This program is designed to prepare students for a career as a computer programmer/programmer analyst. The program emphasizes programming skills, program design techniques as well as database and systems analysis skills. The program also includes business courses that will be of use in a career in the computing industry. While this program is new and has not yet been reviewed by the Canadian Information Processing Society (CIPS), the program has been designed to meet CIPS accreditation standards. Students who complete the diploma program will be able to complete VIU’s Bachelor of Science, Major in Computer Science with an additional two years of full-time study.

Many career opportunities are currently available in Computing Science. The provincial and federal governments predict a continuing shortage of trained computing professionals.