Offered by University of the Fraser Valley in Abbotsford, Canada, Welding Foundation Certificate is a foundation in Trades programme. The programme runs for 34 weeks, delivered on campus. Teaching is in English. Tuition is CAD 138 per credit for local students.
This foundation certificate, formerly known as Level C, provides entry-level training for beginner and experienced welders seeking work in welding and steel fabrication. Delivered full-time, Monday to Friday, over 34 weeks at UFV's Trades and Technology Centre in Chilliwack, the program covers oxyfuel gas cutting, gas welding, shielded metal arc welding, gas metal arc welding, flux cored arc welding, blueprint reading, metallurgy, and material handling, using modular delivery with one-on-one coaching. Small class sizes support close instructor supervision. Graduates can pursue entry-level roles as production welders, maintenance welders, welder-fitters, welder-fabricators, or inspectors and supervisors across aerospace, construction, energy, transportation and manufacturing sectors, and can progress toward Red Seal certification by completing Welding Level B and Level A at UFV. The program suits both newcomers to welding and experienced welders looking to formalize their skills, without requiring prior apprenticeship registration.
Requirements
Admission Requirements: UFV directs applicants to the Academic Calendar for the Welding Foundation certificate's entrance requirements. Applicants must be B.C. secondary school graduates or the equivalent, or qualify as mature students at 19 or older. A mathematics requirement is met by any Mathematics 10 or higher (Foundations of Mathematics, Pre-Calculus, Apprenticeship and Workplace Mathematics, MATH 072 or MATH 076) at a grade of C or better, or by passing UFV's trades math entrance exam; applicants away from schooling three or more years are advised to take a math assessment first. English proficiency is met by English Studies 12 or English First Peoples 12 (or Communications 12, AP English, or IB English A) at C or better, a UFV Accuplacer Reading score of 80 with a WritePlacer score of 5 or higher, a UFV CPT score of 41 or above, a TOEFL iBT score of 80 with no section below 19, or another UFV entry-level English standard. No portfolio, interview, or immunisation requirement is stated. The September 2026 intake is listed as full.
Application Details
Start Date:September
Application Deadline:Domestic applicants apply directly to UFV: applications for Fall (September) 2027 entry open 1 October 2026, for Winter (January) 2027 entry opened 1 May 2026, and for Summer (May) 2027 entry open 1 October 2026; UFV publishes no closing date for any of these and instead admits many programmes strictly in application-date order once every required document has arrived, so applying soon after opening matters more than any deadline. Grade 12 students may apply from 1 October of their graduating year and must send final transcripts by 3 August. International applicants use UFV International's own windows - 1 October to 31 May for Fall, 1 May to 31 October for Winter and 1 October to 1 March for Summer - and are likewise assessed on a rolling, first-arrived basis until each programme fills. These are institution-wide dates; this programme publishes no deadline of its own.
