Vancouver Island University (VIU) is located in Nanaimo, overlooking the Salish Sea, on the east coast of Vancouver Island. The university boasts small class sizes and offers undergraduate degrees in the arts and sciences. It’s home to trades and masters programs and continuing education courses and offers a diverse range of programs. Among them is one in Indigenous/Xwulmuxw Studies, a collaboration between Vancouver Island University and the First Nations of Vancouver Island and Coastal British Columbia.

Several courses are available in areas like natural resource protection, tourism management, the wine business and marine sciences. The school’s Deep Bay Marine Field Station in Bowser has state-of-the-art labs and a seawater tank. Researchers have used VIU’s proximity to the wilderness to study connections between humans and nature in the Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Region.

VIU offers a tuition-waiver program for former youth in care, peer-to-peer wellness supports and a bridging program for Indigenous students. The school has a partnership with Indigenous communities called EleV, which supports Indigenous learners during and after their post-secondary educational studies.