At Vancouver Community College in Vancouver, Canada, Health Care Assistant Certificate is offered as a certificate in Health Sciences programme. The programme runs for 8 months, delivered on campus. Teaching is in English. Tuition for international students is CAD 47,789 per total (CAD 3,100 per total for local students).
At a glance
Degree:Certificate
Field:Health Sciences
Duration: 8 months
Delivery: On Campus
Language: English
Local tuition: CAD 3,100 / total
International tuition: CAD 47,789 / total
Information for the 2027/28 academic year · Last reviewed September 2026 ·
Program details
Overview
The Health Care Assistant certificate provides the knowledge and skills needed to provide person-centered care and promote physical, emotional, cognitive, and social well-being of clients in continuing care environments. The program consists of theory, laboratory practice, and practice education experiences in complex care facilities and community care sites.
Click [here](https://www.vcc.ca/international/programs/program-areas/health-sciences/health-care-assistant/) for information about the international intake for this program.
Requirements
Admission Requirements: This is one of VCC's lowest academic thresholds: Grade 10 completion or an equivalent. English proficiency is set by the BC Care Aide and Community Health Worker Registry rather than by VCC's general table, and is met in one of three ways — evidence of three years of full-time instruction in English together with Grade 10 English at a minimum 'C' or equivalent as the Registry specifies; evidence of less than three years of English-medium instruction together with the standardised English test scores the Registry specifies; or completion of VCC's HCA English competency declaration form. On acceptance you must clear a criminal record check carried out to VCC's instructions — a result indicating risk to vulnerable populations prevents you from completing practicums or graduating. In the first week of the programme faculty collect a BC FOODSAFE Level 1 certificate, valid standard first aid with CPR-C certification that must stay current throughout, a negative tuberculosis skin test or chest X-ray dated within six months of the start, the completed School of Health Sciences immunisation record, and an N95 respirator fit-test certificate, renewed annually at your own cost. VCC states this programme is open to Canadian citizens and permanent residents and directs international students to VCC International, which lists separately the programmes open to them. Note that VCC International runs a separate Health Care Assistant Diploma for international students whose English requirements are set by the regulator, so the figures on VCC's general English pages do not apply to it.
Application Details
Start Date:January, May and September intakes. VCC's academic year runs in three terms: Winter (January to April), Spring/Summer (May to August) and Fall (September to December).
Application Deadline:Domestic applicants (Canadian citizens and permanent residents) apply through EducationPlannerBC. VCC publishes this programme's windows term by term on its When to Apply page: Winter 2027 entry (January start) — open 1 February 2026, close 1 October 2026; Spring/Summer 2027 entry (May start) — open 1 June 2026, close 1 February 2027. Seats go to eligible applicants in the order their applications are completed, so the programme can close before the listed end date once it fills. A September (Fall) intake also runs, but the dates VCC currently shows for the Fall 2027 row are internally inconsistent, so check the When to Apply page for that window rather than relying on a figure here. VCC's page for this programme states it is open to Canadian citizens and permanent residents, and points international students to VCC International, which lists separately the programmes and intakes open to them; there the application periods open on 1 February, 1 June and 1 October of the previous year for the Winter, Spring/Summer and Fall terms, with no fixed closing date — a programme accepts applications until roughly three to four months before classes begin, or until its seats are gone.
