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If you are a non-certified Health Care Aide seeking certification, Northern Lakes College's Health Care Aide eSTEP Program is for you. The Employed Student Tutored Education Program (eSTEP) is an online, distance-delivered program designed to provide employed students with the support they require to gain certification as a Health Care Aide. There are four student intakes per year - October, December, February, April, and June. You can start the 1st day of any of those four months as long as you are registered by the 10th day of the previous month. You will continue to gain work experience in the clinical setting, and that experience will be eligible for practicum credits. You will have one year to complete the program. On completing the required six theory courses and completing 320 employment hours, learners are required to write a HCA Provincial Exam to obtain a Government of Alberta Health Care Aide Certificate.
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To Be DeterminedStudents must present letters from their employers as proof of employment. The letter must indicate current proof of employment as an uncertified Health Care Aide in the province of Alberta.
Credit in English 20-2 (60%) or equivalent. Credit in Math 20 or equivalent is strongly recommended. If academic requirements are not met it will be necessary for students to complete an ACCUPLACER assessment.
English Language Proficiency (ELP)
Candidates where English is a Second Language (ESL) must meet the English Language Proficiency requirement.
Tests benchmarked at a CLB 7 for all 4 language skills (speaking, listening, reading and writing). Official results must be submitted directly to the PSI.
1. International English Language Testing System (IELTS) Academic: 6 (no section score below 5.5);
2. Test of English as a Foreign Language Internet Based Testing (TOEFL iBT): 71;
3. Canadian English Language Proficiency Index Program (CELPIP) General: 7 (with no section score below 6); and
4. Canadian Language Benchmarks/Milestones Test (7 in each strand, not an average of 7).
Students may apply for recognition of prior learning for courses successfully completed in the Government of Alberta Health Care Aide Curriculum Certificate (2019) at institutions who are licensed to offer the Alberta Health (2019) Provincial Curriculum. Additionally, students may apply for recognition of prior learning for clinical components completed in the workplace.