If you already work in the automotive field but are looking to advance your career and are interested in becoming a technician at Toyota, you may want to consider attending Centennial College's Toyota technician training. This training is designed for those who already have an employer but want to partake in an apprenticeship that will give them the credentials to become automotive service technicians, service writers and advisors, service and parts managers, trainers and professors or automotive manufacturer specialists
Interested parties must have completed at minimum an Ontario Secondary School Diploma or a General Educational Development (GED) or equivalent. In addition, they should be employed by a Toyota dealership. Candidates may apply directly to Centennial College, with successful applicants obtaining an employer and registering as a MAP apprentice with the Apprenticeship Branch of the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities. Students may apply to a maximum of three programs at Centennial College. As with any college program, there are a limited spots within this Toyota technician training. When space permits, additional applicants who may not be employed by Toyota are selected through an interview process.
The Toyota Technician training is officially known as Automotive Service Technician Toyota MAP 32 apprenticeship. It is designed in a format that sees students alternate, for 64 weeks, between time with their employer and in-school sessions. In-school training covers eight weeks more material in greater depth than the traditional apprenticeship curriculum.
Because students spend the in-school part of Toyota Technician training at Ashtonbee Campus, which is the largest transportation training centre in the province, they are exposed to an environment that mimics a real-life workshop. This campus includes tools and Toyota vehicles that have been donated to the program on which students get to practice.
Among the specific tasks students master during school sessions of their Toyota Technician training are: diagnosing problems using Toyota diagnostic equipment and performing repairs and preventive maintenance on engines, transmissions, electrical systems, brakes and tires. They also become comfortable with conducting vehicle inspections. All aspects of vehicle technology are embodied in the program. The five specific courses technician students complete on campus are: Drive Train Systems, Electrical/Electronic & Fuels, Engine Systems, Work Practices and Procedures and Suspension/Steering and Brake Systems.
Once they rotate to sessions with their employer, students will be able to apply what they have learned in school to the real word. The practical and theoretical knowledge they obtained will serve them well as they learn to deal with customers and network with technicians employed by Toyota who know what the company is looking for in its employees.
Apprentices of the Toyota technician training are currently eligible for up to $4,000 in various grants and tax incentives. While they are in school, students of this Toyota Technician training may be eligible for Employment Insurance (EI) and while they are with their employers, they are fully compensated.
