2 Professional MPA Program
The part-time Professional MPA program is designed expressly for policy professionals, managers and executives in public, nonprofit and private sector organizations. The Professional MPA program consists of monthly week-end sessions (Friday and Saturday) from September to March and June, with a three-day session in late April and a two-week residency period in May for two years. Students meet final program requirements by completing two additional courses or supervised independent study. Students in the Professional MPA program must complete 10 half-course credits.
Core Courses
MPA students normally complete five required courses in three groups:
a Political and Institutional Analysis
- MPA-800* Governing Institutions
- MPA-802* Approaches to Policy Analysis
b Economic and Quantitative Analysis
- MPA-804* Principles of Economics
- MPA-806* Analytic Tools for Policy Research
c Management
MPA-809* Management in the Public Sector
Where a student can demonstrate an adequate background in the subject matter of one or more of the core courses, the student may receive an exemption from that course.
Optional Courses
Professional MPA students complete the remaining requirements by taking optional courses offered by the School of Policy Studies or other departments within the School of Graduate Studies or the Faculty of Law. Optional course choices offered by other departments are subject to approval by the course instructor and the MPA Program Director. Students may choose to complete a Master's Project, in lieu of two optional half-courses. Students may also be permitted to take one or two graduate courses off-campus to meet optional course requirements.
Areas of Concentration
MPA and PMPA students may choose to concentrate their elective courses in one field or pursue elective courses in several areas. Currently the School of Policy Studies offers concentrations in several important policy areas: health policy, social policy, the third sector, global governance and defence management. Students also may build their own concentrations in areas of personal and professional interest.
Health Policy: Canadians continue to expect and value high quality in health-care services. In recent decades, however, an aging population, new medical technologies and reduced government spending have precipitated a major restructuring of Canada's health-care services and rising public concern about the viability of a health-care system previously ranked among the best in the world. Decision-makers in government, health-care institutions, community organizations and other agencies face very difficult choices in allocating limited resources, as they struggle to balance citizens' demands for accessible, quality care for all Canadians against the need for affordability.
Our concentration in health policy provides both a comprehensive overview of current issues in health policy and an opportunity to undertake in-depth study on particular topics in health policy and management. Students participating in this concentration are required to take MPA-836* Health and Public Policy in Canada (or EPID-803 Health Services and Policy Applications) and MPA-838 Economic Analysis of Health Policy and one additional course credit in the field. (PMPA students may substitute MPA-838* for the core course, MPA-806 Analytical Tools for Policy Research.)
Defence Management: The defence of Canada involves protecting our national sovereignty, co-operating with the United States in the security of North America and participating in peacekeeping and other multinational operations. These activities require members of the Canadian defence establishment to make choices and decisions every day that significantly affect the defence and security of Canada now and in the future. Our concentration in defence management provides students with special knowledge and skills in the public administration and management of defence policy. The concentration operates in conjunction with the development of new teaching, conference and research programs in defence management.
MPA students pursuing this concentration take at least three defence management courses, normally including MPA-833* Introduction to Defence Management, MPA-834* Defence Decision Making; and MPA-831* Economics of National Security, with other related courses offered from time to time. PMPA students normally take MPA-834* Defence Decision Making, MPA-831* Economics of National Security and one other course.
Students may, with permission, complete the two courses and a Master's research project on a topic in defence management. (PMPA students may substitute MPA-835* for the core course, MPA-806 Analytical Tools For Policy Research.)
Public Policy and the Third Sector: This concentration complements traditional approaches to the study of policy by bringing in new perspectives that arise from the growing involvement of third sector organizations in policy making. The new governance structure relying on multilevel and multisectoral partnerships requires a deeper understanding of the multifaceted relationship between the public, the private and the voluntary sectors. Part of the challenge in policy analysis therefore lies in thinking outside the traditional dichotomy between state and markets, in order to incorporate the third sector, as the third pillar of Canadian society. The Public Policy and Third Sector Initiative is a research and teaching concentration specially tailored for students interested in focusing on the growing inclusion of voluntary organizations in the process of governing.
Students with a special interest in the growing importance of nonprofit, voluntary and nongovernmental organizations in the policy process may complete a concentration in the field of public policy and the third sector
Students completing this concentration must take three credits in the field.
Social Policy: In the immediate post-WWII period, Canadian and other western governments developed new programs designed to protect individuals and families from universal risks to social and economic security. Fifty years later, the same governments are reexamining and redesigning "the welfare state," in the face of market globalization, economic restructuring, information technologies, growing labour mobility, and the changing demographics of populations. This concentration in social policy allows students to examine the economic, social, demographic and political forces that underlie demands for the reform of social programs and to assess the responses of governments at the local, national and international levels to the changing needs of citizens, communities and nations.
Students must complete three credits in the field. They may complete MPA 898 Master's Research Project (equivalent to two course credits), instead of two courses to meet concentration requirements.
Global Governance: This concentration focuses on the political and institutional basis of order and change in a world without centralized government. It includes the study of the policies of states and the international institutions through which they seek to manage issues of personal and collective security, economic development and prosperity, and environmental stewardship. This concentration includes courses designed to develop substantive knowledge and policy skills to work effectively in a globalized world of public policy. The core courses centre on international intergovernmental organizations such as the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, NATO and other “regional” organizations. Other courses are offered on trade policy, foreign policy, and international law.
Students must complete three credits in the field. Students may complete MPA-898 Master's Research Project (equivalent to two course credits) instead of two optional courses to meet concentration requirements. They may take courses in international law offered each spring at the Queen's International Study Centre at Herstmonceux Castle in southern England.
Programs of Study 
