LaSalle College Vancouver: For Those Who Dream of Design

It’s more than a school. Since the year 2000, LaSalle College Vancouver has served as an incubator for the dreams of students from all over the world.

Whenever you see cameras on the seawall shooting the next blockbuster film, taste a Michelin Guide rated menu, read about the next big designer featured at Vancouver Fashion Week, or catch your breath in a room that just fits, you’re discovering the talent of a LaSalle College Vancouver graduate.

LaSalle College Vancouver

Y2K was a good year for creative arts education in British Columbia. LaSalle College Vancouver opened its doors, offering programs across the range of art, media and design disciplines. As a member of LCI Education, the college traces its roots back to Montreal, where it was founded in 1959. The group would go on to open Canada’s first fashion and design school before becoming a global network of 12 schools, with 23 campuses across 5 continents. LCI Education is rated as one of Canada’s best managed companies and is proud to be opening the most state-of-the art private creative campus in Canada by 2024.

“Our goal is to unlock your creative potential,” says Dr. Jason Dewling, president of LaSalle College Vancouver. “Our reward is seeing you thrive. Whether you’re interested in Game Design & VFX, Graphic Design, Interior Design, Audio & Film, Fashion or the Culinary Arts, LaSalle College Vancouver can help make your dreams a reality. We take your creativity and passion and help you position it for employable skills.”

It’s a simple goal: help graduates build rewarding, lifelong careers. Celebrated by the Princeton Review and other industry giants as the #1 Game Design school in Canada 14 years running, it’s no surprise that LaSalle College Vancouver graduates make waves in their field.

When industry hiring partners think of top talent, LaSalle College Vancouver comes first to mind. With fashion and design in its DNA, the private arts college is fuelling the growth of the ever-expanding creative sector and helping British Columbia thrive as Canada’s new creative hub. When LCV graduates walk off the graduation stage and into the real world, they turn heads at top brands like Lululemon, Artizia, EA Sports, Sony, Fairmont, Paramount, Disney and more.

How Do You Build an Incubator for Creativity?

There is a reason students from the college steal the show every year at Vancouver Fashion Week. LaSalle programs are designed with a one-to-one lab to classroom ratio, with cross discipline collaboration and industry leading experts as instructors. This high-touch, premium learning model shapes graduates with practical skills, and they don’t just know the theory— they live it. Offered in a more concise timeframe than public institutions, graduates emerge sooner, armed with high competency and feeling prepared for professional excellence.

The school takes pride in welcoming students that want to push the boundaries of ‘possible’. To create graduates that win Oscars and Grammys and are nominated for awards across the artistic landscape, educators and faculty have had to colour outside the lines.

Building the Future of Creative Education

LaSalle College Vancouver has announced construction of its new, purpose-built education center, driven by technology, active learning and social engagement. The 108,000-squarefoot, seven-storey building is scheduled for completion in 2024. The vision was to create a space filled with light—the ultimate destination for immersive education. Designed to forge student passion into the next generation of art, media and design professionals, this is the place where creative dreams come true.

The new campus is committed to sustainability and designed to meet LEED Gold standards. It is Fitwel accredited, which means health and wellness have been engineered from the foundation up, providing spaces for humans to thrive physically as well as academically. The health first building will also be Accessibility Certified Gold by the Rick Hansen Foundation, making it one of the most accessible campuses in Canada and a place for creative diversity to thrive.

Storeys of floor-to-ceiling glass reveal a welcoming atrium crowned with an ultra-modern suspended classroom floating above the common area this dual-purpose lecture theatre and sound stage that will house digital film and video classes, while serving as the ideal stage for welcoming the next cohort of creatives, graduations and unforgettable events. A formidable digital lounge in the learning commons will be the envy of gamers across Canada. As one of only three schools in the country that offers a degree in fashion design, the campus will boast several makerspaces, ateliers to entice students hungry for experiential learning to dabble, build and explore creative collaboration. A seventh-floor rooftop meditation garden featuring Indigenous art will offer students and faculty a place to relax and find inspiration amid the buzz of the culinary department’s budding chefs, growing their own herbs, fruits and vegetables to harvest and prepare in the campuses very own fine-dining restaurant.

Building Future Leaders

Twenty years from now, this timeless space will remain relevant and ready to support the best in design discovery across the Pacific Northwest. “We have put in the backbone infrastructure to allow maximum flexibility in the new building,” Dewling says. “Each room is outfitted for easy adaption of technology in the future.”

British Columbia’s newest creative campus has broken ground and is taking form. The campus will welcome its first cohort in 2024. Until the launch, all are invited to visit the current facilities and discover the passion that fuels the  organization today. With four annual intakes, its always a good time to apply. For those who dream of design, class is now in session.

Learn more about LaSalle Vancouver | lasallecollegevancouver.com

Ready to jump in? Scan the QR code to discover current offers, experience a virtual tour and to sign up for your Vancouver Magazine exclusive ticket to the opening celebration of the new campus.

Connect | Facebook | Instagram