Arts and Social Sciences: International Year One (Cornerstone Entry)

A strong start matters more than a fast one. Cornerstone Entry to the Arts and Social Sciences stream of FIC’s International Year One adds a dedicated foundation term before full first-year study, all on the Burnaby campus shared with Simon Fraser University. Plan for four terms in total, around sixteen months, with starts available in January, May and September.

Your first term is the Cornerstone programme, made up of three non-credit courses: CNSU101 on university life, CNQS101, a quantitative survey, and CNST101, the Cornerstone academic course. Together they develop study habits, numerical confidence and familiarity with Canadian classrooms, and passing CNST101 exempts you from ILS101. You then move into arts courses such as PSYC109 Brain, Mind and Society, ENGL115 Literature and Culture, and electives in sociology, philosophy or economics. The quantitative survey is especially useful if maths has not been part of your recent studies.

Content and assessment follow SFU standards, and teaching is by instructors SFU has approved. After Cornerstone you complete ten academic courses, and a cumulative GPA of 2.50 gives you guaranteed entry into the second year of a BA with SFU’s Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. SFU co-op can be added once you are enrolled in your chosen major. Your FIC grades then form part of the academic record SFU reviews at transfer.

With the degree behind you, roles such as social services worker, policy researcher, communications coordinator, arts programme assistant, recruitment specialist and public administration officer come within reach. Cornerstone Entry is designed for students whose English level sits beneath the Integrated Entry band and who value extra time to settle into Canadian university life before a full course load.