Consulting & marketing
BC + AI · governance practice
Responsible AI Professional (RAP) Certification
Put responsible AI into practice.
RAP is for leaders and practitioners who need to decide when AI should be used, how it should be governed, and what proof belongs in the room. You work with UNESCO, OECD, NIST, and IEEE frameworks, then leave with governance artifacts and a custom Ethics Practice Assistant trained on your own analysis.
•Nearly 30 professionals across the first RAP cohorts.
•Four governance artifacts built against real AI deployment scenarios.
•Custom Ethics Practice Assistant trained on your own analysis.
Cohort 1 outcomes
Graduates built real governance tools, then explained the work.
The first RAP cohort produced sixteen governance tools for real organizations. These are public-safe graduate voices and walkthroughs from the people who chose to share their work.
20 graduates, 16 governance tools
Cohort 1 did not stop at attendance. Graduates built policies, risk matrices, assistants, and decision tools for real deployment contexts.
100% of survey respondents would recommend RAP
End-of-course feedback rated the program 9.6/10 for professional value, with every respondent saying they would recommend it.
Working tools, not slideware
Two graduates put public tools on the open web, and three recorded capstone walkthroughs that explain the decisions behind their systems.
I came in having already studied AI, but I was looking for something deeper on the ethics side, and this course gave me exactly that. It was honestly amazing. It changed how I think about my work, and I left feeling proud of how I show up with AI.
Founder, Creative Dynamics
RAP gives you a zoomable drone's-eye view of the entire AI ethics and governance landscape. You learn enough about the tools and frameworks you need to succeed when you're down in the weeds of a specific project, without losing the big picture view that pulls it all together.
Learning-experience designer
RAP pointed out a wholistic view of AI for me. I was focused on what AI could do to increase productivity, making more sales, etc. Thought that as long as we had an enterprise account and our IT dept signed off on it we were good for security. Viewing AI with this new lens has made me think hard about the ethics surrounding AI usage, and how I now look at developing tools.
Sales & operations leader, industrial sector
Capstone walkthroughs
Watch graduates explain the systems they built.
HR & workforce
AI Skill-Displacement Risk & Reskilling Navigator
Walkthrough by Kerris HougardyWatch on YouTubeIndustrial & trades
Industrial Sales-Prioritization Governance Matrix
Walkthrough by Bruce RatzlaffWatch on YouTubeYou leave with
A governance dossier: Personal AI Inventory, Ethics Assessment, Deployment Checklist, Ethics Impact Assessment, and custom assistant.
No technical AI experience required. If you help budget, deploy, govern, or advise on AI, you are in the right room.
Leaders & executives
Overseeing AI deployments who need governance frameworks that actually work, not policy documents that sit in a drawer.
Career transitioners
With upskilling funds, pivoting into AI governance or differentiating themselves as practitioners who understand ethics.
Practitioners building a practice
People who want a real, ongoing practice, not just another credential to collect.
- Apply global responsible-AI frameworks (UNESCO, OECD, NIST, IEEE) to systems you actually run.
- Produce a Personal AI Inventory, Ethics Assessment, Deployment Checklist, and Ethics Impact Assessment.
- Leave with a custom Ethics Practice Assistant, a GPT trained on your own analysis.
- Join an alumni network of decision-makers thinking seriously about deployment.
Curriculum
Four sessions, four artifacts
Each RAP cohort is built around practical exercises, scenario work, and assessment. It is not attendance-based. You pass quizzes and complete artifacts.
Module 1: Foundations
01Understanding AI and its limits. How these systems actually work. The accuracy problem: why AI sounds confident when it is wrong. Global frameworks you can reference when making decisions.
Artifact · Personal AI Inventory
Module 2: Core Ethics
02Bias, privacy, and ownership. Algorithmic bias and fairness definitions (and why they conflict). Privacy and consent in an age of surveillance capitalism. Copyright questions nobody has fully answered yet.
Artifact · Ethics Assessment
Module 3: Societal Impact
03Deployment, labor, and environment. When should AI be deployed? When should it never be? Labor implications. The environmental costs nobody wants to talk about.
Artifact · Deployment Checklist
Module 4: The Human Element
04Authenticity, relationships, and meaning. Deepfakes and trust erosion. AI companions and vulnerable populations. What creativity and agency mean when machines can do the work.
Artifact · Ethics Impact Assessment
Capstone
By the end, those four artifacts become your Ethics Practice Assistant: a custom GPT trained on your own work that knows how you think about these issues. It becomes your practice partner after the program ends.
