Start Here  ·  Catholic Pacific College

You didn’t choose university because you wanted a credential. You chose it because you’re searching for something.

Some questions deserve

more than a degree.

 
 
 

Most universities will train you for a career. Very few will help you become a person. Catholic Pacific College was built for students who sense — even if they can’t yet name it — that the two are not the same.

Here, you earn a fully accredited university degree through Trinity Western University while being formed in the Catholic intellectual tradition — the faith, philosophy, and imagination that built Western civilization.

Generous financial awards are available for Catholic students — including a $2,000 Archdiocesan bursary for CFT students.  See financial awards  ↓

CPC students
 
Catholic Pacific College
Start Here
The Question Nobody Asks

“What kind of person do you want to be?”

Every admissions office in the country will ask about your grades, your activities, your goals. Catholic Pacific College asks something harder — and then builds a community around helping you answer it.

The Problem

University has largely abandoned the formation of the whole person. Students graduate credentialed but not necessarily wise, skilled but not necessarily good.

The Stakes

Your four undergraduate years are among the most formative of your life. The ideas, community, and habits you encounter there will shape the next forty years — and your eternity.

Our Answer

CPC integrates faith and reason, Sacraments and scholarship, community and intellectual rigour — so that your degree and your formation grow together, not apart.

How We Form You

Three Pillars. One Formation.

Every dimension of CPC is designed to form you — not just to fill your transcript. Our three pillars work together, not in isolation.

♔  Academics

Faithful. Rigorous. Integrated.

The Catholic Formation Track is a sequence of courses in philosophy, theology, literature, and the great questions of human existence — taught by professors who take both faith and reason seriously. You choose your major at TWU. CPC forms the person who will live it out.

Includes

Catholic Formation Track · Catholic Studies Minor at TWU · Philosophy & Theology electives · Integration seminars

✉  Community

Intimate. Alive. Deeply Catholic.

CPC is small by design. You are known by your professors, your chaplain, and your fellow students. The friendships formed here are forged around shared conviction, not just shared circumstance. Meanwhile, TWU gives you every resource of a fully accredited university. You have both.

Includes

Retreats · Community dinners · Feast day celebrations · Student association · Study & social gatherings

✝  Sacraments

Christ at the Centre.

Formation without grace is merely self-improvement. CPC places the Sacraments at the heart of student life because the most important thing that happens here is not in a classroom — it is at the altar. Daily Mass, regular Confession, and spiritual direction are not extras. They are the foundation.

Includes

Daily Mass on campus · Confession · Spiritual direction · Liturgy of the Hours · Marian devotion

CPC students
 
 
Formed.
Faithful.
Fearless.
 
CPC professor teaching
 
The Catholic Formation Track

What Does Formation Look Like?

The CFT is not a separate program — it replaces the TWU core curriculum, so you receive formation without adding years or compromising your degree. Any TWU major. Any career path. One integrated formation.

All TWU students complete a core liberal arts curriculum alongside their chosen program. CPC students take the Catholic Formation Track in place of that core — covering 11 of the 16 required courses through the lens of the Catholic intellectual tradition.

This means you can pursue Business, Nursing, Psychology, Education, Computing Science — any TWU degree — while receiving a formation in theology, philosophy, literature, sacred art, and the sacramental life that no secular university can offer.

How the CFT works with TWU core

The CFT counts for 11 of the 16 required TWU core courses. Some exceptions apply.

CFT Course Highlights
The Coherence of Faith
Scripture, the Creed, and the intellectual tradition of the Church.
 
Virtue Ethics
Grounded in Aristotle and Aquinas. What is the good life, and how do we live it?
 
Beauty and the Sacred
Catholic literature, art, and music as roads to transcendence.
 
Liturgy and Sacraments
The Church’s sacramental life as the heartbeat of Catholic existence.
 
Doctrine and Disciplines · Church History · Sacred Scripture · and more
A full sequence across four years, deepening in rigour and integration.
Financial Awards

Formation is more accessible
than you might expect.

Financial support for CPC students flows from several directions at once — the Archdiocese of Vancouver, TWU, and the wider Catholic community. Here is the landscape.

CPC Financial Awards
$2,000
CFT Students

A one-time bursary awarded on behalf of the Archdiocese of Vancouver to Catholic students enrolled in the Catholic Formation Track.

Contact John to Apply  →
$100–$375
Non-CFT Students

Per-semester awards for Catholic students taking CPC courses outside the CFT, based on course load:

3 courses — $375
2 courses — $250
1 course — $100
Apply for This Award  →
Named Scholarships for CPC Students
Wim & Annie Zylmans Memorial Scholarship
$2,000  × 4 available

Open to CPC students in any field of study. Consideration given to both academic performance and financial need.

