Pilot Pathway Project

BC English Language School to Post-Secondary Pilot Project

British Columbia (BC) is a recognized leader in Canada in providing seamless transfer options for students at all levels of post-secondary education. The flexibility and quality of BC’s education system has made British Columbia the number one destination for international students studying in Canada, with an estimated 140 000 international students studying each year at public and accredited private K-12, post-secondary, career college and language institutions.

In response to sectoral concerns that a number of students from the language school sector were not staying in BC for further studies, or availing themselves of existing pathway relationships and opportunities to move into the public post-secondary system, a pilot program was suggested by the language school sector that would support a broader marketing of the sector and improve access to existing and emerging pathways relationships. A group of language schools that had existing relationships with the post secondary institutions involved in this pilot broached the idea of broadening the pathways model on a pilot basis to work towards the creation of stream-lined points of access to post-secondary studies. The group then approached BCCIE for assistance in facilitating discussions towards moving this pilot pathways model forward.

Numerous pathways already exist in the province, and the BC Council for International Education (BCCIE) is pleased to support this new pilot option and to work with these leading universities and language schools on an innovative new province-wide option for students seeking combined language training and post-secondary study. Under the terms of this two-year pilot program, international students will be offered a streamlined approach to study, and may seek entry to one of the five participating English-language institutions leading to a range of university programs at the two participating universities. The Pathway will offer students a single and transparent point for access from their language program into selected university degree programs at the Pathway University. Students and their representatives who may wish to take advantage of the pilot arrangement should contact one of the schools or universities listed below. When the terms of the pilot project are complete, additional language schools, universities, and colleges will join the provincial Pathway.

The Pathway represents the latest effort on the part of BC’s schools and institutions to reduce barriers, introduce collaboration, and increase access to a wider range of options for international students and their representatives abroad. BCCIE will continue to support other projects and opportunities that support the transition of students from Languages Canada schools through a variety of pathways and into BC’s post-secondary system.

Approved Pilot Pathway Institutions

British Columbia Universities