Industrial Relations

Testimonials

"The interdisciplinary nature of the Master of Industrial Relations Program combined with its commitment to professional development provided a challenging and exciting learning environment. The reputation of excellence that the MIR program has established is one that employers recognize. The skills I developed and the knowledge I gained through this program not only prepared me for a career in labour relations but helped me to obtain my dream job as a labour relations consultant in a post-secondary institution.”

Sarah D'Alton, B.A.(Hon),, M.I.R., Consultant. Employee & Labour Relations

"The MIR/JD program has provided me with the opportunity to supplement my legal studies with further understanding of human resources management, collective agreement administration and labour relations. The added bonus of interacting with high quality professional students allows me to broaden my knowledge and maintain personal relationships for future years"

Ryan Plener, M.I.R./ J.D. candidate

Program Contact

Anne-Marie Bergman
MIR Program Administrator
Faculty of Arts & Science
Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada K7L 3N6

Phone: 613.533.6000 ext. 77319
E-mail: MIR.Program@queensu.ca
Website: https://www.queensu.ca/emprpgms/programs/mir

Program Overview

The Master of Industrial Relations (MIR) degree program is aimed at developing the knowledge and competencies that human resources and labour relations professionals need. The MIR provides students with:

A thorough grounding in labour relations and human resources practice;
An understanding of evolving employment relationships and organizational dynamics;
An understanding of the laws governing the individual employment and collective bargaining relationship;
The capacity to collect and analyze data on current workplace issues and interpret research in the field;
The skill set of the new HR/LR professional – consulting, facilitation, leadership, coaching, team building and communication.

The majority of our graduates secure employment before finishing their degrees.

Career paths – employment opportunities

Major employers include:

Air Canada
BC Nurses Union
Government of Ontario
CBC
Imperial Oil
CN
Irving Oil
CP
Chapter’s/Indigo
City of Ottawa / Toronto
Deloitte
Canada Post
Proctor & Gamble, among others

Degrees Offered/Method of Completion

Degrees Offered

M.I.R.: 10-12 months, full time

M.I.R./J.D.: 3-3.5 years + an additional year for articling. For more details you can also look at the Law website.

Professional M.I.R.

Method of Completion

Course work, seminars, directed studies

Fields of study and Supervisors

The Queen’s MIR program is delivered by faculty renowned for their contributions to cutting edge research and teaching. Core full-time faculty include:

Richard Chaykowski: Labour policy, labour relations and collective bargaining, organizational and workplace practices
Glenda Fisk: Employee entitlement, emotion regulation and stress in service occupations, workplace fairness issues
Robert Hickey: Labour unions, collective bargaining and labour relations, negotiations, conflict management
Deborah Leighton: Arbitration and mediation
Jacoba Lilius: Organizational implications of high-quality workplace relationships, occupational stress and emotional labour, compassion in the workplace, health-care management
Bradley Weinberg: Collective bargaining and labour relations, labour policy, conflict resolution

Funding, Academic Prerequisites & Deadline

Funding Information

Student are invited to apply for internal (see below) and external awards for which they are eligible including Ontario Graduate Scholarship and SSHRC scholarships. Entering graduate students who win federal government tri-council awards are automatically provided a $5,000 top-up award by Queen’s..

All applicants will be considered for the following internal awards:

Clarence J. Hicks Fellowship in Industrial Relations
Don Wood Fellowship in Industrial Relations
Cameron-Wood Prize
H. Carl Goldenberg Fellowship
Robert Grant Fellowship
Lia Dower Memorial Award
Frank Collom Memorial Graduate Award

Academic Prerequisites

4-year bachelor’s Canadian honour degree (or equivalent) in any discipline.*
Minimum upper second-class standing (B+/GPA 3.3), in each of the last two years of study, and demonstrated evidence of strong academic potential
Statement of Interest
2 Academic references

Test Requirements

For international students (if required), see the English Language Requirements as outlined in Step 3B in the How To Apply section of the School of Graduate Studies website.

*NOTE: Applicants who earned their previous degree from a university outside of Canada must submit a GRE (General) or GMAT score as part of their application.

Key Dates and Deadlines

Application Deadline: March 1 to qualify for award; final cut off June 15th. Full time program has one intake period of September. We have a rolling application acceptance for the programs, until the intake period is full.

Notification of Acceptance: As early as April.

Learning Outcomes

Degree Level Expectations - MIR (298 KB)