1989 Skills Canada Ontario opens its doors in Barrie, Ontario
1st Skills Canada Competition hosted at Stoney Creek Campus of Mohawk College in Hamilton
1991 2nd Ontario Technological Skills Competition; $5,000 was the highest level of sponsorship
1992 Cardboard Boat Races introduced in Ontario; 3rd Ontario Technological Skills Competition was hosted at the Metro East Trade Centre in Pickering and held on a Friday and a Saturday; Stanley Tools was a $10,000 sponsor
1993 4th Ontario Technological Skills Competition at the Metro East Trade Centre in Pickering in 30 contest areas; Campbell’s Soup sponsored the cardboard boat race
1994 1st Canadian Skills Competition hosted at Copps Coliseum in Hamilton
1995 Ontario Technological Skills Competition is hosted at Copps Coliseum in Hamilton; 20 Canadian Competitors compete at the International Youth Skills Competition in Lyon, France.
Skills Ontario formally incorporated under provincial legislation
1996 Ontario Technological Skills Competition is hosted at Copps Coliseum in Hamilton
1997 Kitchener hosts the Ontario Technological Skills Competition at the Kitchener Auditorium; 39 contest areas; 207 high schools affiliated with Skills Canada – Ontario; Skills Canada - Ontario office is moved to Conestoga College in Kitchener and G. Smyth named Executive Director; the organization has a financial debt of over $375,000
1998 Skills Canada – Ontario introduces in-school presentations in secondary schools (10 presentations were facilitated); Skills Canada becomes a national organization and we officially become Skills Canada – Ontario; Service Canada and MTCU commence financial support
1999 Skills Canada – Ontario hosts the Canadian Skills Competition, the 1st International Selection Competition; the Glenn Beatty Award is introduced; Canada hosts the 35th World Skills Competition in Montreal; adoption of new national Skills Canada logo; Klaus Woerner is the Honourary Chair of both the Ontario Technological Skills Competition and the Canadian Skills Competition
Board of Directors hosts its first strategic planning session and Elementary Technology Day and the first Young Women’s Conference is launched
2000 Partners for Change Award from the Ontario Women’s Directorate for launching a Young Women’s Conference; Skills Work!® License Plate Campaign is launched
2001 Recipient of the 1st Yves Landry Program of the Year Award; Recipient of a Silver Medal, ICON Award for Overall Programming; G. Smyth named National Contributor of the Year; 1st Building Futures, One Dream at a Time, Celebration Gala hosted in Kitchener; Board of Directors 2nd Strategic Planning Session; Apprenticesearch.com Administrator for Kitchener
2002 Ontario Technological Skills Competition moves to RIM Park in Waterloo (due to a municipal strike the move was orchestrated with ten days’ notice); Elementary In-school Presentations are introduced; Teacher/Advisor Conference is launched
2003 Skills Canada – Ontario office moves to 630 Riverbend Drive, Kitchener; Ontario hosts the National Skills Competition; Ontario hosts a Skilled Trade Summit; Ottawa satellite office opens; Skills Work!® Booklet is revised
2004 Domino Effect is introduced as Skills Canada – Ontario 3-year Domino Effect Promotional Campaign; Skills Work!® is trademarked until 2019; Peterborough satellite office opens; awards the Ontario Chamber of Commerce Outstanding Business Achievement Award; stakeholder meetings are introduced; Annual Chair’s Luncheon is launched
2005 Toronto satellite office opens; Board of Directors’ Strategic Planning Session; three-year partnership with Union Gas; on-line registration is launched; alumni association is launched; satellite officers are opened in Peterborough, Toronto, Sudbury and Thunder Bay; Guardian Dinners are introduced; elementary cardboard boat races are introduced
2006 Six Qualifying Competitions are introduced; Skills Work!® Booklet is revised; signed Memorandum of Understanding with Colleges Ontario; Klaus Woerner Hall of Fame is introduced
