Carpenter and Joiner Foundation Certificate is a foundation in Trades programme taught at Okanagan College in Kelowna, Canada. The programme runs for 30 weeks, delivered on campus. Teaching is in English. Tuition is CAD 5,000 per total for local students.
This one-year foundation certificate, delivered full-time over 30 weeks (900 hours) of day classes at the Kelowna Trades Complex, teaches the entry-level skills needed to seek work in either the carpentry or the joinery (cabinetmaking) trades. Because the two trades share a common first-year curriculum, the program lets students explore both before committing to one, and on graduation they are credited with Level 1 apprenticeship technical training for both Carpentry and Joinery, along with practical-hours credit that SkilledTradesBC may recognize once an apprenticeship is registered; each graduate then chooses which trade to pursue as an apprentice. Intake is limited to 16 seats per cohort. Admission requires B.C. secondary school graduation or its equivalent along with specified English and math levels, and applicants may need to complete a Trades Entrance Assessment; students must maintain a 70 percent overall weighted average to graduate. The certificate suits career-changers and school leavers with no prior trade background who want a fast route into a carpentry- or cabinetmaking-related apprenticeship, giving them foundational hand-tool, power-tool, and construction knowledge before they enter the workplace as an apprentice.
Requirements
Admission Requirements: Entry to the Carpenter and Joiner 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 as of the first day of classes. Stated 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, Principles of Mathematics 11, Apprenticeship and Workplace Mathematics 11, Workplace Mathematics 11, Applications of Mathematics 11, Essentials of Mathematics 11, or an Adult Basic Education MATH/IALG 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 write the College's math placement test and score at least 63 per cent. No IELTS, TOEFL or other standardized English-proficiency test is specified.
Application Details
Start Date:September and January
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.
