About Trade Smart College.
Trade Smart College: Apprenticeship Pathways is registered as a career college under the Ontario Career Colleges Act, 2005, in Hamilton, Ontario. We exist to give paid work experience before graduation to students who earn it, so they can build trust with employers.
Designed by an educator. Built for the trades.
Our core program, its pedagogy and outcomes were designed by Bruce Arai, PhD, President and Founder of Trade Smart College.
- Leadership Professor, Wilfrid Laurier University. Former Dean, Assistant Provost and Vice-President/Principal at Laurier.
- Created 19 degree programs and the first province-wide college articulation agreements in Ontario, many from trades and technical programs.
- Internationally recognized expert on work, educational design and administration, and the principles of personal performance.
Trades companies only keep employees they trust. Our program teaches students how to build that trust at the depth of a university degree, but aimed at a jobsite instead of a lecture hall.
University-level education in how people should work, matched to what trades companies need on day one. That combination is our program.
College registration & program standards
College and Program Facts
- Credential
- Diploma 1 Ontario Qualifications Framework
- Total Hours
- 1,260 classroom + paid internship
- Classroom
- 8 weeks Mon to Fri · 7:15 AM to 4:05 PM
- Internship
- 950 hours paid by the company partner
- Secondary credential
- Certificate of Trades Proficiency for students who complete the classroom phase but don’t meet the placement standards for an internship
- Pathways
- 144 designated trades in Ontario approved to place students across them
- Start dates
- 6 per year
- Campus
- 1275 Rymal Road East Hamilton, Ontario
- Registration
- Registered as a career college under the Ontario Career Colleges Act, 2005
One conversation can change your direction
Before you decide to apply or not, come have a conversation with us. Bring us your questions about fit, timing, funding, or anything else. We’ll explain what we do, how we do it, and the opportunities available to you. We can help you plan for a particular semester and apply for loans and scholarships for your tuition and living expenses. If applying for a spot at the College seems like the right choice for you, we’ll guide you through that process as well. If not, no harm done, and you’ll have more clarity on what other steps you might consider.