FAQs

Continuing and Professional Education offers opportunities to enhance your knowledge, skills and competencies and help your get to the next stage of your learning journey. These offerings reflect UBCO’s commitment to sharing our expertise and building new relationships with the diverse communities with whom we work and serve.

Non-credit offerings through Continuing and Professional Education are intended for learners interested in learning new skills, upgrading existing skills, or enriching their knowledge and understanding of a specific topic areas. Non-credit classes are not applicable toward degrees, while credit courses are typically part of a degree program. Many of our offerings are designed so that learners can earn a non-credit credential.

UBC Okanagan Continuing and Professional Education courses and programs provide the opportunity to earn one or more of the following credentials:

1. 1. Letter of Attendance
   2. Letter of Completion
   3. Letter of Proficiency
   4. Non-Credit Certificate

Learn more about UBC non-credit credentials.

Micro-credentials are stand-alone, short-duration learning experiences that are competency-based, align with industry, employer and community and Indigenous community needs, and can be assessed and recognized for employment or learning purposes.

More on micro-credentials

Continuing and Professional Education courses and programs at UBC Okanagan are open to all individuals aged 18 years and over. Please review the course details for all eligibility requirements.

Some exceptions may apply. 

Please use our How to Enrol guide for a detailed overview of how to register for a course. If you cannot enrol due to technical difficulties, please contact support.

The start date of your course will vary depending on your course. For more information, please review details within the course or program you plan to take.

Visit Courses and Programs for a full list of courses and programs. Click the Register Now button on the course page to complete your registration. Learners can register and pay for courses/programs through UBC’s Lifelong Learning Portal. Please review course prerequisites before enroling.

For more information about registration, visit Registration and Payments.

Most online courses at UBC are hosted on Canvas, a popular learning management system (LMS) used by universities. In Canvas, you’ll find your course lessons or modules, along with resources your instructor has provided.

When you register for a course, we’ll send you an email before the course starts with information on accessing your course.

To access your course:

• Follow this link to Canvas or click on the link provided in the email. You’ll be taken to a CWL Authentication page where you enter your CWL login name and password. You are then redirected to Canvas.
• Find your course under Dashboard.

Standard course access begins at noon (Pacific Time) on your course start date. If you still cannot access your course after noon on the start date of your program, please contact us for assistance.

After your final class, course materials will remain accessible in Canvas for an additional 30 days. This timeframe may vary depending on your instructor’s course directions.

Payments can be made using Visa®, Visa® Debit, Mastercard® or American Express® through UBCO’s Lifelong Learning registration system by clicking on the ‘Register Now’ button on the course details page. All fees are payable in Canadian dollars. Depending on the program or course, other arrangements may be available*.

For more payment policies, visit Registration and Payments.

Tax inclusion varies by offering. When GST is not included in the listed price, + GST will appear next to the fee. If no + GST notation appears, taxes are already included in the displayed price.

Currently, no refunds are available for voluntary withdrawals from a course. Please review policies to learn more about withdrawing from a course.

If a course is cancelled, a full refund is automatically processed and sent to you.

UBCO’s Lifelong Learning portal allows learners to register or log in to pay for courses/programs, manage their courses, receive an unofficial transcript, generate unofficial completion certificates, and link to Canvas- when course content is available.

UBC Okanagan’s non-credit learning management platform is called Canvas.

Canvas, is a popular learning management system (LMS) used by universities. In Canvas, you’ll find your course lessons or modules, along with resources your instructor has provided.

• Canvas can be accessed through a web browser such as Chrome, Edge, Firefox, or Safari. Canvas will not work with Internet Explorer. To verify that your device’s browser is compatible with Canvas, visit the Canvas supported browser page.
• UBC employees, students and Continuing and Professional Education learners can access Canvas using their UBC CWL (Campus-Wide Login).
• Information on creating a CWL account, please see these instructions.

Once you have created a local Lifelong Learning account and registered for a program you will receive an email titled Action Required: UBC Campus Wide Login (CWL) Account Setup. This email will be sent on the same day you registered into your first course in the Lifelong Learning system. See below for an example:

Note: this email may take a few minutes to make it to your inbox, and please be sure to check your spam/junk folder. If you cannot find the email after these troubleshooting steps, please contact support.

If you have not yet registered for a course, log in using your Lifelong Learning Portal credentials. Your username will be your email address. If you have forgotten your password, reset it here. More information on how to login with your Lifelong Learning account can be found here.

After you register for your first course within the Lifelong Learning system, you will be prompted to create a Campus-wide Login (CWL). Once created, your CWL will become your primary login method for all future access.

To log in to Canvas, you will need your Campus-wide Login (CWL) credentials.
If you need help accessing your account:

• Forgot your CWL username?
  Enter your email address associated with your CWL to have your CWL username emailed to you.
• Forgot your password?
  You can reset your CWL password here.

If you are still unable to log in, please contact support.