Automotive Service Technician Certificate at Kwantlen Polytechnic University in Surrey, Canada is a foundation in Upgrading/upskilling programme. The programme runs for 30 weeks, delivered on campus. Teaching is in English. Tuition for international students is CAD 22,673 per total (CAD 5,000 per total for local students).
KPU's Certificate in Automotive Service Technician is a 30-week, 32.5-credit foundation program at the Cloverdale campus where students repair customer vehicles in a fully operational auto shop, building skills in shop safety, inspection, diagnostics, and repair of mechanical, electrical, and electronic vehicle systems across nine courses covering topics from fuel systems and engine theory to steering, suspension, and electronic engine management. At the end of the program, students write the Automotive Service Technician Level 1 Certificate of Qualification exam, and those who pass both the coursework and the exam receive credit toward Automotive Service Technician Level 1 apprenticeship and 450 work-based training hours; KPU reserves four seats per intake for self-declared Indigenous students. Admission requires English Studies 12 (or an equivalent English 12 course) at a minimum C grade and any Math 11 at a minimum C grade, or equivalent scores on KPU's own vocational trades assessments, and students must maintain a B- minimum in all required courses. Graduates typically find work with motor vehicle dealers, garages, truck and trailer dealerships, fleet maintenance companies, and other businesses running automotive service shops.
Requirements
Admission Requirements: This programme uses KPU's vocational-level English standard plus its own course requirements. ENGLISH — any one of English Studies 12, Literary Studies 12, English First Peoples 12, Composition 12 or Creative Writing 12 at C or an equivalent, or at least 75 per cent on KPU's Vocational Trades English Reading Assessment. MATHEMATICS — any Math 11 at C or an equivalent, or at least 31 per cent on KPU's Vocational Trades Mathematics Assessment. KPU runs group information sessions at the Cloverdale campus and strongly recommends attending one; the schedule is at kpu.ca/trades. High-school shop courses are treated as an asset rather than a requirement. Four seats in each intake are reserved for self-declared Indigenous students, verified through Indigenous Student Services, with unused reserved seats offered to the general pool. Applicants who need disability accommodations should contact Accessibility Services early. KPU's calendar page sets out these requirements without separating domestic from international applicants, so the same standard applies to both.
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.
