Vancouver Island University offers Trades - Apprenticeship in Electrician: Apprenticeship - Harmonized, a trades - apprenticeship in Electrical Engineering programme in Nanaimo, Canada. The programme runs for 40 weeks, delivered on campus. Teaching is in English. Tuition is CAD 118 per total for local students.
At a glance
Degree:Trades - Apprenticeship
Field:Electrical Engineering
Duration: 40 weeks
Delivery: On Campus
Language: English
Local tuition: CAD 118 / total
Information for the 2027/28 academic year · Last reviewed September 2026 ·
Program details
Overview
This program delivers the technical training component of the Electrical apprenticeship for students registered with SkilledTradesBC and sponsored by an employer, typically working as part of a contractor's team on residential and commercial construction projects. The apprenticeship is organized into four levels of technical training, each ten weeks long, delivered at VIU's main Nanaimo campus, alongside roughly 6,000 hours of paid, employer-based work experience accumulated across the apprenticeship. Each level builds progressively on electrical theory, code requirements, and installation and troubleshooting skills developed on the job between technical training blocks. On completing all four levels and the required work-based hours, apprentices are eligible to write the Interprovincial Red Seal examination, leading to nationally recognized journeyperson electrician certification. The program is intended solely for apprentices with an active employer sponsor who have completed the previous apprenticeship level, not for students seeking initial entry to the electrical trade; VIU's Electrician Foundation Certificate serves that entry-level purpose instead.
Requirements
Admission Requirements: This apprenticeship program spans all four SkilledTradesBC electrician levels. Entry into Level 2 and above requires successful completion of the previous apprenticeship level; at every level the applicant must be registered as an apprentice with SkilledTradesBC and must have an employer sponsor. The program page does not set out separate academic prerequisites, an age floor, or a language-test requirement for Level 1 entry apprentices, and none of IELTS, TOEFL or another English score is published for this program. No portfolio, interview, or physical-fitness condition is stated on the page; admission is governed by the apprenticeship registration and sponsorship chain rather than a conventional entrance requirement.
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.
