Career and Work Education (CWE) programs offer a range of opportunities to students with varying skills and abilities. The following programs provide students with an opportunity to blend theoretical and practical experience both in the classroom and at a work site other than the classroom. For more information, visit our
frequently asked questions page.
Key stakeholders in CWE programs are the school, home and community. The concept of partnership is key to the success of these programs. We have teachers in career facilitation roles in all our collegiates. We are proud of what is happening in our schools to focus on career education and life-path planning.
Career and Work Exploration (CWE 10, 20, 30)
Career and Work Exploration (CWE) 10, 20, 30 is a non-pre-requisite series of courses blending theory-based and experiential learning components in a career development continuum of awareness, exploration and experience. Students access the community as a learning environment, thereby enhancing their opportunities for career life success.
The curriculum promotes career planning and decision-making. The curriculum is not intended to force students to make premature choices but to help students expand their occupational awareness and relate their educational choices to career development, while keeping a wide variety of transition pathways open for consideration. All collegiates offer configurations of CWE in the school year, including CWE 10, 10/20, A30 and A30/B30, as well as integrated options in semestered, quartered and individually paced formats.
Academic Research/Work Placement Program (CWE A30)
This one-credit (CWE A30) option involves students from an academic stream and/or those with specialized skills. Students are usually integrated within the regular two-credit (CWE A30/B30) program. The Academic Research/Work Placement program culminates in a 10-week (two hours each afternoon) academic research/work experience at the University of Saskatchewan, where students work alongside professors, researchers and scientists, assisting them with research in fields that the students may be interested in pursuing as a future career.
High School Carpentry Apprenticeship Program (Integrated CWE A30/B30)
The High School Carpentry Apprenticeship Program (HCAP) is run exclusively out of Mount Royal Collegiate. While HCAP is based at Mount Royal, all students in Saskatoon Public Schools are welcome to apply. Through HCAP, students earn six high school credits: Apprenticeship Math 20, Career and Work Exploration 30A and 30B, Entrepreneurship 30, Housing 30, and Practical and Applied Arts 30. Students also have the opportunity to earn two more post-secondary (SIAST) credits. HCAP allows students to be certified in the five following areas: CPR/First Aid, Powder-Actuated Tools, ICF (Insulated Concrete Forming system), WHMIS and CSTS (Construction Safety Training System).
To date, students have had the opportunity to pour basement walls and slab, as well as finish a house to the dry-wall stage. They have also participated in community projects, such as building a skating rink at a local school and helping Habitat For Humanity prepare their new Restore building. There have been many other successful experiences; for example, one of our students became the first high school student to successfully challenge the first-year apprenticeship exam.
Alternative Education CWE Opportunity (Alternative Education Collegiate Program)
The Alternative Education program provides students with an opportunity to gain valuable work experience at the 18, 28 and 38 level. At the 18 level students are introduced to the basic work habits and skills required for the world of work through group participation in volunteer work experiences in both the school and community. As students progress to the 28/38 level, individual work placements may be arranged. The ultimate goal of the program is to refine the student's personal and work skills to the point where, upon graduation, they are able to succeed in an entry-level job in the community. Alternative Education programs are currently offered at Bedford Road, Marion M. Graham, Mount Royal and Walter Murray collegiates.
Saskatchewan Youth Apprenticeship (SYA)
The Saskatchewan Youth Apprenticeship (SYA) program introduces students to the apprenticeship and trade certification process as they explore the world of opportunities and rewards that come with working in the skilled trades. Students must be at least 15 years of age and registered in a CWE 10/20/30 course, a trade-related practical and applied arts course or another locally developed trade-related course. The three levels of challenges, which can be completed in grades 10, 11 and 12, are recorded in the SYA Passport upon completion. This program follows Saskatchewan Apprenticeship and Trade Certification Commission (SATCC) provincial apprenticeship guidelines, allowing students registered in SYA to accumulate 100 hours of trade time credit for every SYA level completed, which can then be applied to a formal apprenticeship.
Apprenticeship Credits
Saskatoon Public Schools recognize up to four apprenticeship credits (AP 20A/B, AP 30A/B) per student for out-of-school initiatives on the basis of trade-related work proposed and completed by an individual student. The student must be employed in an approved apprenticeship in one of the designated trades and under the supervision of a journeyperson, and must complete a minimum of 100 hours of trade-related work per credit. Prior to beginning the work for credit(s), the student must submit an Apprenticeship Credit proposal by completing the application package and be approved by the school's principal, the employer and the supervising teacher.
Learn More
For more information about Saskatoon Public Schools Career and Work Education programs, please contact the Career and Work Education coordinator by email at
cwe@spsd.sk.ca or by phone at 306-683-7541, or a specific school regarding programs offered at that site.
