Offered by Vancouver Island University in Nanaimo, Canada, Marine and Motorcycle Technician Certificate is a foundation in Mechanical Engineering programme. The programme runs for 9 months, delivered on campus. Teaching is in English. Tuition is CAD 4,600 per total for local students.
At a glance
Degree:Foundation
Field:Mechanical Engineering
Duration: 9 months
Delivery: On Campus
Language: English
Local tuition: CAD 4,600 / total
Information for the 2027/28 academic year · Last reviewed September 2026 ·
Program details
Overview
The Marine and Motorcycle Technician Certificate trains students to repair and maintain marine engines, motorcycles, and small power equipment over roughly 30 weeks (about eight months) at VIU's Nanaimo campus. A typical day includes about two hours of classroom instruction and 4.5 hours working in a live shop on actual customer projects, giving students direct experience across a range of small-engine platforms rather than a narrower small-engine repair course. The program credits toward Level 1 of the Apprenticeship Technical Training for Marine and Motorcycle Technician, and graduates who secure employment with a sponsoring employer can continue into Level 2 apprenticeship training toward further certification. The program accommodates students at various starting levels of mechanical experience and suits people interested in working as motorcycle technicians, marine technicians, outdoor power equipment technicians, or eventually running their own small-engine repair business, valuing varied, hands-on daily work over routine tasks.
Requirements
Admission Requirements: Admission requires Grade 12 or equivalent, or mature-student status; mature-student applicants without Grade 12 must pass an assessment test. The minimum age is 17, VIU's general trades floor. The programme page defers wider detail to VIU's Trades and Applied Technology general admission requirements, which also admit applicants under the trades mature-student category at 19 and note that a trades application can call for a resume, letter of intent, references, or an aptitude test. Marine and Motorcycle Technician applicants must additionally be in good health and not allergic to solvents and lubricants, and an interview may be required. No minimum GPA, average, or English-language test score (IELTS/TOEFL/PTE) is published; VIU does not publish a central English-test table for domestic applicants either.
Application Details
Start Date:Fall
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.
