Calendar
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.
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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 |
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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 | ||||
| Culinary Arts |
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| TV & Video Production | 2024 Scope | |||
| Welding |
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
