Education courses in the diploma meet the requirements of the Early Childhood Educator Registry for the ECE Certificate to Practice; Infant/Toddler Certificate to Practice and/or the Special Needs Certificate to Practice. Students who successfully complete an ECCE diploma are eligible to apply to the degree program. Students in the diploma program are eligible to apply to the ECE Registry (Ministry of Children and Family Development) for the following credentials: ECCE Basic Certificate, Infant Toddler Certificate, Special Needs Certificate.

BC Secondary School graduation (Grade 12) or equivalent; or Mature Student status. English 12 or English 12 First Peoples. Recommended but not required: A minimum grade point average of 2.0 (60%) calculated on English 12 or English 12 First Peoples and three academic Grade 12 courses. Admissions preference may be given to students with English Lit 12 as one of the three academic Grade 12 courses. Capilano English Language Requirement for students whose primary language is not English: Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL): paper=560, internet=83, or English Language Assessment (ELA)=145, or International English Language Testing System (Academic IELTS)=6.5 overall, and no one score less than 6, or Canadian Academic English Language Assessment (CAEL)=70, or Pearson Test of English (PTE Academic)=56 or Capilano University EAP 100 and 101 with a minimum B+ grade in each course.