Chances are that many high school students would not know how to use drafting instruments, but some might want to gain competence in computer-assisted design (CAD) and possibly computer-assisted manufacturing (CAM). These students are often attracted to tech courses by the availability of CAD/CAM instructions, and many go on to impress employers with their CAD abilities. In this article, the author examines the current state of CAD/CAM instruction in Canada. The province of Ontario is typical of the Canadian approach to technology. Generally speaking, schools there have avoided modular education, but given support to teaching current technologies in the schools. As early as the late 1980s, schools with personal computers in their technology labs and classrooms won the support of the Ministry of Education. The Ministry mandated CAD in 1993, providing school-wide site licenses for popular products like AutoCAD and CorelDRAW. The Ministry went a step further in 1990 under its "tech renewal funding formula," stating that it would only endorse and fund capital equipment purchases that were computer-related. The trend in design software distribution in Canada lately has been toward software leasing. This approach may not always work in the schools since administrators rarely have the legal rights to commit future administrators to the annual budget draws involved in leasing portable classrooms or Canon copiers. Nevertheless, Canadian high schools are full of government-sponsored educational site licenses for programs like CorelDRAW, AutoCAD, and even 3D CNC design software packages.