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.

More detailed information about each program and its type can be found by choosing any of the school tabs below, which contains the list of programs in each school and their type.