Associate of Science

The Associate of Science is a two-year credential covering the first half of a science degree, structured against the BC Transfer Guide so that credits move into CapU’s own BSc or into UBC, SFU and UVic.

Students complete the first and second-year science core — general and organic chemistry, introductory and cell biology, physics, calculus and linear algebra, statistics — alongside the arts and English breadth requirements that BC associate degrees carry. Laboratory hours are substantial across every science stream.

Two practical points. First, this is the cheapest credible route into a BC science degree: two years at CapU tuition rather than research-university rates, with the same transfer outcome. Second, because it is a non-degree credential it does not carry the bachelor’s exemption from PGWP field-of-study rules, so students planning to work in Canada should treat it as a stepping stone to the full degree rather than an endpoint.

CapU is a fully public teaching university on Vancouver’s North Shore — a Designated Learning Institution (DLI O19280078102) with university status since 2008. Classes are small, faculty teach rather than delegate to assistants, and tuition sits well below the big Vancouver research universities while the credential carries the same public-institution standing.

Its field maps to CIP 30.0101 (Biological and physical sciences). Important: this is a non-degree credential, so unlike CapU’s bachelor’s programs it is not exempt from the November 2024 PGWP field-of-study restriction — eligibility depends on this CIP field appearing on IRCC’s current eligible list at the time you apply. Confirm the live list with an Apply Study Visa counsellor before committing. Final decisions rest with IRCC.