University of Victoria offers General Studies Certificate, a certificate in Liberal Arts programme in Victoria, Canada. The programme runs for 1 year, delivered on campus. Teaching is in English. Tuition for international students is CAD 9,996 per total (CAD 8,533 per total for local students).
The Certificate in General Studies is a customizable credential that lets learners select courses from across UVic's Division of Continuing Studies to build a program aligned with their own goals. Working with a program coordinator, each student develops a Learning Contract and completes a minimum of 270 hours — typically seven to eight courses — to graduate. Courses are available in blended, face-to-face and online formats, and students on average finish in one year of full-time study.
Requirements
Admission Requirements: Admission to the General Studies Certificate normally requires graduation from secondary school; applicants who do not meet this requirement may still be considered on the basis of previous academic or work experience. For international applicants whose first language is not English, the University of Victoria's Division of Continuing Studies requires TOEFL 90 on the internet-based test (575 paper-based) with no section below 20, or academic IELTS 6.5 with no individual component below 6.0. Because the certificate is built from individual courses chosen by the student, applicants are also required to meet the specific prerequisites published for each course they include in their program of study, in addition to the general entrance requirement above.
Application Details
Application Deadline:Domestic applicants apply through EducationPlannerBC, which opens for 2027-entry applications on 1 October 2026: most degree programmes see September 2027 entry close 31 January 2027, January 2027 entry close 30 September 2026, and Summer 2027 entry close 31 March 2027, though Teacher Education post-degree programmes close 2 January 2027, Indigenous Education post-degree admits on an ongoing basis, and Engineering's Summer entry (high-school graduates only) closes 31 December 2026. International applicants use the same portal and face identical dates, since UVic publishes no separate international deadline. UVic treats these as fixed annual dates rather than rolling admission, though it warns any programme can close early without notice. These are institution-wide dates; this programme publishes no deadline of its own.
