Admission and English Requirements

Admission and English requirements

At ITD Canada, we are committed to supporting student success from the moment you apply. All applicants must meet the following minimum admission requirements in order to be considered for enrollment into a diploma or certificate program.

In the province of British Columbia, any career-related program with:

40 hours or more of instructional time, and

Tuition of at least $4,000

is considered an “Approved Program”, meaning that institutions must go through a process and meet certain requirements to be able to deliver this kind of program. Students who are enrolled in this type of program are protected by PTIB/PTIRU - the regulatory arm of the Ministry of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills for private institutions. PTIB/PTIRU will accept complaints only when students are enrolled in “Approved Programs”. More information regarding certification and approved programs can be found on the PTIB/PTIRU website. At ITD Canada, we refer to them as long-term diploma programs.

Any program that does not satisfy both conditions mentioned above is considered a “Do not Require Approval program”.PTIB/PTIRU will not get involved with students who are enrolled in this type of program. At ITD Canada, we refer to them as short-term or individual courses.

Approved programs' admission requirements are different from Do Not Require Approval Programs.

Do Not Require Approval Programs' admission requirements are easier, and they may be different from program to program.

Below is the list of Admission requirements for APPROVED programs.

General Admission Requirement(Approved programs)

Mature student status (19 years of age or older)

In addition, to get admitted to our Sustainable Business Management program, applicants must have finished a business program with a duration of one year or more that is 90% or more compatible with ITD Canada's Business Administration Diploma.

English Language Proficiency(Approved programs)

TOEFL iBT: minimum score of 70

IELTS General/Academic: minimum overall band of 5.5

CAEL: score of 50 or higher

CELPIP: Score of 6 or higher

OR

Option 1:

  • Evidence that 3 years of full-time secondary education (Grades 8-12), or 2 years if the Grades are 10, 11, or 12, have been successfully completed in the program’s language of instruction in a country where the language of instruction is one of the principal languages.
  • This may be demonstrated by providing a high school transcript, completion of a BC Adult Graduation program or providing international education credentials recognized through WES, ICES, or IQAS.

Option 2:

  • 2 years of full-time post-secondary education* have been completed in the program’s language of instruction in a country where the language of instruction is one of the principal languages (includes international education credentials recognized through WES, ICES, or IQAS).

* Language development courses (i.e., ELL courses) cannot be included in this calculation.

Option 3:

  • Where English is the program’s language of instruction, evidence of achievement in a recognized standardized language test/assessment* at an overall level equivalent to IELTS 5.5 (academic) or higher.
    • All accepted language tests/assessments must be listed with a minimum score/level specified for each. ‘Or equivalent’ will not be accepted.
    • Language tests must include assessments of reading, writing, listening, and speaking.

* Institutions are not permitted to use in-house (self-developed) language assessments. Unless otherwise approved by the registrar, institutions are expected to utilize standardized language tests that are well-established and broadly accepted across the sector (both public and private BC post-secondary institutions).

See Section 4. Standardized English language tests/assessments for more information.

Option 4:

  • Evidence of graduation from language program with a minimum grade/level from a Languages Canada accredited institution with an established pathway/articulation agreement allowing direct entry (no further testing required) to a diploma or degree program at a public institution in Canada. The pathway/articulation agreement must be current at the date of enrolment.

  • When considering pathway options, institutions are reminded that they must be ready to provide documentary evidence of a current pathway/articulation agreement between the partner institutions at any time (i.e., a copy of the agreement, or a dated screenshot referring to the partnership from a partner institution’s website which is included in the student’s record). For this reason, we strongly recommend that institutions only include a pathway agreement as part of their LPR that is established with their own institution.

Documentation of the student’s graduation from the pathway program must also be included in the student’s record.

Option 5:

  • Evidence that a language standard defined and accepted by a third-party regulator has been met.

This may include minimum language standards or testing options set by a third-party regulator (e.g., Health Colleges, Public Registries, Transport Canada, etc.).

Option 6:

Important note: This option may only be applied when:

  • English is the program’s language of instruction, and

  • the applicant is a mature domestic student facing barriers, and

  • the applicant cannot access their educational records or cannot provide sufficient evidence of secondary or post-secondary education as outlined in this policy

Accuplacer:

  • Applicant is [X] years or older at the start of the program and is a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, and

  • Applicant provides attestation that they have completed at least three years of full-time instruction in English* in a country where the English is one of the principal languages, and

  • Applicant completes an Accuplacer English Assessment (Next Generation: Reading, Writing and WritePlacer) and achieves the following minimum scores:

    • Reading: 230, and

    • Writing: 230, and

    • WritePlacer: 4

* Language development courses (i.e., ELL courses) cannot be included in this calculation.

Accuplacer may not be used to demonstrate that a student meets an admission requirement other than language proficiency. For example, Accuplacer may not be used to demonstrate that a student meets a Math 11 admission requirement.