At Kwantlen Polytechnic University in Surrey, Canada, Health Care Assistant Certificate is offered as a certificate in Health Sciences programme. The programme runs for 2 semesters, delivered on campus. Teaching is in English. Tuition is CAD 2,500 per total for local students.
The certificate builds the practical skills and professional values needed to provide care across diverse health care settings, through hands-on training in labs and community placements that culminate in a practicum within an acute care environment. Graduates emerge ready to support adults facing complex health needs, qualifying them to register with the Care Aide and Community Health Worker Registry.
Requirements
Admission Requirements: This is a vocational programme, so it sets its own English standard rather than using KPU's undergraduate one, and KPU applies it to domestic and international applicants alike. Meet any one of: English 10 at C or an equivalent; Accuplacer with Reading 230, Writing 230 and WritePlacer 4, taken within the last year; TOEFL iBT 76 or better with no less than 20 in speaking and listening and no less than 18 in reading and writing, taken within two years; IELTS Academic 6.0 overall with at least 6.0 in speaking and listening and at least 5.5 in reading and writing, taken within two years; CAEL 60 or better with no sub-score under 50, taken within two years; or a Canadian Language Benchmark Placement Test with listening 7, speaking 7, reading 6 and writing 6, taken within the last year at a centre recognised by the Centre for Canadian Language Benchmarks. KPU notes the BC Care Aide and Community Health Worker Registry rule that applicants educated in English for three consecutive years of full-time secondary or post-secondary study count secondary education from grade 8, and that ESL courses do not count. Newly admitted students must supply Food Safe Level I, a current Standard First Aid certificate, CPR Level C, a criminal record check cleared through the Criminal Records Review Program run by BC's Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General, dated no more than six months before the programme begins, and an Immunization Record Form covering the vaccinations listed in BC's Practice Education Guidelines. KPU states that students who are not vaccinated may not be able to take up a place, and that immunisations must be kept current for as long as you are in the programme. Anyone who has lived outside Canada as an adult must also obtain a vulnerable-sector criminal record search from their country of origin — contact the Office of Admissions about how. Students must also be able to perform the programme's cognitive, emotional and psychomotor tasks safely. Continuing requires at least C in standard-graded required courses and MAS in mastery-graded ones.
Application Details
Start Date:The University Calendar lists this programme's own start dates as Fall (September) and Spring (January); it lists no Summer (May) start, so that term is not an entry point for it even though KPU runs it institution-wide. Under the Senate-approved 2026-27 schedule Fall runs 8 September to 17 December 2026 and Spring 6 January to 28 April 2027.
Application Deadline:KPU classifies this as a Limited Intake programme: the number of seats is capped, applications are assessed against one another, and meeting the published minimums does not guarantee admission. The University Calendar lists this programme with Fall (September) and Spring (January) starts, so only the windows below apply to it; KPU's institution-wide Limited Intake timetable also covers terms this programme does not admit into. FALL (SEPTEMBER) INTAKE: applications open on 1 October of the previous year and the Limited Intake deadline is 1 March, so the Fall 2027 window runs 1 October 2026 to 1 March 2027; offers to domestic applicants (Canadian citizens and permanent residents) begin in November and offers to international applicants in late January. SPRING (JANUARY) INTAKE: applications open 1 February and close 1 August, with offers from early April for both applicant types. Some Limited Intake programmes close early when demand is high, and others extend the deadline when seats remain - the current extension list is at kpu.ca/admission/deadlines-extended. KPU notes that selected Limited Intake programmes may still consider domestic applicants after the term's final application date (1 July for Fall and 1 November for Spring); international applicants get no such latitude, because KPU accepts nothing after those same dates. Applications open at 00:00 and close at 23:59 Pacific time. Both applicant types apply through EducationPlannerBC at apply.educationplannerbc.ca/kpu; the non-refundable application fee is CAD 40 for domestic applicants and CAD 120 for international applicants, and the confirmation deposit for a Limited Intake offer is CAD 500 domestic or CAD 5,000 international.
