Offered by Vancouver Island University in Nanaimo, Canada, Foundation in English as a Second Language Program is a foundation in English Language Studies programme. The programme runs for 14 weeks, delivered on campus. Teaching is in English. Tuition for international students is CAD 5,853 per semester.
Teaching is delivered by trained ESL instructors in small classes centred on inclusion and a sense of community. Its English Language Centre offers a range of ESL levels and support services aimed at students for whom English is not a first language, each with their own goals for building English-language competence.
Requirements
Admission Requirements: All applicants must either complete VIU's own ELL language-assessment test or submit a VIU-approved English-language proficiency test result; the programme page does not publish the accepted tests or the minimum scores required, and placement into the correct level is decided from that assessment rather than from a fixed cut-off score. International applicants are directed to VIU's separate international admissions requirements for further detail, since VIU sets its domestic and international English-testing expectations out on different pages. No secondary-school grade, GPA, age limit, portfolio, prior-course requirement, or interview is stated on the programme page itself.
Application Details
Application Deadline:Domestic (Canadian) applicants apply through EducationPlannerBC; Vancouver Island University sets no institution-wide equal-consideration date, and its admissions FAQ states deadlines vary by programme, with applications for most academic programmes opening 1 October in the year before a September start. VIU publishes no general closing date for that window; applicants are directed to each programme's own page for its own deadline. International applicants use the same portal; VIU publishes no international-specific institution-wide date either, and several health programmes (Practical Nursing, Nursing Unit Assistant) are stated as not currently open to international students. Each programme's own page carries its own Start Date, Deadlines, and Additional Application Details table for the 2026-27 cycle, and admission for programmes without a stated window is treated as ongoing/rolling until the intake fills. These are institution-wide dates; this programme publishes no deadline of its own.
