Canada has a system of business education with opportunities for everyone. Anyone who graduates from secondary school or the equivalent can pursue business higher education in one form or another. And over 20% of all international students to Canada now study business.
Over 60 university-level business schools across Canada offer undergraduate business programs run under different names – BCom (Bachelor of Commerce), BBA (Bachelor of Business Administration), or BMgmt (Bachelor of Management). As well, most of Canada’s community colleges offer business administration programs or applied business technology programs that may comprise a two or three-year diploma or a 2-year associate’s degree that is a ladder into a Bachelor of Commerce or similar program at a university. Private career colleges and technical schools also offer various 1 and 2-yr business diplomas and certificates. Programs in applied business technology at both community and career colleges focus on quickly preparing students for employment in business occupations and offer job placement assistance.
Business education is organized around three components – foundation liberal arts courses, core business classes, and business specialization classes, often collectively referred to as business majors, business fields of study or areas of business concentration. Business specializations are many and diverse, offering students considerable scope in the areas of business study that they can choose from.
| Accounting & Taxation | Leadership |
| Brand & Product Management | Logistics Management |
| Business Administration & General Management | Management Consulting |
| Communication & Media Management | Manufacturing & Operating Systems |
| Consumer Behaviour | Market Research |
| E-Commerce | Marketing Management |
| Economics & Statistics | Nonprofit Management |
| Entrepreneurship & Venture Development | Project Management |
| Environmental Management | Quality Assurance |
| Finance & Financial Management | Real Estate Management |
| Golf Management | Retail Management |
| Health Care Administration | Sales Management |
| Human Resources Management | Services Management |
| Insurance & Risk Management | Sports & Leisure Management |
| International Management | Strategic Management & Policy |
Business majors ensure that all business students focus their education on at least one specials aspect of business with the result that graduates ready for the challenges ahead.
A wide combination of business education delivery formats – on-campus combined with distance studies, day, weeknight and weekend classes, and traditional fall and spring semesters, combined with options for summer studies provides great flexibility for business students in Canada. And increasingly, students, including international students may apply for internships or cooperative education placements. Co-operative education, or co-op, is an integrated approach to education that enables MBA students to alternate academic terms — typically 3 – 4 months — with paid, relevant work experience in their chosen field. Internships are typically shorter, often unpaid and less structured. Many undergraduate business programs also offer international students the opportunity to study abroad, in addition to their experience in Canada.
Business is a global activity and a good business education will provide a solid foundation in comparative cultures, their histories, languages, philosophies and literature. Canadian business professors come from all parts of the globe and reflect the multicultural fabric of Canada (at over 200,000 per year, Canada has the highest per capita immigration in the world). And Canadian business schools also offer a wide variety of support services for international students – from orientation programs for arriving international students, counselling and buddy programs, English and French language support, to guaranteed on-campus housing and academic and career counselling.
Are you ready for a business education in Canada?