British Columbia Offshore School Program

The British Columbia Ministry of Education and Child Care has made B.C.’s curriculum available to students studying in schools overseas since 1998 Students who attend B.C. offshore schools have the opportunity to graduate with a B.C. certificate of graduation without having to leave their home country B.C. offshore school graduates often come to B.C. for their post-secondary education, but they have also been accepted into many prestigious universities and colleges across Canada and the world.

B.C. offshore schools create opportunities for international relationships and global learning experiences This is an important part of the B.C. Offshore School Program which aims to: 

• Enable strategic relationships and build economic connections with global markets by delivering English-language education to students around the world
• Increase global recognition of B.C.’s high-quality education “brand”
• Provide students with the tools to be successful in life, professionally and personally, and to be leaders in their communities and global citizens
• Create opportunities for BC offshore schools to develop international partnerships
• Attract more international students to study, work and live in B.C. 

B.C.’s curriculum is offered in schools in twelve different jurisdictions worldwide B.C. offshore schools are inspected annually by qualified B.C. education experts to ensure that schools provide quality programming in an educationally supportive environment.

• See all of the certified and pre-certified offshore schools and their inspection reports

On this page

• Program resources
• How to establish a B.C. offshore school
• B.C. offshore school program videos and brochures

Program resources

• 2024/25 Sample Certification Agreement (PDF)
• 2024/25 B.C. Offshore School Program Operating Manual (PDF, 2.6MB)
• 2024/25 Chart of Important Dates (PDF)
• 2024/25 Graduation Assessment Schedule (PDF)
• Important Dates Calendar
• 2024/25 Annual Report for B.C. Offshore School Program (Word-Fillable) (DOCX)
  • 1.08 Local Community Engagement Template (xlsx)
  • 1.09 Partnership Activities Template (xlsx)
  • Appendix 1: Curricular Compliance Grid (xlsx)
  • 2.14 Staff Assignments - Locally Certified Teachers and Teacher Assistants Template (xlsx)
  • 2.12 BC Staff Assignments - Elementary and Secondary Template (xlsx)
• Direction to Offshore Schools regarding Online Learning in 2024/25 and 2025/26

How to establish a B.C. offshore school

Establishing a B.C.-certified offshore school requires a significant investment of dedication, time and resources.

• Learn more about the steps involved to establishing an offshore school

B.C. offshore school program videos and brochures

Informational resources for students and families and prospective and existing owner/operators are available in 18 languages.