> TRU Home > Faculty of Science > Programs > Post-Baccalaureate Diploma in Applied Data Science

Program at a glance

Credential

Post-Baccalaureate

Faculty

Faculty of Science

Department

Science

Duration

2 Years

Program Delivery

On Campus

Location

Kamloops, B.C.

Program overview Design Tomorrow’s Technology

The amount of data in our world has grown exponentially, and so has the demand for professionals who can make sense of it all. Data scientists extract data to create visualizations, forecasts, or manipulations that are integral to decision making across most sectors in today’s society.

The Post-Baccalaureate Diploma in Applied Data Science program is designed to help meet the rising demand for data scientists and analysts, while providing specialized training in the area. This program directly addresses the provincial and national shortage of skilled labour in the field of Applied Data Science.

This program is open to domestic and international students who already have an undergraduate degree. Students can upgrade their education by developing the skill sets necessary to build a career in either the private or public sectors.

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Students will Learn to:

  • Apply statistical techniques such as regression, error analysis, statistical learning and model validation to transform data into meaningful form.
  • Use data exploratory methods to visualize high-dimensional data to identify trends and patterns in data sets.
  • Evaluate and select appropriate algorithms in a variety of data analytic stages on various properties, including efficiency.
  • Discover the fundamentals of machine learning including selecting and augmenting existing approaches.
  • Manipulate data in a variety of formats to identify answers to a variety of questions.
  • Explore, contribute to and analyze information with databases.
  • Perform a variety of analyses on common formats of data to extract meaningful information.
  • Understand and implement appropriate ethics surrounding aspects of modern data.
  • Apply techniques to collect and extract datasets.
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What is Data Science?

Data science combines multiple fields—including statistics, scientific methods, artificial intelligence, and data analysis—to extract value from data. Data science professionals combine a range of skills to analyze data collected from the web, smartphones, customers, sensors, and other sources to determine actionable insights.

Data science encompasses preparing data for analysis, including cleansing, aggregating, and manipulating the data to perform advanced data analysis. Analytic applications and data scientists can then review the results to uncover patterns and enable business leaders to draw informed insights.

Data science reveals trends and produces insights that businesses can use to make better decisions and create more innovative products and services. Perhaps most importantly, it enables machine learning models to learn from the vast amounts of data being fed to them, rather than mainly relying upon business analysts to see what they can discover from the data.

What Does a Data Science Professional Do?

Data science professionals need to be curious and result-oriented and pay attention to details. They also require exceptional industry-specific knowledge and communication skills that allow them to explain highly technical results to their non-technical counterparts. They possess a strong quantitative background in statistics and linear algebra as well as programming knowledge with focuses in data warehousing, mining, and modeling to build and analyze algorithms.

Key technical tools and skills include:

  • R
  • Python
  • Apache Hadoop
  • MapReduce
  • Apache Spark
  • NoSQL databases
  • Cloud computing
  • Apache Pig
  • Tableau
  • iPython notebooks
  • GitHub

Career opportunities

There is a serious demand for people with data analytics skills, and it's projected to climb even higher in the coming years. Canada's Big Data Consortium estimated that in 2018, the overall national shortage of professionals with deep analytical skills was in the range of 14,000 to 19,000—and the shortage of data literate managers and analysts was about 150,000. The shortfall has not been fulfilled yet and the demand gap continues to grow.

Learn more about career opportunities

Admission

  • Seats are limited, so you are encouraged to apply early.
  • We process applications on an ongoing basis and will stop accepting applications when all seats are filled.
  • International students should allow sufficient time for visa and study permit processing.
View all Admission Requirements

Admission Requirements

Program intake: Fall (September) 2026

The international student application deadline is January 15, 2026
The domestic student application deadline is May 15, 2026.

  • Seats are limited, so you are encouraged to apply early.
  • We process applications on an ongoing basis and will stop accepting applications when all seats are filled.
  • International students should allow sufficient time for visa and study permit processing.

