At Okanagan College in Kelowna, Canada, Automotive Service Technician Foundation Certificate is offered as a foundation in Upgrading/upskilling programme. The programme runs for 33 weeks, delivered on campus. Teaching is in English. Tuition is CAD 5,500 per total for local students.
This one-year foundation certificate, delivered full-time over 33 weeks (about 990 hours) at the Kelowna Trades Complex, is aimed at people with little or no prior experience in vehicle repair who want to enter the automotive trade. Students learn to examine, test, and diagnose problems in vehicle systems using computerized diagnostic equipment, then carry out the corresponding repairs, building the foundational knowledge an entry-level automotive service technician needs. The program runs as day classes or an afternoon/evening option, with intake capped at 18 seats and several start dates offered across the year. It includes an industry work placement component that introduces students to a real automotive shop environment and professional workplace standards before they seek employment. On completion, graduates are credited with 450 hours toward the Automotive Service Technician Level 1 (AST 1) apprenticeship and become eligible to write the AST 1 Certificate of Qualification exam; the college notes that the AST 1 Certificate of Qualification together with 1,590 workplace hours is required before an apprentice can move on to AST Level 2. The certificate functions as a foundation into an apprenticeship pathway rather than a standalone credential, suiting career-starters seeking their first formal training in automotive repair.
Requirements
Admission Requirements: Entry to the Automotive Service Technician Foundation program requires B.C. secondary-school graduation or the equivalent, or admission as a mature applicant at least 19 years of age and out of secondary school for at least one year. Stated academic prerequisites are English 10 with a minimum of 50 per cent (alternatives accepted per the College's equivalency list) and mathematics: a minimum of 50 per cent in one of Pre-Calculus 11, Foundations of Mathematics 11, Apprenticeship and Workplace Mathematics 11, Workplace Mathematics 11, Principles of Mathematics 11, Applications of Mathematics 11, Essentials of Mathematics 11, or an Adult Basic Education MATH course, or a minimum of 63 per cent on the College's Trades Entrance Assessment (TEA) mathematics test, valid for two years. Applicants whose qualifying math course is more than seven years old must instead write the College's math placement test (named on this page as the ABLE Mathematics test). No IELTS, TOEFL or other standardized English-proficiency test is specified.
Application Details
Start Date:September, October, January and March
Application Deadline:Domestic applicants apply through EducationPlannerBC (a $30 CAD fee): Okanagan College sets no fixed closing date for most programmes in the 2026-27/2027-28 cycle. Applications for a Fall intake open at 8:30 a.m. on October's first business day of the preceding year, and for a Winter intake at 8:30 a.m. on February's first business day of the preceding year (exceptions apply); Practical Nursing's January intake opens at 9:00 a.m. on April's first business day of the preceding year. Most programmes accept applications until seats fill, though Nursing and Dental programmes set their own fixed or ranked deadlines on their own pages. International applicants also apply through EducationPlannerBC, paying a $100 CAD per-programme fee; the College publishes no institution-wide international closing date and directs applicants to each programme's own page. Admission is otherwise rolling. These are institution-wide dates; this programme publishes no deadline of its own.
