Offered by Algonquin College in Ottawa, Canada, Diploma in Outdoor Adventure is a diploma in Tourism & Leisure programme. The programme runs for 2 years, delivered on campus. Teaching is in English.
At a glance
Degree:Diploma
Field:Tourism & Leisure
Duration: 2 years
Delivery: On Campus
Language: English
We have no tuition fees on record for this programme yet — see the official programme page.
— it helps other students.
Roughly half of this program takes place outdoors across varied terrain, including a partner wilderness site, with the remaining time based at a waterfront campus. Technical training covers land-based pursuits such as mountain biking, rock climbing, skiing, snowshoeing and ice climbing, alongside water-based guiding skills including whitewater rafting, kayaking and canoe tripping. Business-oriented coursework in risk management, small business operations, ecotourism, human resources and computer applications supports the outdoor skills training, and students complete one expedition each term, finishing with a group-planned capstone expedition. Along the way, students can work toward as many as twenty industry certifications spanning wilderness first response, water rescue, canoe and kayak instruction, and ski or snowboard instruction. Typical destinations include wilderness trip leading, guiding for kayaking, climbing or mountain biking, ski patrol work, and canoe or snowboard instruction.
Requirements
Admission Requirements: College Eligibility requires an Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD) or equivalent, or Mature Student status (19 or older without a diploma, subject to a fee-based academic achievement test). Program Eligibility for this diploma adds Grade 12 English (ENG4C or equivalent) and Grade 11 Mathematics (MBF3C or equivalent). International or non-Canadian transcripts are assessed through ICAS or WES, and the program's published English-proficiency scale is IELTS Academic overall 6.0 with no band below 5.5, OR TOEFL iBT overall 80 with a minimum of 20 per component for tests before 21 January 2026 (a rescaled overall 4 with a 4 component minimum applies to tests from that date), OR Duolingo English Test overall 110 with at least 110 in Literacy and no score below 95. Accepted applicants must also attend a mandatory Program Readiness Camp orientation weekend, submit a personal information/consent/health form, hold current Standard First Aid certification, and sign an Assumption of Risk and Release form (with parental consent required if under 18); if applications exceed seats, offers go by English and mathematics grades.
Application Details
Start Date:Intake terms Algonquin lists for this program, read from its own availability table on 6 September 2026: Fall 2026 (AC Day 1 orientation 8 September 2026; Fall term classes start 9 September 2026). Term start dates come from the Registrar's Important Dates page, which also gives 11 January 2027 for the Winter 2027 term and 10 May 2027 for the Spring 2027 term. Availability changes as seats fill and an intake already under way may be closed, so check the program page before applying. Algonquin's academic year runs September to August.
Application Deadline:DOMESTIC APPLICANTS (Canadian citizens and permanent residents). Algonquin publishes no deadline unique to this program; the dates below are the college-wide Ontario colleges cycle and apply to every full-time day program. Applications go through ontariocolleges.ca, where 1 February is the equal consideration date each cycle: apply by then and your application is assessed alongside every other one received by that date, while applications arriving later are handled first-come, first-served for as long as places remain. For entry in Fall 2027 the ontariocolleges.ca application opened on 26 September 2026, colleges may begin issuing offers on 1 November 2026, the equal consideration date is 1 February 2027 and an offer must be accepted by 1 May 2027. The equal consideration date that governed the Fall 2026, Winter 2027 and Spring 2027 intakes was 1 February 2026 and has already passed, so those three starts are now first-come, first-served while seats last.
INTERNATIONAL APPLICANTS. Apply directly to Algonquin on the International Application Form in its International Application Portal (AC360) rather than through ontariocolleges.ca, with a CAD 135 application fee. There is no single fixed international deadline: Algonquin asks you to confirm the program is open before applying, warns that a program's status can change to waitlisted or closed before an admissions officer reviews the file, and publishes a closing-date sheet for each intake. For the Fall 2026 intake that sheet gives this program's own dates: 16 September 2026 is the last day to apply on the International Application Portal and receive an acceptance, and 21 September 2026 is the last day to register.
