Advanced Diploma in Geographic Information Systems

at British Columbia Institute of Technology - Burnaby Campus Canada

The BCIT Business Management Advanced Placement option is a nine month full-time program designed for individuals that have completed a degree or diploma and want to quickly enter the workforce with a business specialty. Students will learn about all the functional areas of business, while developing entrepreneurial skills to successfully create and launch a product within a new market. This program will also provide students with the necessary leadership skills and motivational techniques to effectively manage an organization. Graduates of the program will be able to utilize accounting tools, analyze business problems, and discover ways to improve overall business profitability and efficiency.

BCIT Business Management students learn to:

• Apply business strategy and business direction
• Conduct a business needs analysis
• Construct effective project management plans
• Incorporate sustainability practices within organizations
• Manage change for both people and processes

Business Consulting Project
Business Management students undertake a 10 week Business Consulting Project in their final term. Students work in groups of 2-3 and spend two days a week developing a solution to a real business problem for a company. The student teams collect and analyze data to identify opportunities. Using analysis tools and methodologies, the students propose recommendations and present their findings to company management.

BCIT's Occupational Health and Safety Diploma program is the most comprehensive training of its kind in Canada. Students learn the skills they need to start a great career in health and safety, in any industry and workplace.
Our grads learn the operations of health and safety and the business side, including human resources, communication, decision-making, and leadership. This is what sets it apart from our Certificate program, which is geared to experienced individuals looking to move into health and safety roles within their existing industry.

Program Highlights 

• On-campus lectures and labs with case studies for practical workplace analysis
• Field work and an industry practicum give you hands-on experience

Our program has courses in every area of workplace safety. We prepare you from day one. Click on Program Details to discover more about the OCHS Diploma program.

Who it's for
This program is for individuals who:

• Enjoy working with people and teams and have an interest in leadership
• Care about creating safe and healthy workplaces for others<
• Are keen to build tactical and innovative thinking skills
• Have a high school diploma or higher level of education

The Telecommunications Systems Technician, Radio Systems Option program will provide you with the skills and knowledge you need to work with radio frequency (RF) electronics equipment. It is the only program of its kind in British Columbia. Through theoretical and practical study, you will develop the skills needed to install, maintain and repair RF and related electronics equipment. The program emphasizes hands-on, practical training using equipment typically encountered in industry.

Skills in the wireless communications industry are in high demand. If you like working with computers and electronic equipment, if you have good analytical skills, and if you want to work in an exciting, dynamic industry, the Telecommunications Systems Technician, Radio Systems Option program can open the door to a variety of exciting careers.

A BCIT diploma shows potential employers that you are accomplished, focused, and serious about your chosen career path. Employers know that you have both theoretical knowledge and practical skills, and that you can start contributing right away. Both graduates and employers say that BCIT was extremely helpful in preparing grads for work.

Why BCIT?

• Great Faculty - You will learn from experienced instructors with a demonstrated interest in teaching. Our instructors have worked in the industry and maintain solid local connections through student practicum placements and through the program advisory committee.
• Excellent Labs - Hands-on experience with up-to-date well equipped electronics labs helps you to understand the concepts that you learn and gives you job-ready, practical skills.
• Fantastic Career Choices - You could be working for an end-user of RF equipment doing bench testing, troubleshooting and repair of critical communications equipment. For example, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and the RCMP have hired our graduates to keep their communication systems running. You could be working for a manufacturer of RF-related electronics equipment in a quality assurance or service technician role. You might work for a service provider, installing, configuring and maintaining voice and data communication systems, or entertainment systems based on cable and satellite communications.
• Degree Completion - With your BCIT diploma and two years of related work experience, you can enter the Bachelor of Technology Management degree program at BCIT. The Bachelor of Technology Management degree is a part-time program, so you can continue working while you further your education.

The Bachelor of Technology Construction Management (BTech CM) degree program equips students with the skills necessary to effectively manage construction projects of varying complexity and size. The program focuses on developing management, technical and interpersonal skills, while introducing practical tools and current approaches used in the industry to plan, manage and track construction projects from conception to completion.

The BTech CM program is a degree completion program – it provides years 3 and 4 of a 4-year bachelor’s degree. Students can enter the program through a few different pathways; including related or unrelated degree or diploma programs, trade certification and through demonstrated work experience in the construction industry. Students broaden their existing knowledge and skills through BCIT’s unique applied learning environment. Our approach, which includes collaboration with industry, ensures that the program is responsive and can adapt to emerging needs, trends, and industry issues.

