Offered by Vancouver Community College in Vancouver, Canada, Practical Nursing Diploma is a diploma in Health Sciences programme. The programme runs for 16 months, delivered on campus. Teaching is in English. Tuition is CAD 16,800 per total for local students.
At a glance
Degree:Diploma
Field:Health Sciences
Duration: 16 months
Delivery: On Campus
Language: English
Local tuition: CAD 16,800 / total
Last reviewed September 2026 ·
Program details
Overview
The Practical Nursing (LPN) diploma will provide knowledge and abilites to provide safe, competent, culturally safe and ethical care. Use critical thinking, clinical judgment and knowledge of assessment to plan, implement, and evaluate the agree upon plan of care. Provide culturally safe, person-centered care across the lifespan. Students will participate in a final practice experience or preceptorship which prepares the learner for the role and expectations of the graduate.
Requirements
Admission Requirements: Provincial core standards for practical nursing set the floor and VCC's own requirements sit on top; every item has to be met. Academic entry is BC Grade 12 or an equivalent, English Studies 12 at a minimum 'B' grade or equivalent, Foundations of Math 11 at a minimum 'C', and BIOL 1602 Human Anatomy and Physiology at 68 per cent or better taken within the previous three years. English proficiency must be at the level VCC specifies for its Practical Nursing and Access to Practical Nursing programmes, which is set separately from the college's general English equivalency tables. Applicants holding transcripts from outside Canada, internationally trained nurses among them, may be asked for a comprehensive report from a credential assessment service. 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, hold CPR-BLS certification that stays valid for the whole programme, submit a negative tuberculosis skin test or chest X-ray dated no more than six months before the start (repeated after any exposure or travel to a high-prevalence area), complete the School of Health Sciences immunisation record, and pass an individually fitted N95 respirator test, redone annually, with the original certificate handed in during the first week of classes. 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. College-wide rules also apply: applicants must be 16 or older or a secondary-school graduate, with some exceptions, and official transcripts and every required supporting document must reach VCC before the application counts as complete. Note also that the BC College of Nurses and Midwives asks every licensure applicant about criminal convictions, and licensing is compulsory in the province.
Application Details
Start Date:January 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: Fall 2027 entry (September start) — open 1 October 2026, close 1 June 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. The Winter 2027 (January) window is shown as already closed; this programme fills in order of completed applications, so apply as soon as a window opens. 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.