2007 Skills Canada – Ontario scholarship is introduced; 3-year partnership with Hydro One and a 3-year partnership agreement with the Ontario Mining Association are signed; Board of Directors’ 4th strategic planning session
2009 World Skills Competition hosted in Calgary, Alberta; G. Smyth appointed to the Ministry of Education Curriculum Council
2010 G. Smyth appointed to the Appointments Council for the new Ontario College of Trades; Ontario hosts National Skills Competition; National Youth Forum is introduced by S. Cleave; Board of Directors’ 5th strategic planning session; 7th Qualifying Competition is launched at Confederation College in Thunder Bay
2011 Soap Box Derby hosted in Waterloo; 18 Skills Work!® Camps hosted province-wide; 2 Ontario students received bronze medals at the World Skills Competition in London, England in addition to 2 medals of excellence and one best of Nation; Women Working in the Skilled Trades and Technologies – MYTH & REALITIES lunched in partnership with Women in Nuclear; first all-girls camp hosted at Linamar in Guelph; Aboriginal Initiative is launched in London and in Ottawa
2012 C. Jensen becomes Chair of the Ontario Board of Directors; K. Kipper is hired into the position of Director of Operations; over 110,000 students are reached through the in-school presentation program; partnership agreement with Wasaya Airways to cover 50% of the costs associated with presentation to fly-in communities.Â
2013 25 summer camps are hosted province-wide; Aboriginal Office is opened in Thunder Bay; S. Roth becomes the Director of Finance; for the 1st time Skills Canada – Ontario reached a $3 million budget; Premier Wynne speaks at the Closing Ceremony of the 2013 Ontario Technological Skills Competition; Eaton Electric becomes the newest Platinum Partner; S. Verhoeve accepts the position of Program Manager for Skills Canada – Ontario; over 125,000 students are reached through the in-school presentation program; L. Olsen is hired as the new Communications Officer; new program guide is launched in September 2013; Skills Work! Skills Play! The Apprenticeship Game is launched.
2014 Celebration of Skills Canada – Ontario`s 25th Anniversary; Toronto hosts the National Skills Competition in June, 2014; 13th Celebration Gala is hosted at the Heritage Warplane Museum in Hamilton; competitor registration numbers surpass 2,500; IHSA becomes the newest Platinum Partner and Niagara College is the newest Gold Partner; 65 contests are planned for the OTSC including a new entrepreneurship contest and a new power line technician contest is launched; Skills Work!® Booklet is revised and translated in both official languages thanks to a partnership with the Ontario College of Trades; Skills Ontario website to be updated and launched in September 2014; non-government support in the past 25 years approximately $12,500,000. Skills Work! Skills Play! The Apprenticeship Online Game is launched. Rick Mercer visits the Skills Ontario Boat Race
2015 Launched bi-lingual colouring book. Skills Ontario tripled the size of the annual Young Women’s Conferences organized at the Skills Ontario Competition, exceeding 1500 participants.
2016 Skills Ontario office moves from 100 Campbell Avenue, Unit 11, Kitchener to 60 Northland Road, Unit 7A, Waterloo allowing for a larger warehouse to store equipment and house more staff. Hosted the 1st First Nations, Métis and Inuit Conference at the Skills Ontario Competition.
2017 Skills Ontario Competition expands once more and moves to the Toronto Congress Centre with 500,000 sq. ft. of space. 68 Competitions with over 2,300 student participants and 30,000+ spectators. 299 people hammering simultaneously to set our first Guinness World Record! 2,500 attendees at closing ceremony where 18 job offers from Magna International and UA Canada were awarded to medalists as well as $70,500 in Monetary Awards. Skills Ontario Scholarship raised to $1,000. Executive Director, Gail Smyth retired.
2018 New CEO, Ian Howcroft is appointed and Gael Smyth is honoured with the Minister's Lifetime Achievement Award
2019 Skills Ontario turns 30!
