During the past 30 years, management education has been among the fastest¬ growing of all the disciplines in higher education in Canada. Almost 20% of all university students enrolled in Canadian universities are in a business related program.
Canadian business and commerce programs emphasize practical skills in addition to the theoretical components of their curricula. Many programs, for example, offer co-op and internship options, which enable students to gain relevant work experience while completing their degree.
Undergraduate programs at Canadian business and commerce schools also acknowledge the importance of possessing multiple skills and global knowledge in order to prosper in the current employment market. Many business schools encourage students to complete a joint or double degree, which merges business and commerce education with training in another field.
All universities are public institutions, and receive the bulk of their funding from various levels of government. They all share a high reputation for quality and all must go through a rigorous ongoing accreditation process from their respective provincial governments.
In addition most schools have accreditations from international bodies, notably AASCB International, EFMD and AMBA. Canadian schools typically do very well in the numerous rankings conducted by international media and other organizations.
Tuition fees for degree programs are fixed by provincial governments, and vary from province to province. In most jurisdictions fees charged to international students are higher than those charged to Canadian residents but in general are significantly less than fees charged at US schools. Many Canadian Business Schools have partnership agreements with schools abroad, where students pay fees to their home institution.
Approximately 70 schools in Canada offer degree programs in at least one aspect of management. About fifty of these are in English and twenty in French. A number of schools offer courses in both languages.
- Undergraduate business and commerce degrees generally require three or four years of full-time study (depending on the province). The most common undergraduate busi¬ness degrees in Canada are the Bachelor of Commerce (BCom), Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) and the Bachelor of Manage¬ment (BMgt).
- Business and commerce programs at the master’s level are offered by over 40 Canadian universities. The most common program is the Master of Business Administration (MBA); others include the Master of Applied Science (MASc), Master of Science (MSc), and Master of Management Studies (MMS). Master’s degrees generally require two full-time years of study, although increasingly universities are offering general or specialized one-year graduate diplomas.
- Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA) programs, which are currently offered by many Canadian business schools, are gaining prominence; they are pro¬grams that enable senior managers to obtain a graduate degree in business.
- PhD programs, which are usually research degrees, typically take three to five years to complete. Canadian business schools produce about 100 doctoral graduates each year.
- Executive Development programs are short-term, intensive programs designed for those who are already employed in the management industry.
International students are an invaluable part of Canada’s academic community: they enrich campuses and classrooms by introducing global perspectives into the curricula.
International students enrolled in Canadian business and commerce programs receive various forms of support from the universities they attend, and all schools offer a wide range of services to help facilitate their integration and enrich their experience in Canada.. Students from abroad are often permitted, depending on the province, to work on campus while pursing their studies.
The Canadian Federation of Business School Deans (CFBSD), which formed in 1976, works with its members to assist Canadian business schools in providing high-quality education that is relevant and valuable to contemporary management. CFBSD’s membership comprises 60 university level business schools, as well as educational and industrial associations