I tried to enrol in one of their part time courses and had a very interesting experience that I would like to share:
First of all : I made an appointment with an academic advisor, waited a month to do that, but thought it was worth it- well it was not!
The lady that "helped" me ( Carey?) flatly refused to look at my school transcript or my resume, and advised me to take the English test first. Because you see, I speak with and accent and am not Canadian born. It doesn't matter that my English is translator level ( attested by the Society of Translators and Interpreters of BC)
OK took the test, passed it, obviously.
In the mean time I received an email that was asking for my school transcript. I emailed it. They said they don't open attachments as a rule. I fotocopied it an mailed it. Got an answer back it has to be an original document
Well, the original document is a single copy of a notarized translation of my school record, which I thank God I didn't send to these people!
I called them to ask them if they need a notarized copy mailed since I cannot give them the original
Apparently that is also unacceptable, and the woman I was talking to remarked ( I am not making this up) " I can see that you DON'T WANT TO SEND US your scool record."
No comment, I just gave up.
Then comes the typing test nightmare ( 6 phonecalls in total)
Is it mandatory? I now have a letter in my possession that says no. But I also have an email that says yes. And 6 phone calls that resulted in the following knowledge: it is not mandatory, they will enroll you in a typing course anyway ( you pay cca $300.00/course) but you can take the test since there are no courses that you can attend WITHOUT the typing experience
Nice!
The courses are another matter: now that I have paid the admissions fee , I am able to see the actual times , dates, and contents
And I can conclude that: given my school record ( that was ignored and refused ) and my resume ( work experience) I could get credits for at least half of them
Well they do want their $300.00 / course really badly.
Also the classes are scheduled in such a way that a person that has even a part time job would be unable to attend a program
Why ? Because 2 courses alone take the better part of your week
But of course you don't have access to this information until you pay the registration fee.
Would I have been able to pass that "advisor's " inspection - meaning been able to speak without an accent- well, may I wouldn't have wasted 4 months of my life
I sincerely hope that visible and invisible minority applicants, that speak with an accent, would be helped by this posting since I would not wish on another human being the humiliation that I felt in regards to my "speech impediment" and the trouble caused by it
The applicant that shares that "infirmity" would be better helped by Capilano College or Langley College - speaking from experience too.
Good Luck