Career and Technology Studies

What Is CTS? Career and technology studies (CTS) is a provincially authorized curriculum for Alberta secondary schools designed on a pathways model to offer flexible programming using 1-credit courses. 

The CTS program is designed to develop skills that senior high school students can apply in their daily lives when preparing for entry into the workplace or for further learning opportunities. Through the CTS program, students are provided with opportunities to personalize their learning, identify and explore their interests, manage transitions, and build partnerships while developing basic competencies—that is, the attitudes and behaviours that people need to participate and progress in today’s dynamic world of work.

Career and Technology Foundations (CTF) is an optional program that provides students in grades 5 through 9 with a variety of opportunities to explore their interests and better understand their career options earlier in their education. CTF provides a foundation for students to transition into Career and Technology Studies (CTS) in grades 10 through 12.

Each CTS course at the introductory, intermediate, or advanced level represents approximately 25 hours of instruction. Some courses require one or more prerequisites, which are essential for maintaining safety standards, appropriate instructional sequencing, and articulation with post-secondary programs.

Introductory level courses help students build basic skills that form the basis for further learning. Students make personal connections to the cluster (a group of CTS courses that represent occupations with broad industry commonalities) content and processes to inform possible pathway choices. These courses are 1000-level courses.

Intermediate level courses build on the outcomes developed at the introductory level, providing a broader perspective while introducing students to possible life roles related to the skills and content of the cluster. These courses are 2000-level courses.

Advanced level courses refine expertise and help prepare students to create a transitional strategy to accommodate personal change and build personal values for entry into the workplace or a related post-secondary program. Advanced level courses may be used by students to meet the 30-level credit requirements for an Alberta High School Diploma. These courses are 3000-level courses.

The CTS program is divided into clusters to provide students, teachers, and administrators with opportunities to create pathways in which students can sample courses of interest or use courses to create focused pathways that lead to specialized skills, external credentials, or further education.

A cluster is a group of CTS courses within an occupational area that represents broad industry commonalities. Clusters in CTS are aligned with the National Occupational Classification (NOC) and function as an organizing tool for the CTS program.

Each cluster is comprised of occupational areas that include related courses. Clusters connect learning outcomes specific to the knowledge, skills, and attitudes required for related occupational areas. Clusters are designed to

• help students choose curriculum and occupational fields for which they have interest and aptitude
• provide a context for selecting courses specific to a pathway
• help connect students with exploratory courses of study, allowing students to gain general, transferable skills
• help students develop specialized skills and knowledge through pathways
• focus teaching and learning by relating similar knowledge, linking shared skills, guiding career exploration, allowing students to make informed career choices, associating common interests and linking education with relevant real-world authentic learning experiences