Offered by Kwantlen Polytechnic University in Surrey, Canada, Welding Foundation Certificate is a foundation in Upgrading/upskilling programme. The programme runs for 28 weeks, delivered on campus. Teaching is in English. Tuition is CAD 4,000 per total for local students.
At a glance
Degree:Foundation
Field:Upgrading/upskilling
Duration: 28 weeks
Delivery: On Campus
Language: English
Local tuition: CAD 4,000 / total
Information for the 2027/28 academic year · Last reviewed September 2026 ·
Program details
Overview
This 28-week foundation certificate introduces the welding trade to students who have not yet registered as apprentices, combining welding theory with practical shop instruction across eleven courses worth twenty-seven credits, all requiring a minimum grade of B-. Coursework covers oxy-fuel, shielded metal arc, gas metal arc, and semi-automated welding processes, developing the skills needed to weld safely and effectively across common industrial applications. On completion, students sit a Welder Certificate of Completion exam and become eligible for SkilledTradesBC credit toward Welder Level 1 and Level 2 apprenticeship, along with a number of work-based hours credited toward that designation, opening a path into Welder Apprenticeship Level 3 or into the modular Welder Level B and Level A citation programs. The program suits people with good math ability who are detail-oriented, have good hand-eye coordination, and can manage the trade's physical demands, including standing, lifting, and bending, as an entry route into welding for those without an existing employer sponsor or prior apprenticeship registration.
Requirements
Admission Requirements: This programme sets its own entry standard rather than using KPU's undergraduate English requirement. ENGLISH — any one of English 10, Composition 10, Creative Writing 10, Literary Studies 10, English First Peoples Writing 10 or English First Peoples Literary Studies 10 at C or an equivalent; or Communications 11 at C or an equivalent; or at least 50 per cent on Part II of KPU's Vocational Trades English Reading Assessment. MATHEMATICS — any Math 10 at C or an equivalent, or at least 20 per cent on KPU's Vocational Trades Mathematics Assessment. Four seats in each intake are reserved for self-declared Indigenous students, verified through Indigenous Student Services, with unused reserved seats going to the general pool. Applicants who need disability accommodations are encouraged to contact Accessibility Services early, since some supports need advance planning. The curriculum follows BC's provincial modular welding training, and students must reach at least B- in every required course; credit or advancement is available to those who can demonstrate existing skills and theory. 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.
