Okanagan College – Health Care Assistant program in Lillooet returns in January 2026, building on success of first community-based cohort – Education News Canada
November 3, 2025
Okanagan College and the Community Adult Learning Centre (CALC) within the Lillooet Tribal Council are building on a successful in-community program launch last year, with more Indigenous students set to begin their training to become certified Health Care Assistants in January 2026.
Last year marked the first time the partners graduated six Indigenous students through the program, the first time Health Care Assistant (HCA) program was delivered in Lillooet.
Delivered in partnership with the Ministry of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills and the Ministry of Health, the HCA program was adapted by Okanagan College to make health care training more accessible, closer to home. The theory, labs and practicums are delivered in the community, and the graduates can then enter the local workforce, poised to help deliver health care support in Lillooet and the surrounding area – or anywhere else in B.C.
