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About About

Get to know VIU. As a teaching university and a research university, we offer a unique experience to students.

About VIU Why VIU

About VIU

Why VIU?

Explore where VIU is going

The Strategic Plan builds on our commitment to diverse learners and draws on our connection to the community.

Programs Programs

Explore a wide range of program offerings and learning services. Choose from degrees, vocational training, certificates and more.

Find your program Learning Services

Programs

Learning Services

More program info

Get your program questions answered at an Info Week program session November 12 to 18.

Explore Info Week

Admissions & Aid Admissions & Aid

Discover how to apply to VIU and get more information about tuition and financial aid.

Admissions Tuition and Aid

Admissions

Tuition and Aid

How to become a student

Make your VIU application successful by following these steps to becoming a student.

Steps to become a student

Student Life Student Life

Make the best of your time at VIU. Get involved in campus events and enjoy island adventures.

Student Life Student Services

Student Life

Student Services and Support

Get ready for the new student orientation

Attend in-person and online events, explore campus and connect with your professors and soon-to-be classmates!

Support VIU Support VIU

Connect with other VIU alumni and learn about the impact of donor generosity at VIU.

Give

VIU Alumni

VIU Donors

Your support means so much to VIU students

Our donors fund over 2000 scholarships, awards, and bursaries each year.

Research Research

Discover how VIU's interdisciplinary research is making a real-world impact.

Research

Research and Creative Activity

Explore the research highlights. Includes recent publications, ground-breaking studies and more.

Research Reports

Search VIU

aerial view of Building 200 at VIU's Nanaimo campus

News

VIU in the News

Latest Stories

Billy Ray Belcourt Indigenous Speakers Series event graphic

Indigenous speaker reminds Canadians that the colonial project’s impacts remain

November 7, 2025 - 11:14am

Recognizing Canada’s National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

August 4, 2021 - 08:45am

Eliot posing in front of the mural over the fireplace

Alum of the Month: Eliot White-Hill, Kwulasultun

July 15, 2021 - 07:30am

Brighton sitting on a wooden walkway

Queen Elizabeth Scholars from Tanzania Learn Lessons in Resilience

July 7, 2021 - 11:30am

Portrait shot of Charlton Mapayi, VIU alum, in his scrubs

Starting Over and Making a Difference in Canada

July 3, 2021 - 06:30pm

Dr. Amanda Wager, wearing a green shirt and black blazer, stands in front of a white wall.

Indigenous Youth Exploring Issues through VIU Art-based Literacy Project

June 23, 2021 - 02:00pm

Samantha Good sits in her excavation square during the dig she attended in the Drimolen Palaeocave system.

VIU Grad Discovers Two-Million-Year-Old Skull while Attending Field School in South Africa

June 14, 2021 - 01:30pm

VIU Blog

Find out what's going on at VIU!

Zuhur Debasay holding a cake she made at VIU and smiling at the camera.

VIU program helps newcomers find trades careers

November 13, 2025 By Eric Zimmer

Students explore a range of trades while improving their English and job-readiness skills.

How do songs develop character and progress plot in musical theatre?

December 8, 2022

Eliza Gardiner shares the inspiration behind her ballads

VIU's three totems outside Shq'apthut on the Nanaimo campus

VIU Light Up, exam support and holiday fun 🌲⛄

December 7, 2022

VIU Student Pulse News: December 7, 2022

Room for rent sign in a door

Keeping your room while away - and saving the rent

November 30, 2022 By Michael Witcomb, Off-Campus Housing Coordinator

A guide to subletting and assigning your housing

Angelina Jaeger stands in front of a vine covered wall.

Gaining a global research perspective

November 30, 2022 By Rachel Stern

Angelina Jaeger snags spot in prestigious summer research internship program

A wooden cutout of a house with four stacks of coins behind it.

How do government policies affect housing affordability?

November 30, 2022

Katarina Litva examines housing issues in Louisville, Kentucky

Group photo of Tom, Tim, Jenn, Julie and Joseph

Supporting students in need on Giving Tuesday

November 25, 2022 By Jenn McGarrigle

The impact of giving for one employee

Statements & Announcements

Man holding camera

VIU Media Highlights: April 27 - May 10, 2021

May 10, 2021 - 05:45pm

Students learning carpentry, welding and information technology

VIU Hosts Virtual Event to Explore Careers in Trades and Applied Technology

May 6, 2021 - 11:15am

VIU Employees Retiring

Congratulations!

April 29, 2021 - 11:30pm

Man holding camera

VIU Media Highlights: April 13-26, 2021

April 26, 2021 - 02:30pm

Portal magazine's 30th anniversary cover pops with orange and yellow bubbles

VIU's Portal Magazine Celebrates 30 Years of Literary Excellence

April 26, 2021 - 10:45am

City of Nanaimo Signs MOU with Vancouver Island University

April 20, 2021 - 03:15pm

VIU in the News

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Events and Info Sessions

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