Bachelor of Science - Traditional Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture

The Bachelor of Science – Traditional Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture is a four-year degree and a rare credential in Canada — most TCM training is diploma level.

The program integrates a full TCM curriculum — foundational theory, diagnostics including tongue and pulse assessment, acupuncture and meridian theory, needling technique, Chinese herbal medicine and formulation, tui na and adjunct therapies — with degree-level biomedical science covering anatomy, physiology, pathophysiology, pharmacology and research methods. Additional coursework in evidence-based practice, clinical research literacy, professional ethics and practice management supports independent practice, with supervised clinical training throughout.

The degree format matters in two ways. Academically, it produces practitioners able to read and evaluate clinical research, which is what integration with mainstream healthcare requires. Practically, as a degree it is exempt from the PGWP field-of-study restriction that applies to the equivalent three-year diploma.

This is a regulated health profession in Ontario. Graduating from the program is not the same as being licensed to practise: registration with the relevant Ontario college and a certification examination follow graduation. Confirm the current registration pathway for internationally educated applicants before you apply.

Humber Polytechnic — formerly Humber College — is Ontario’s largest public college and a Designated Learning Institution (DLI O19376943122). The North campus in Etobicoke is its main site, running technology, engineering, health science, business and skilled trades programs in purpose-built labs and shops rather than lecture halls, with three intakes a year and the deepest employer network in the Greater Toronto Area.

Its field maps to CIP 51.3301 (Acupuncture and Oriental medicine). Because this is a degree, graduates are exempt from the November 2024 PGWP field-of-study restriction that applies to college credentials. Full-time on-campus study and graduation remain the conditions, and IRCC makes the final decision.