Plumbing Foundation Citation at Kwantlen Polytechnic University in Surrey, Canada is a certificate in Upgrading/upskilling programme. The programme runs for 21 weeks, delivered on campus. Teaching is in English. Tuition is CAD 3,000 per total for local students.
This 21-week foundation program introduces the plumbing trade to students who have not yet registered as apprentices, combining classroom instruction with shop-based practical projects across four courses worth seventeen credits and a minimum grade-point average requirement for entry. Coursework covers safety protocols, workplace organization, component assembly, and the use of tools and equipment involved in installing, repairing, and maintaining fixtures and equipment for water distribution and wastewater disposal in residential, commercial, and industrial settings. On completion, students become eligible for SkilledTradesBC credit toward Plumber Level 1 apprenticeship, along with a number of work-based hours credited toward that designation, and can progress into KPU's Plumbing Apprentice in-school technical training for levels two through four once they secure an employer sponsor. The program runs at KPU's Cloverdale campus, with intake schedules published on KPU's trades website. It suits people with good math and mechanical skills, manual dexterity, and problem-solving ability who can manage considerable standing, bending, and lifting, targeting employment with construction companies, plumbing contractors, and maintenance departments, with supervisory or self-employment paths open after further training.
Requirements
Admission Requirements: In addition to KPU's general university admission requirements, including the vocational-level English Proficiency Requirement, this Citation sets its own English and Mathematics prerequisites. 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: any Math 11 at a minimum grade of C (or equivalent), or KPU's Vocational Trades Mathematics Assessment with a minimum score of 55%. High-school shop 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.
