Kwantlen Polytechnic University offers Cert in Millwright/Industrial Mechanic Citation, a certificate in Trades programme in Surrey, Canada. The programme runs for 24 weeks, delivered on campus. Teaching is in English. Tuition is CAD 3,500 per total for local students.
At a glance
Degree:Certificate
Field:Trades
Duration: 24 weeks
Delivery: On Campus
Language: English
Local tuition: CAD 3,500 / total
Last reviewed September 2026 ·
Program details
Overview
This 24-week foundation program introduces the millwright and industrial mechanic trade to students who have not yet registered as apprentices, combining classroom instruction with shop-based practical work across a set of courses worth roughly twenty-two credits. Coursework builds trade fundamentals and employability skills alongside practical competencies in machinery maintenance, troubleshooting, overhaul, and installation. On completion, students become eligible for SkilledTradesBC credit toward Industrial Mechanic (Millwright) Level 1 technical training, along with a number of work-based hours credited toward that designation, and can progress into SkilledTradesBC levels two through four through KPU's in-school apprenticeship technical training once they secure an employer sponsor. The program is delivered at KPU's Cloverdale campus, with group information sessions scheduled ahead of regular intakes. This foundation stage leads to apprenticeship credit rather than the Red Seal endorsement itself, which follows later stages of the trade. It suits people with an aptitude and interest in mechanics and math who enjoy investigation, analysis, and problem solving, and who can manage the physical demands of the trade, including considerable lifting, bending, and manual dexterity, as an entry route into millwrighting.
Requirements
Admission Requirements: In addition to meeting one of KPU's applicant categories, this Citation sets its own English and Mathematics prerequisites rather than deferring to the university-wide standard. English: English Studies 12, Literary Studies 12, English First Peoples 12, Composition 12 or Creative Writing 12, each at a minimum grade of C (or equivalent), or KPU's Vocational Trades English Reading Assessment with a minimum score of 80%. Mathematics: Workplace Mathematics 11, Foundations of Mathematics 11 or Pre-Calculus 11 at a minimum grade of C (or equivalent), or KPU's Math Placement Test (MPT) with a minimum score of 12. High-school technology-education courses are an asset but not required. Four seats per intake are reserved for self-declared Indigenous students, verified with Indigenous Student Services; unfilled reserved seats go to the general applicant pool.
Application Details
Start Date:Trades Foundation programmes run on their own fixed start dates rather than on KPU's Fall, Spring and Summer academic terms — the Senate calendar notes that some vocational and trades programmes begin and end outside the published term dates, and the Faculty of Trades and Technology runs roughly 92 intakes across the year. Admissible applicants are placed on a waitlist and offered the next available start date, so ask the faculty at kpu.ca/trades for the current intake schedule rather than assuming a September start.
Application Deadline:This is a Trades Foundation programme and it does not use KPU's term-based application windows. Applications are accepted all year round. Once your application checklist is complete you join the admission waitlist for the next available start date, ordered by the date your checklist was finished, and an offer follows when a seat opens; the offer letter names your confirmation deposit deadline. Declining a first offer sends your application to the back of the waitlist, and declining a second offer — or simply not replying — closes it, after which you must reapply. Domestic applicants (Canadian citizens and permanent residents) apply online at kpu.ca/apply, which redirects to EducationPlannerBC, and pay a non-refundable CAD 40 application fee; international applicants request a paper application from [email protected] and pay CAD 120. Every applicant must satisfy one of KPU's applicant categories plus the programme's own English and mathematics requirements, may be asked to sit KPU's Vocational Trades reading and mathematics assessment, and for some programmes must attend an interview or supply reference letters.
