Distance undergraduate

Study where you live

Our online programs let you combine studies with work and family responsibilities. You'll study with people from diverse backgrounds, cultures and locations without leaving your community. Our distance program allows you to complete your BCYC degree primarily at a distance.  All students attend one 10-day on-campus seminar course in the 4th year of the program.

If you are required to complete the academic writing requirement, you may need to complete this course through an alternate post-secondary institution through a Letter of Permission. UVic does not typically offer this course online.  Remember to confirm that the course meets the University of Victoria’s Academic Writing Requirement before registering.

Our distance learning format helps make the learning experience engaging, fun and productive. Our courses are highly interactive and you'll get to communicate regularly with your instructor and fellow students through course websites and web-conferencing.

Learn more about admissions requirements and admissions processes. Explore our program requirements, practicum placements, and browse through our FAQs.

Our distance classrooms are instructor and student driven. Web-conferencing, video, online discussions and blogging may be combined to engage you in responsive, emergent learning experiences.

Benefits of our distance courses include:

  • increased flexibility
  • working while pursuing your education
  • applying what you are learning directly to your work environment
  • consistent and collaborative interactions with classmates and instructors through web-based course environments

Note: Some courses require real-time interaction with peers for projects and/or live web-conferences.

As a distance student you qualify for much of the same funding as other students. Funding is based on the number of units you are registered in. For access to some funding you will need to "opt in" to UVSS fees.

You’ll find more information on the Student awards and Financial Aid web page.

Note: Courses taken in the distance delivery format may not be eligible for some forms of student funding. Some courses will only be available in this format.

See additional information on financing your education.

Online learning is engaging, fun, flexible and productive.

Online interactions are usually a large part of the course experience. You'll participate in ongoing discussions by posting ideas and receiving feedback from your instructor and classmates. Debates, case studies, case conferencing, and role-plays are some of the learning activities you may take part in.

Most distance courses include print or audio/visual content on a course website or web-classroom. In some case you'll have real-time meetings through web-conferencing, chat or other media.

Our distance courses are centred in a web-classroom where you'll be able to:

  • review your course notes
  • join discussion forums, wikis or other collaborative activities
  • submit your assignments
  • keep track of your grades
  • link to online readings

You should plan for about nine hours of study time per week per course, with a minimum of three hours spent online. This can be adjusted up or down as necessary, and will vary for every learner and course. Check out some time management tips.

Some tips for keeping balance:

  1. "Find at least one self-care activity that you can do regularly that helps to ground you. For me, it's walking. Unfortunately, with three courses, I barely had time to breathe this term—I can't wait until this week is finished! But that being said, I find that staying in shape and eating a balanced diet are very important to my overall feelings of happiness. When I feel happy, I feel motivated to learn. The odd 'date' night is important too!" – Kari Penner
  2. The Computer Help Desk is there if you need help accessing your course website or interacting with your instructor or classmates online. There's also a dedicated library staff for distance students. They'll help you carry out online research and locate materials for course work.
  3. The UVic Learn Anywhere site has all sorts of information, including how to set up your study space.