The BTech CM program recognizes the wide range of roles available to construction managers in today’s competitive and technologically advancing construction industry. Graduates of the program are able to advance diverse career opportunities, coordinating and managing projects for general contractors, trade contractors, developers, owners, municipalities, public sector institutions and private clients, to name a few.

Organizations achieve success through people. The primary role of human resources is to build organizational capability to support the execution of business strategy. If you want a career as a human resource professional, this is your program. The BCIT Human Resource Management diploma is perfect for individuals who want to better understand employment relationships, improve a corporate culture, increase employee productivity, and create great places to work. You will create performance management policies, employee compensation packages, hiring selection criteria, and employee onboarding and retention programs. Graduates can immediately apply their human resource skills in numerous industries. BCIT prepares graduates to deliver best practices in human resources.

BCIT Human Resource Management students learn to:

• Influence employment relationships and employee engagement
• Create effective talent acquisition and retention practices
• Develop compensation programs
• Address workplace conflicts
• Apply employment law
• Identify and facilitate human resource best pracitices

Students will be taught how to use the following technology:

• MS Project, PowerPoint, Access
• MS Excel - Solver and Analysis Toolpak VBA
• SAP HCM
• Halogen
• Tableau
• Various Web Survey Tools

Business Consulting Project
Human Resource Management students undertake a 10 week Business Consulting Project in their final term. Students work in groups of 2-3 and spend two days a week developing a solution to a real human resource problem for a company. The student teams collect and analyze data, create recommendations, and present their findings to senior management.

Are you passionate about working outdoors and interested in the management of trees, vegetation & forest ecosystems? The Forest and Natural Areas Management (FNAM) program is a two-year diploma program with a focus on forestry, vegetation management, arboriculture for supporting sustainable community development in both rural and urban environments.

The program gives you a strong foundation in ecology, earth sciences, mapping, surveying & measurements. You will learn skills and training in silviculture, forest inventory, forest engineering, fire & forest health management, and urban forestry. Our programs unique focus natural areas in urban & interface environments provide you with skills in the management of trees, invasive species & soil resources. The breadth of technical and field-based skills you acquire also relevant to many other natural resource sectors.

Why is forest management important?
Management of forest resources in today’s world means managing forest ecosystems. Forestry practices must integrate field skills, scientific knowledge and technology in an ecological framework, to produce various goods and services. It involves assessing the health of forests with respect to insects and disease, planning revegetation strategies, and using technology to map and track forest inventories. But it is also about considering the interests of other resource users, while ensuring future generations can equally benefit from our forests. Forest ecosystems provide major economic, social & ecological benefits to communities, businesses & First Nations throughout British Columbia. Almost 60% of the land in British Columbia is forested – stewardship of these lands is no small feat. Are you up for the challenge?

What is natural areas management?
With increasing urbanization, forests and natural areas in and around our communities are growing in importance. People value natural areas for recreation, aesthetics and psychological well-being. But natural areas also provide important ecological services, like habitat for wildlife, promotion of biodiversity, storm-water flood mitigation & heat wave moderation. Whether you’re assessing urban trees, reducing wildfire risk around communities, or managing invasive plants, the role of a natural areas manager is diverse. It also requires an integration of skills, from community planning, to vegetation management & urban forestry.

What are some key skills FNAM students learn?

• Identify, describe, measure and interpret ecosystems and associated components including landforms, vegetation, soils, geomorphology, aquatic ecosystems, forest stand attributes and wildlife habitat
• Collect field data in both urban and rural environments and create technical reports, spreadsheets and digital maps using industry standard software (such as GIS & GPS) including the use of leading technology
• Apply vegetation management techniques for application in wildland and urban silviculture areas
• Analyze vegetation symptoms that relate to insects and diseases
• Design and implement sampling plans and techniques for resource inventories
• Assist in wildland and urban interface forest fire activities including suppression and hazard assessment
• Apply forest engineering principles to meet the objectives of operational plans and forest management objectives
• Communicate effectively in all aspects of natural resource management activities
• Apply principles of ethics and professionalism to day-to-day activities

The Architectural and Structural CADD and Graphics Technician program offers two areas of specialization: Architectural CADD and Graphics Technician and Structural CADD and Graphics Technician. Applicants must indicate area of specialization on their application.

