The British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) offers what it touts as “education for a complex world.” This well-established technical school distinguishes itself from a traditional university or college with practical, flexible, applied education delivered by instructors who have direct, hands-on experience in their field, at five campuses across the province.

The breadth of up-to-date programs offered at BCIT that train students for the most-in-demand jobs in the province set the school apart. BCIT is focused on meeting the demands of local employers, which includes a need for technology workers such as security systems technicians and software systems developers, as well as nurses, insurance brokers, accountants, and instrument and control technicians in the oil and gas industry.

Over on Vancouver Island, Camosun College offers training that goes beyond the classroom – more than 85 percent of its courses and programs include experiential education and applied learning opportunities.

With two campuses in Victoria, Camosun’s popular certificate, diploma, and degree programs span a wide range of disciplines and industries, making it stand out from the many technology-focused colleges and training organizations. Programs of note include nursing, athletic therapy, environmental technology, criminal justice, bookkeeping, among many others.

The largest and oldest college in Vancouver lives up to its name – the school is well intertwined with the community it serves.

VCC’s offerings span the arts, business, trades, and health sciences with one-year certificates, two-year diplomas, and four-year bachelor’s degrees, and the college has a strong focus on accessibility for students with disabilities as well as improving levels of participation and success for Indigenous students as a member of the Coastal Corridor Consortium.

Douglas College is a well-rounded institution with programs spanning commerce and business administration, health sciences, humanities and social science, science and technology, and language, literature and the performing arts. The college focuses on making it easy for students to transfer to Simon Fraser University and the University of British Columbia, as well as universities across the country, while emphasizing hands-on experience through work placements, field schools, field trips, and labs.

With campuses and access centers spread across eight communities, Northern Lights College has a strong focus on the trades as well as energy sector related training. The college also has a strong continuing education portfolio that includes online courses as well as training and certifications for large truck driving and commercial vehicle inspection.

Like many colleges in the province, Northern Lights has a strong focus on connecting and supporting the Indigenous communities it serves, with Aboriginal Gathering Spaces on four of its campuses.

With five campuses around the world including one in Vancouver, BrainStation offers digital skills training and helps students connect with the city’s top employers such as Amazon, Electronic Arts, and Slack. Among the popular bootcamps designed to help students launch their tech career in one of the fastest-growing tech hubs in the world are software engineering, web development, user experience (UX) design, and data science. BrainStation also offers part-time courses for those not ready to commit to the intensive bootcamp experience.

As one of the province’s leading undergraduate institutions providing University Studies, Career Studies, and Continuing Studies programs, Langara College’s programs span arts, business, science and technology, humanities and social sciences, and health. Langara also offers courses for those who are currently employed and looking for professional development to upgrade skills or make a career change.

If want to learn how to code and get mentored while you do it, Lighthouse Labs’ Vancouver campus is where you go do it. Established in 2013, Lighthouse offers training for those who are just getting started and professionals who want to upgrade their coding skills alike, including reskilling and upskilling bootcamps for web development and data science.

Selkirk College touts itself as a “home away from home”, welcoming and supporting students from around the world with part-time, full-time, and online programs in many fields of study, including arts, sciences, business, health, environment, hospitality and tourism, and industry and trades.

The college offers access to the latest and greatest technology with its freshly renovated computer lab housed at its Castlegar Campus Library, which boasts 50,000 print books in its collection, as well as 250,000 e-books that are available to students, which keeps the college competitive with larger institutions with the quality and quantity of information it can provide students. Meanwhile, the Selkirk Technology Access Centre (STAC) is one of 60 NSERC-funded Technology Access Centres (TACs) across Canada, and one of three located in British Columbia.

Serving the central interior of the province, the College of New Caledonia delivers a wide range of programs across business and management, community and continuing education, health sciences, and human services. Credits earned at the college can be transferred to select British Columbia universities toward a four-year degree.

If you want to learn at an institution connected to the rich and diverse communities of Northwestern British Columbia, head out to Coast Mountain College for hands-on education, such as the college’s Automotive Service Technician Foundation or Carpentry Foundation programs.

Overall, its program offerings span arts, business, health and social services, sciences, and trades, while also offering intensive spring and summer field schools that combine a full semester of learning into just a few weeks where students experience northwest BC’s incredible history, culture and environment.

Serving the communities of the East Kootenays out of Cranbrook along with several regional campuses, the College of the Rockies offers more than 60 programs and hundreds of courses, including fully online options. A well-rounded school, programs span arts, sciences, health, child youth and family studies, trades, technology, recreation, tourism, and business, while its Contract Training and Business Development department works with industry, organizations, and businesses to provide workforce training that meets the needs of regional business.

Its name says it all – if you’re looking for training in justice, public safety or social services fields, the Justice Institute of British Columbia (JIBC) can help you at one of six campuses, including its main one in New Westminster.

LaSalle College Vancouver (LCV) offers over 30 programs in applied arts, design, media, fashion, and culinary fields, with options for diplomas, certificates, and bachelor’s degrees. The largest bilingual college in North America, LCV evolved from the amalgamation of several institutions into the Art Institute of Vancouver in 2002, renamed to LaSalle College Vancouver when it became a member of the LCI Education network in 2017.

The state-of-the-art campus features creative studios and labs, and students benefit from global opportunities through LCI Education’s network of 23 institutions in 10 countries around the world. LaSalle’s emphasis on hands-on learning and industry mentorship prepares graduates for successful, creative careers.

Vancouver Film School, a private career college located in downtown Vancouver – or “Hollywood North” – has been operating since 1987. The college offers state-of-the-art production facilities for film production, TV, animation and digital design, as well as acting classes. Fifteen post-secondary programs in total are taught by industry professionals across eight campuses in Vancouver.

If you want to get out of the rain belt, head out to Okanagan College, the largest B.C. college outside the Lower Mainland with four campuses including Kelowna and Penticton. It offers a broad range of programs across arts and science, business, trades, health, technologies, adult basic education, adult special education, and continuing studies, as well as ESL courses/language training, vocational and trades programs and four-year degrees in both business and computer information systems.

Located primarily on Vancouver Island, North Island College (NIC) began as a distance education institution but has grown into a comprehensive post-secondary institution with a range of academic and career-training programs that span one-year certificates, four-year degrees, and post-graduate studies.

With campuses in Merritt and Vancouver, the Nicola Valley Institute of Technology (NVIT) focuses on offering innovative and relevant credentials for future leaders in the fields of wellness, technology, governance, land, and economic development.

Formed as a private institute in 1983 by the First Nations bands of Coldwater, Nooaitch, Shackan, Upper Nicola and Lower Nicola, NVIT prides itself of being an Indigenous centre for excellence – students are taught through an Indigenous lens, across every program. Like most colleges, it offers co-op placements to facilitate hands-on learning and relationship building with industry.

The Canadian College of Technology and Business (CCTB) is all about aligning its technical training offering with the technology skills that are in demand and providing work placement opportunities and co-ops in a real-world setting.

Not surprisingly, some of the most popular courses at CCTB today are those on cybersecurity, such as the Cybersecurity Risk Management diploma with co-op.