Apply  →
Bishop Thomas J. Lobsinger, OMI Memorial Bursary
$1,000  × 14 available

Available to practicing Catholic students in BC post-secondary institutions. Awarded by the Knights of Columbus BC Charity Foundation.

Learn More  →
Other Awards from the Catholic Community
Knights of Columbus Canadian Undergraduate Scholarship
Learn More  →
Catholic Women’s League Bursary
Learn More  →
Emmanuel Bailly Scholarship
Learn More  →

97% of TWU undergraduate students receive financial aid. Over $8 million is available annually through TWU scholarships, bursaries, and Student Aid BC.

We’d Love to Get to Know You

Tell us about yourself.

No obligation, no pressure — just a conversation about whether CPC might be the right place for you. You can also book a call directly with our Admissions Counsellor.

 
 
 
 
How to Apply

The Path to CPC

Admission to CPC works alongside admission to Trinity Western University. Here is how to begin.

1

Apply to Trinity Western University

CPC students earn their degree through TWU. Apply at twu.ca/apply-twu and choose your intended major. Be sure to indicate on your application that you are interested in the Catholic Formation Track.

Apply at TWU  →
2

Tell Us You’re Coming

Fill out the interest form above, or contact us directly. One of the easiest ways to find out more is to book a call with our CPC/TWU Admissions Counsellor — someone who knows both institutions and can walk you through every question.

Book an Appointment  →
3

Experience CPC

We are a small college — that means you will actually speak with the people who run it. We invite prospective students to visit a class, attend Mass on campus, and experience CPC community life firsthand. This is not a formality. It is the beginning of your formation.

4

Enroll in the Catholic Formation Track

Once accepted to TWU, register for CPC courses and join the Catholic Formation Track. Your formation — and your story — begins here.

Not sure if CPC is right for you? That’s exactly the right question to bring to us. Contact our Admissions team at [email protected]  ·  604-888-7727  ·  Mon–Fri 8:30am–4:30pm

Archbishop Endorsements

Catholic Pacific College is a place to be formed in the timeless, immutable beauty of the Church’s teachings, an environment in which an ever-deepening relationship with Jesus Christ is intentionally fostered.

Archbishop Richard W. Smith
Archdiocese of Vancouver
Read More  →

Get ready to have your mind transformed, changed in the light of truth, so that you will become someone who can engage fruitfully in conversation and debate with your colleagues and peers, many of whom do not share your faith.

Archbishop Emeritus J. Michael Miller, CSB
Archdiocese of Vancouver  ·  Address to CPC/TWU Students, September 2021
In Their Own Words

What Our Students Say

Before the CFT, I didn’t know who I was or what God wanted me to dedicate my time to. The CFT is designed to have you probe the question of who you are and how to lead a meaningful life in Christ.

Lucas Smith
CPC/TWU Student · TWU Athletics

I did not expect the CFT to be as impactful on my education and my faith. Each course has challenged me to think differently, to see the world through the cracks of reality that ordinary life tries to cover up.

Jeremy Joosten
CPC/TWU Student · Business

I felt that this was something I had been missing in my life: this Catholic education and Catholic community. I really wanted to incorporate that into my education — and CPC made it possible.

Anna-Marie Ryan
CPC/TWU Alumna · Music: Vocal Performance

I have learned so much about what it means to be a Christian at CPC. The way they explained the Catholic faith now allows me to logically defend it stronger than ever before.

Colin Gottwald
CPC/TWU Alumnus · Business
More Reasons to Register

CPC & TWU Together — the Best of Both.

Fully Accredited

Over 48 degree programs, fully accredited and recognized across North America.

Athletics

Championship-winning athletic programs at TWU — faith and sport together.

Alumni Satisfaction

97% of TWU alumni report satisfaction in their chosen career path.

Global Community

A global university with students from more than 80 countries on campus.

Experience CPC & TWU

Come and See.

There are many ways to experience a day in the life of a CPC/TWU student — for you, your family, or your friends.

Open House

Discover CPC at an information session with staff, faculty, and current students. Tour the campus, hear a presentation, and enjoy fellowship.

Contact Admissions  →
CPC³ Public Lectures

Monthly evening lectures on theology, tradition, and the times — open to the public, held on campus. A great way to meet the CPC community.

Register for a Lecture  →
School Visits

Experience a day as a CPC student — Mass, lunch, a lecture, and a campus tour. Available for high school groups.

Contact Admissions  →
Visit TWU

Arrange a visit to Trinity Western University to tour the campus. Be sure to mention your interest in Catholic Pacific College.

Plan a Visit to TWU  →
Begin Your Formation

This is what you’ve been looking for.

The ache you feel for something deeper, truer, more beautiful — that is not a distraction from your education. It is an invitation to begin it properly.