ICS Canada www.icslearn.ca

Graduated from the ICS pet grooming program 1 year ago. Instead of receiving the Canadian certificate for ICS, received the American Pennfoster certificate. Would like the Canadian certificate, so can apply for a Canadian job. Asked for the correct certificate to be reissued. Now the incorrect certificate has been issued 3 times. Have been patiently emailing and waiting for a year now. Tried to talk with someone in person but it wasn't helpful.

Should it be this difficult?

I am extremely disappointed with ICS Canada. I had taken a course with them in the 90s so thought it would be great to again do a course at my own pace as advertised. I am not sure if it is now to do with their US association with PennFoster but today I logged on to write an exam on a writing course and was told I was not allowed as my course had expired. Not only was I not done paying for it but the "lesson plan" they have online had it worked out that my last exam would be in December 2016. Very misleading. I had planned on taking a couple more courses with them after this one but will be looking elsewhere after this experience. The reason I like to do online courses is so that I can do them at my pace as advertised. They need to make it more clear that you absolutely have to finish your course by a required upon timeframe and that working at your own pace is something they do not offer. Please do your research and look elsewhere if looking for correspondence courses.

For anyone thinking of this course, I urge you to look else where. This is supposed to be a Canadian course yet there are constant references to American legalities and licences. In Canada we don't (now or anytime in the past) need a Federal Firearms Licence (FFL) for example. We need a Possession and Acquisition Licence (PAL) yet in this course you will see several references to American FFLs not Canadian PALs.

Another example of incorrect content is magazine capacity. In Canada the number of rounds for a pistol magazine has been limited to 10 rounds. This law has been in effect since 1989 if I'm not mistaken. If you bare this well known fact in mind when writing the exam you will get questions relating to magazine capacity wrong.

One chapter talks of considering arming yourself in your business… I am at this moment delving into the legal consequences of that in Canada. Before taking their advice I would urge you to do the same.

When writing several branches of ICS I only received a response from my tutor that seemed more interested in spouting the company line than looking into correcting/updating this course.

If I knew this ahead of time I would have sprung for a more technical and encompassing course in the States.

I looked into the course and it seemed like it would be watered down some compared to the American schools.To me that was okay because I thought I'd be getting Canadian specific content. I even wrote in advance and received more information in the mail. The truth is the Canadian content is minimal at best. Even then it is swayed by the opinionated bias of the author of that segment.

In the end I wanted to say "At least it was cheap". What I can actually use from this course after filtering out the American content isn't very much at all. When you look at it that way the usable information isn't cheap at all.

When it come to finding a job, the program and the Institution that delivered it, has to be recognized by the employer and sometime the province in which you want to work.

So do your research before you enroll in any program or school. Identify the employers in your region, call them and explain your situation, tell them about the program and ask if they would hire a person with that diploma. Check with at least three employer before you spend your money and time. Contact the professional associations and ask questions.

I took the Personal Training certificate and it was not recognized at any facility that I wanted to work. Also, the course material was not worth the price. It was a waste of time and a waste of money! I ended up getting certified elsewhere anyway.

I am 68.1% of the way through the Auto Mechanics course with a 99% average on my exams. Here in Alberta, if you want to take a Automotive Technician course you are recommended to have a ALBERTA high school diploma, English 30-2(grade 12), Math 30-3(grade 12), and (Physics, Chemistry, or Science 20 (grade 11) before enrollment. The school is recommending that I go put in 200 hours free work, resume, and cover letter to a shop of my choosing. At this point I wonder about my 2nd, 3rd, and 4th year of schooling. Mechanics train at school about 3 Months every year. What school will train me without the prerequisites. I took this course. In college 16 years ago and have come to the conclusion that because this course is so cheap, that it is well worth it with the amount of learning even though I will have to start from the beginning with getting my ALBERTA GED.

I first signed up for the Fitness and Nutrition program purely out of self interest and found it really interesting and a light courseload. Next I signed up for the Staff Relations Officer course and 8 textbooks and 34 exams later, I have gained a lot of useful information that I can apply in my job. It is a career school, not a university and having attended university, I can say that the ICS exam structure is far less rigid and is not up to university standard. I would definitely recommend taking a course through them to cover full content but not if you need to worry about transfer of credit to a university. Great for professional development!

I took the business management program. At the time I was living far out in the country/farm and the closest college or university was an hour drive or more depending on traffic.

I took the business management program to get me ready for furthering my education in that area before moving into the city and taking it at college, university level.

I completed the program no problem. Got all the material no problem.

However when I finished the program and got my diploma, I planned on enrolling at the University of Manitoba to further my business management education. When I called to enrol at the university the enrolement officer laughed at the diploma I got and said ICS is not recognized at any University or collage in Canada. They are a joke company and I just spent my money on an expensive pice of paper. She then asked me if I researched ICS before taking anything through them. When I said no, she apologized and told me I waisted my money.

I think that says it all right there.

I was pretty excited to sign up for and start taking the graphic artists course. The materials came... I was a tad disappointed at how outdated, generic, and juvenile the info and presentation was... but I gave them the benefit of a doubt and figured it would get better. The 2nd module of study units came...and it was the same thing...it was just nonsensical filler to make a 6 month course into a 2 year course...and a 6 month price tag into a 24 month price tag...I was not happy. Again...I told myself it would get better. I was pretty disenchanted with the course so put it down and only went back at it 12 months later figuring I should try to get something for my money.

So I did my exam and waited 2 weeks for them to send me my next study unit ( which I never did receive)! Not wanting to wait so long for shipments, I called and asked for all my study material etc be sent to me as I had now paid in full ... they said it would be sent right away and were quite nice on the phone. Another 2 weeks... I finally got 1 study unit in the mail...but it was not the next 1 I needed so I called them again to get the issue fixed.

Wow...was I surprised to hear that they no longer offer printed material. WHAT !!!??? I signed up for the course...and paid the inflated price for it, with the agreement that I would get printed material to study from...and now they tell me they wont give it to me. I may add that it was exactly 2 weeks after they got my final payment that all of a sudden I would not be getting any more of the study units that I paid for. Wow, what a coincidence. NOT. When I asked to talk to a supervisor I was made to wait 25 minutes on hold only to have this person very rudely and sarcastically tell me... and I quote... " too bad...your not getting them" ( them being the study units) For some reason she felt the need to tell me that they get hundreds of calls complaining...and 1 just the day before that reamed her off ( she tried to tell me all about the other caller..but I informed her it had nothing to do with me and I wasn't interested ). She said I could read the course info on line...but as I told her, I cant study info on line, which is why I signed up for a course that offered paper texts. She said that yes, they have paper study guides still available, but they were only for folks with a Doctors note... so without that I was out of luck!!! WHAT !!

I told her that since they were breaking the legal contract they had with me that I wanted a refund for the course. She said that since I requested the remaining units be sent to me that I was no longer able to back out of the contract. "But you wont send me the units" I said... to which she replied..."yes, but you requested them so you get no refund".

So ... as soon as they got their money all service went out the window. They wont honor the contract, they said "too bad" and I am left having paid over $1100 for an over priced course I cant finish. If I had known this is the type of service they offer I would have saved myself about $900 and just gone to Staples and bought the computer program and figured it out...I would have learnt more and been a lot richer right now.

The course books are not textbooks and

Look like they were put together by children. Never could get ahold of anyone for help. I started doing more research and came to the conclusion that their no more than a rubbish company. It may be a cheap way to go, start asking yourself why?. Research ask lots of questions and get the answers before you buy. Repeatedly harassed by them calling for money ( their fake collection agency).