Investment
Dates, price, and registration
Cohort 1
CompletedMay 2026
Online · Zoom
Previous online pilot.
Previous online pilot.
Cohort 2
CompletedAugust 7, 2026
Online · Zoom
Fridays Aug 7, Aug 14, Aug 21, Aug 28 · 3:00–4:30 PM PT.
Underway now. Registration closed.
Cohort 3
Enrolling nowSeptember 18, 2026
Online · Zoom
Fridays Sep 18, Sep 25, Oct 2, Oct 9 · 3:00–4:30 PM PT.
Four live online Friday sessions.
Register for Cohort 3Cohort 4
Enrolling nowOct 27-28, 2026
In person · Vancouver
Tue Oct 27 and Wed Oct 28 · 9:00 AM–4:30 PM PT both days.
Two-day in-person intensive. Finishes at 4:30 PM on Oct 28, a few hours before the Futureproof Festival opens.
Capacity: 30
1000 Parker St, 1000 Parker Street, Vancouver, BC
- Standard
- CA$1,500
- EarlywormThrough October 1
- CA$1,200
Pricing is per cohort.
Standard
$1,500 CAD
BC + AI member
$750 CAD
BC + AI members register for $750 per cohort. Membership also connects you to weekly Office Hours, working groups, community channels, and recurring gatherings across BC.
Any cohort-specific early pricing or ticket windows are handled on the active Luma page. Currently enrolled students may qualify for additional support. Just ask.
Who’s teaching
Practitioners, not lecturers
Kris Krüg
Program Lead
Executive Director of BC + AI Ecosystem Association and founder of the Vancouver AI Meetup. Has spent 25 years building technology across creative and technical worlds, from the world’s first Drupal development company to Dead.net for the Grateful Dead. Brings two years of listening to what people actually struggle with.
Martin Lopatka
Curriculum Lead
PhD in Forensic Statistics, Master’s in AI. Mozilla alum with production ML systems experience. Knows responsible-AI assessment frameworks cold and is volunteering his expertise because this work matters to him.
Sarah Downey
Governance Facilitation
20+ years in nonprofit leadership, helping mission-driven organizations adopt AI responsibly. Her perspective grounds everything in values-centered practice.
FAQ
Questions, answered
What is the Responsible AI Professional (RAP) certification?
RAP is BC + AI's practice-based certification for people who decide when AI should be used, how it should be governed, and what proof belongs in the room. You work with UNESCO, OECD, NIST, and IEEE frameworks, then leave with governance artifacts and a custom Ethics Practice Assistant trained on your own analysis.
Who offers RAP?
BC + AI Ecosystem Association offers RAP. Kris Krüg leads the program, Martin Lopatka leads curriculum, and Sarah Downey facilitates governance. It is a BC + AI classroom, not an AInBC directory listing, a DIGITAL commercialization program, or a government credential.
What frameworks does RAP use?
The cohort applies UNESCO, OECD, NIST, and IEEE responsible-AI frameworks to systems you actually run. The work is artifact-based: a Personal AI Inventory, Ethics Assessment, Deployment Checklist, and Ethics Impact Assessment.
How is RAP different from AInBC or other ecosystem organizations?
AInBC is an industry directory and partnerships network. DIGITAL is a commercialization cluster. Trade and Invest BC tells the provincial investment story. RAP is a BC + AI program for people making AI decisions. It sits with the rooms, the archive, Film Club, and the other practitioner programs.
Do I need a technical background?
No. If you make decisions about AI, budgeting, deploying, governing, or advising, you are qualified. The program is built for decision-makers and practitioners, not engineers.
Is it attendance-based?
No. You pass quizzes and complete artifacts. Sessions are 90 minutes live each week, plus pre-reading and practical exercises you do on your own schedule.
What do I actually walk away with?
Four governance artifacts (Personal AI Inventory, Ethics Assessment, Deployment Checklist, Ethics Impact Assessment) and a custom Ethics Practice Assistant, a GPT trained on your own work, plus a certificate and alumni access.
How does the member price work?
Active BC + AI members register for $750 per cohort, compared with the $1,500 standard price. This fixed member price also applies during early-bird registration. Join at https://bc-ai.ca/membership first, then choose the member registration option.
Final step
Cohort 3: September 18, 2026
Questions? Email hello@bc-ai.ca or come to Friday Office Hours.