Diploma in Environmental Technician

at NorQuest College - Edmonton Campus Canada

NorQuest College offers an approved and accredited two-year full-time Social Work diploma program with a multicultural focus. As its mission, the program emphasizes the value of human diversity and teaches the practice of social work within an anti-oppressive framework that is supportive and empowering.

As a social worker, you may have the ability to improve the quality of life for yourself and for others through self-reflection and offering resources, services, and opportunities for your prospective clients. In addition, you will be prepared to create social change through your work and professional activities.

Program themes include:

• Competency working in different cultures
• Social work practice that recognizes and deals with oppression
• Awareness of cultural displacement issues
• Awareness of personal abilities and resiliency
• Spirituality
• Community practice
• Holistic practice
• Practice in specialized settings

Students in the Social Work program can expect to develop knowledge and skills in the following areas:

• Social work foundations
• The helping process
• Social policy
• Assessment and interviewing
• Social work models and practice
• Working with groups
• Working with families and communities
• Mental health
• Abuse, violence, and addictions

The Social Work diploma program teaches students the value of human diversity in the context of Indigenous and multicultural knowledge and practices within an anti-oppressive and ethical framework that is supportive and empowering.

Practicum/Work Experience

• This program includes two practicums totalling 700 hours.

Supply chain management is an increasingly important career as consumers have come to expect goods and services faster, with more convenience, and from anywhere in the world. This one-year professional certificate program is designed for individuals to complete post diploma or degree to prepare them for the various aspects of working in supply chain – including logistics, operations management, procurement, transportation, inventory & warehousing, bidding & contract management, global logistics, and business planning principles.

The Early Learning and Child Care certificate program prepares graduates to provide quality child care in a wide variety of settings and to plan appropriate activities for the children in their care. Knowledge of child development, family dynamics, play, and program planning will equip you to support the healthy development of children through child-centred learning experiences.

Practicum/Work Experience

• This program includes two practicums totalling 400 hours.

This one-year professional certificate program will prepare you to become a leader in the food and beverage industry. Learners will be ready to manage existing establishments or take their first step in launching a business.

The Machine Learning Analyst diploma program provides a flexible, industry-aligned education to help you enter the artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) workforce.

This program will prepare you for entry-level jobs creating business solutions for companies of all sizes. The program focuses on developing fundamental skills in AI and ML, such as data analytics and computer programming, and will help provide you with fundamental business acumen so you can work in multi-disciplinary teams to develop competitive business solutions that are based on modern strategies.

This program was developed as part of the Alberta AI Pathways Partnership. Through this partnership, the program prepares you for AI-related careers through a work-integrated project course where you work on real-world ML problems with local businesses, while also developing a portfolio to prepare for employment.

The Early Learning and Child Care diploma program will combine theory with practice to prepare graduates for Child Development Supervisor certifications from Alberta Human Services.

Early learning and child care professionals play an important role in supporting families and promoting healthy growth. Research shows the early years are critical in shaping a child's overall development. The importance of play in how children understand the world around them is embedded throughout this program, and it aligns well with current Canadian curriculum frameworks in early learning and care.

Note: Graduates of NorQuest's Early Learning and Child Care – certificate program or other Early Learning and Child Care certificate programs should apply to the Early Learning and Child Care – diploma (year 2 only) version of the program.

Practicum/Work Experience

• This program includes four practicums totalling 800 hours.

The Community Support Worker program is an eight-month certificate designed to develop fundamental knowledge, skills, and attitudes in students to work with marginalized communities and individuals. Graduates are expected to work at the front line of human-service delivery settings.

The following are some of the agencies and organizations that provide these services:

• Street work organizations
• Group homes
• Emergency shelters
• Settlement agencies
• Cultural organizations
• Child and family service agencies
• Indigenous service agencies
• Cultural societies
• Personal and in-home supports for persons with disabilities
• Services that support older adults

Practicum/Work Experience

• This program includes a 200-hour practicum and a 45-hour practicum seminar.

The first of its kind in western Canada, this new two-year diploma program explores what distinguishes settlement work from other disciplines in the human services sector. You will learn models and approaches to effectively work with migrant diaspora communities, and strategies to help bridge cultural divides between newcomer communities and Canadian society. 

Transferability
The Settlement Studies program will allow graduates from the NorQuest College Community Support Worker program to transfer directly into Year 2 of the diploma program. In addition, there will be significant overlap in the content of foundational courses offered in the Settlement Studies and Disability Studies diploma programs. 

Accounting technicians are involved in the day-to-day practical work of accountancy and play a key operational role in producing reliable financial information. They may also perform a wide range of finance roles, from accounts clerk to financial controller and beyond.

Graduates from this program will have the basic theory, technical knowledge, computer competencies, and skills to enter the accounting field at an entry-level position. Our program equips graduates to perform financial accounting, budgeting, costing, and tax returns. The work experience component of the program allows you to gain hands-on experience in the field.

What to Expect as an Accounting Technician

• Accounting technicians are involved in processing invoices, recording receipts and payments, payroll, bookkeeping, auditing external and internal work, and preparing and checking ledger balances and other monthly and yearly accounts. They also handle company expenses, control budgets, prepare financial transactions, and use computerized accounting systems. Accounting technicians usually work regular weekday hours in a comfortable office environment.
• Accounting technicians can work on their own, in a large accounts team, or alongside professional accountants. While they are not accountants, they can perform many of the same functions and are qualified to take accounts beyond the trial balance stage, as well as prepare full financial accounts. There is always a strong demand for these skills in industry.
• Self-employed accounting technicians provide a range of accounting services to businesses, which may include advising on budgets and taxation issues, calculating end-of-year accounts, and consultancy.

Environmental technicians provide an important service to society by helping protect and sustain the long-term health of our ecosystems. This two-year diploma program will prepare students for technical work in the environmental sector.

Students will gain the practical knowledge and skills needed to offer professional advice on a wide range of subjects, including: environmental impact assessment; hazardous and non-hazardous waste management; waste reduction and reuse strategies; air, soil, and water pollution prevention and monitoring; compliance auditing; and contaminated site investigation and remediation.

This skill set is based on an integrated, hands-on training program that gives graduates a good working knowledge of physical and life sciences, including general biology, ecology, toxicology, chemistry, physics, and statistics.

The program includes hands-on training in both laboratory and field settings. Students will also have the option of taking part in a co-operative work term. Following completion of the program, students will be eligible for designation as a certified technician.