
Huron Perth Catholic District School Board Fanshawe College
Huron-Superior Catholic District School Board Canadore College
Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board Georgian College
Keewatin-Patricia District School Board Confederation College
Kenora Catholic District School Board Confederation College
Lakehead Public Schools Confederation College
Lambton Kent District School Board Fanshawe College
Limestone District School Board St. Lawrence College
London District Catholic School Board Fanshawe College
Near North District School Board Canadore College
Niagara Catholic District School Board Niagara College
Nipissing-Parry Sound Catholic District School Board Canadore College
Northeastern Catholic District School Board Canadore College
Northwest Catholic District School Board Confederation College
Ottawa Catholic School Board St. Lawrence College
Ottawa-Carleton District School Board St. Lawrence College
Peel District School Board Humber College
Peterborough Victoria Northumberland and Clarington Catholic District School Board Georgian College
Rainbow District School Board Canadore College
Rainy River District School Board Confederation College
Renfrew County Catholic District School Board St. Lawrence College
Renfrew County District School Board St. Lawrence College
Simcoe County District School Board Georgian College
Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board Georgian College
St. Clair Catholic District School Board Fanshawe College
Sudbury Catholic District School Board Canadore College
Superior North Catholic District School Board Confederation College
Superior-Greenstone District School Board Confederation College
Thames Valley District School Board Fanshawe College
Thunder Bay Catholic District School Board Confederation College
Toronto Catholic District School Board Humber College
Toronto District School Board Humber College
Trillium Lakelands District School Board Georgian College
Upper Canada District School Board St. Lawrence College
Upper Grand District School Board Georgian College
Waterloo Catholic District School Board Fanshawe College
Waterloo Region District School Board Fanshawe College
Wellington Catholic District School Board Georgian College
Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board Fanshawe College
York Catholic District School Board Humber College
York Region District School Board Humber College

Scopes

Contest scopes are provided to give teachers and competitors an outline of what each specific contest entails. All scopes for the current competition year should be posted before the end of January, but if the scope you are looking for is not posted yet, you may review past scopes to get an idea of what each contest entails.

The Qualifying Competition scopes are different from the Skills Ontario Competition level scopes, so you must use these Qualifying scopes to prepare for the qualifying level and, should you advance from the Qualifying Competitions to the Skills Ontario Competition, you will then need to review the Skills Ontario Competition level scope for your contest.

Scopes are the main resource required to prepare for your contest, so it is very important that you review your contest scope carefully in advance of the competition.

Please take note of the “Last Updated” date to ensure you have reviewed the most recent version of the scope.

Contest
Document(s) Last Updated Past Scopes Sponsors
Carpentry - Individual     2024 Scope  
Culinary Arts

 

 

 2024 Scope

 

 
TV & Video Production     2024 Scope  
Welding     2024 Scope  

 


FAQ

What is a Qualifying Competition?
In order to compete at the Skills Ontario Competition in any one of the four most popular secondary level contests (Carpentry-Individual, Culinary Arts, TV & Video Production - Team of 2, or Welding), competitors must first qualify at the Qualifying Competition. The competition can be intense as students from multiple school boards compete against each other at provincial standards. Only the top competitors advance in the above-listed four competitions.

What is involved in the contest?
The projects that competitors must complete at the Qualifying Contests take a full day and test similar skills to the projects at the Skills Ontario Competition. The scopes, projects, judging criteria and score sheets for each contest are created by Qualifying Technical Committees consisting of one representative from each host college and the corresponding Skills Ontario Competition contest Technical Committee Chair. The criteria and standards created by the Qualifying Technical Committees are used at all Qualifying Competition locations to maintain consistency across the province

How should I prepare for my Qualifying Competition?
• Ensure that you are registered. Competitors’ spaces are reserved at the school board level.
• Review the Scope (a document that provides all the details on each contest). Scopes become available in January and are subject to change up to one month before the competition date.
• Ensure that you pack all necessary safety equipment and tools.

Where can I get more information?

Please read the Skills Ontario Competition page for complete details about the rules for the Qualifying Competition including maximum allowable number of participants from each board, eligibility for advancement to the Skills Ontario Competition, reservation/registration and payment.

If you require any additional information please contact the Competitions Department at competitions@skillsontario.com

 


Results

 2023

 2024