Admission Requirements

  • Acceptable three-year or four-year undergraduate degree in any discipline with a minimum B average (GPA of 3.00 on a scale of 4.33 or local equivalent) in the last 60 credits.
  • Official academic transcript(s) from all prior post-secondary institutions attended — sent directly to Thompson Rivers University from the institution.
  • Applicants who did not complete their undergraduate degree at an English language university in a country where English is the primary language should have:
    • A minimum TOEFL score of 570 with a TWE of 4.5 or higher (paper-based test), or a minimum score of 88 with no section below 20 (IBT), or
    • A minimum IELTS score of at least 6.5 (with no band below 6.0), or
    • Completion of TRU ENGL 1100 and CMNS 1290 with a minimum grade B

Tuition Fees

  • Domestic Tuition: $155.59 per credit
  • International Tuition: $666.50 per credit

Career Opportunities

There is a serious demand for people with data analytics skills, and it's projected to climb even higher in the coming years. Canada's Big Data Consortium estimated that in 2018, the overall national shortage of professionals with deep analytical skills was in the range of 14,000 to 19,000—and the shortage of data literate managers and analysts was about 150,000. The shortfall has not been fulfilled yet and the demand gap continues to grow.

Employment opportunities

  • Data scientists in large private or public organizations
  • Data analyst positions in:
    • Software development
    • Business intelligence
    • Medical/health research
    • Data management
  • Strategic analysis manager positions of policy-making bodies of government and organizations
  • Data architect designers of social networks and communication networks

    • Data science continues to evolve as one of the most promising and in-demand career paths for skilled professionals. Today, successful data professionals understand that they must advance past the traditional skills of analyzing large amounts of data, data mining, and programming skills. In order to uncover useful intelligence for their organizations, data science professionals must master the full spectrum of the data science life cycle and possess a level of flexibility and understanding to maximize returns at each phase of the process.

    Different roles and different responsibilities

    Data Scientist

    Data scientists examine which questions need answering and where to find the related data. They have business acumen and analytical skills as well as the ability to mine, clean, and present data. Businesses use data scientists to source, manage, and analyze large amounts of unstructured data. Results are then synthesized and communicated to key stakeholders to drive strategic decision-making in the organization.

    Skills needed: Programming skills (SAS, R, Python), statistical and mathematical skills, storytelling and data visualization, Hadoop, SQL, machine learning

    According to Talent.com data science professionals’ salary:

    Data Scientist Salary

    • The average data scientist salary in Canada is $95,022 per year.
    • Salary ranges from entry-level positions start at $77,000 per year to more experienced ones at $130,000 per year.

    Data Analyst

    Data analysts bridge the gap between data scientists and business analysts. They are provided with the questions that need answering from an organization and then organize and analyze data to find results that align with high-level business strategy. Data analysts are responsible for translating technical analysis to qualitative action items and effectively communicating their findings to diverse stakeholders.

    Data Analyst Skills: Programming skills (SAS, R, Python), statistical and mathematical skills, data wrangling, data visualization

    According to Talent.com data analyst professionals’ salary:

    Data Analyst Salary

    • The average data analyst salary in Canada is $67,752 per year
    • Salary ranges from entry-level positions start at $51,526 per year to more experienced ones at $91,607 per year.

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    Application deadlines

    The international student application deadline is January 15, 2026
    The domestic student application deadline is May 15, 2026.

    Ready to get started?

    Apply Today

    Scholarships

    Teaching Assistant

    Teaching assistants work under the academic supervision and ongoing day-to-day supervision of a faculty member, as well as the overall administrative supervision of the relevant department chairs and the Dean of Science.

    • Applicant must enrol in TRU's Post-Baccalaureate in Applied Data Science and be in good standing.
    • Applicant must have a background in computing science, mathematics or statistics.
    • Selected teaching assistants must demonstrate English language proficiency.

    Research Assistant Fellowship

    Supervisors may provide research assistant fellowships based on the research project and activities, and the current research grant available. Contact your supervisor for information.

    For the complete list of available scholarships, awards, fellowships, prizes, and how to apply online, please visit TRU Student Awards and Financial Aid.

    Contact Us

    Graduate Admissions Contact

    For information about applications and admissions, email:

    Domestic students: futurestudents@tru.ca
    International students: iapply@tru.ca

    Program Contact

    Program Assistant
    PB-ADS-admin@tru.ca

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