Specialist High Skills Major

Students hiking in the Ganaraska Forest
A group of kids cross-country skiing

Nurtured Skills & Attitudes

The GFC is a longstanding provider of exceptional certification programs for the Specialist High Skills Major (SHSM) program.

We recognize that the future workforce of our province requires the skills and attitudes nurtured by the SHSM program, and we are very excited to deliver hands-on and experiential programs that bring these skills and attitudes to life. We also broaden your students’ understanding of the opportunities in their economic sector by drawing upon the expertise of the varying specialists in our Conservation Authority.

Whether you would like to visit us for the day or to complete extensive training in an overnight program, join us for SHSM training experiences that are unlike any others that are offered in the province.

We Can Visit You or Go Virtual Too!

We appreciate that it is not always possible to visit us at our outdoor education centre.

If this includes you, please consider the next best SHSM training opportunity. We are pleased to take a number of our most popular certifications on the road to visit you in your schoolyard. All the exceptional experiential training from the ease and comfort outside your school’s back door.

Alternatively, we have also adapted some of our SHSM certifications for an engaging virtual delivery. Students access the synchronous program from their devices at school or at home, and are led through a variety of games and challenges to enliven the content and develop their skills. We have heard from teachers that this is the first time that they have seen and/or heard from many of their virtual students!

GFC Offered Certifications & Experiences

The GFC offers more than 20 certifications for the SHSM Program.

We are also prepared to offer sector-partnered experiences such as ICE. If you have an idea for a certification that you do not see listed in our programs, please contact us so that we can discuss whether we can bring your idea to life!