The Architectural and Structural CADD and Graphics Technician programs at BCIT offers training for a variety of applications in architecture, building construction and industrial applications. CADD (Computer-Aided Drafting and Design) is an integral part of all our drafting programs.

The Program
This specialty applies drafting, computer applications, and graphic presentation with architectural and design skills used in the preparation of architectural projects, and construction of buildings. 

Become a part of Canada’s premier environmental and restoration related programs. BCIT invites you to join one of the most unique educational models in Canada. In the time it takes to do a typical university degree, you can get two academic credentials; a Diploma in Fish, Wildlife and Recreation (FWR) or Forest and Natural Areas Management (FNAM) and a Bachelor's Degree in Ecological Restoration.

Completion of either of these two-year diploma programs (or similar programs elsewhere) will provide you with the strong foundation needed to apply for entry into BCIT’s Degree in Ecological Restoration. This degree, the first of its kind in Canada, provides world-class applied training on restoring the numerous damaged aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems that exist across British Columbia, Canada, and around the world.

Ecological Restoration (ER) is a scientific discipline that has recently emerged due to the increasing need to restore damaged ecosystems. Restoration scientists and practitioners are ‘ecosystem physicians’ …. Doctors apply knowledge of physiology, genetics, biochemistry, microbiology, and parasitology to address human health issues. ER practitioners apply knowledge of: ecology, hydrology, geochemistry, geomorphology, and engineering to address ecological health issues1. Natural habitats across the province have been severely impacted due to habitat destruction, urban sprawl, invasive species expansions, and direct damage due to industrial contamination of soils and aquatic resources. These factors combined with the resulting increase in number of threatened and endangered species have resulted in the strong need for ecosystem restoration work across the province and around the world.

The Bachelor Degree in Ecological Restoration provides graduates with a strong foundation in the methods available to restore a broad range of ecosystems that have been impacted by human influences in British Columbia, across Canada and in other parts of the world. Ecological Restoration graduates will not only bring skills and expertise to current employers but will also be leaders and innovators in this rapidly-developing industry.

These programs, in partnership with the newly established BCIT Rivers Institute, are widely renowned locally and internationally for their “?eld oriented” learning and applied research. The Rivers Institute plays a leadership role in the protection and restoration of rivers and provides support and mentoring to the next generation of river stewards. Working with our many diverse partners on a wide range of applied restoration projects, students gain extensive experience tackling some of the many environmental challenges facing local, regional, provincial and international communities.

Are you enticed by the idea of starting your own business? Do you enjoy finding unique solutions to problems? Does the idea of single-handedly guiding a business to success interest you? Then you might be an entrepreneur.
BCIT’s Entrepreneurship diploma was developed specifically to give people like you the focused, intensive training necessary for success in creating, guiding, and managing businesses. Whether you're looking to start your own business from scratch or expand on an idea you're already working on, this program will train you with hands-on, real-world skills and knowledge.

Program Highlights

• Real-world learning with professional entrepreneurs
• Business consultant project and practicum provide hands-on experience
• After graduation, transition to the workforce or apply to complete your Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) degree at BCIT with full-time or part-time evening courses

To learn more about how the Entrepreneurship diploma can turn your idea into a successful enterprise, visit the Program Details page.

Who should apply for the Entrepreneurship Diploma?
Entrepreneurship might be right for you if you:

• Have some work experience
• Completed high school and have some post-secondary education
• Have a "big-picture" kind of outlook
• Enjoy finding creative solutions to problems
• Have an interest in developing new business ideas and services

Building on the knowledge and skills gained in the first year of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Technology program, students learn the principles required to design, develop, manufacture, and test telecommunication systems and networks. The program covers land mobile radio systems, digital data transmission, fibre optic and microwave technology, satellite communications, radio frequency (RF) design, local and wide area networks (LANs and WANs), wireless networks, internet engineering technology, digital signal processing (DSP) techniques and the application of microcontrollers.  Students will also complete a student-initiated or industry-sponsored project.

Graduates of this option may obtain a dual diploma in another ECET option by completing all the additional required courses for that option. Entry to this second option is competitive and priority is given to students completing their first option.