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Public Administration

Graduate courses

Community development (CD)

Core courses

  • CD 501 - Setting the Foundations for Community Change
  • CD 505 - Research Foundations for Community Development
  • CD 512 - Program and Project Design, Management and Evaluation
  • CD 526 - Communication and Engagement
  • CD 530 - Systems Thinking, Innovation and Strategic Planning
  • CD 531 - Leadership and Transformation

Final project

Elective courses

  • CD 506 - Enterprise Development for Community Benefit
  • CD 509 - Developing Capacities to Lead and Manage in the Non-profit Sector
  • CD 518 - Citizen Participation and Democratic Governance
  • CD 522 - Understanding and Mainstreaming Gender
  • CD 590 - Directed Studies

You may take elective courses from other departments with permission of the graduate adviser.

Public Administration (ADMN)

Core courses

  • ADMN 502A - Research Methods for Policy and Practice
  • ADMN 502B - Data Analysis and Interpretation
  • ADMN 504 - Government and Governance
  • ADMN 507 - Leadership and Ethics in the Public Sector
  • ADMN 509 - Economics for Policy Analysis
  • ADMN 512 - Public Financial Management and Accountability
  • ADMN 531 - Performance and Strategic Human Resource Management
  • ADMN 550 - Strategic Communication and Engagement  
  • ADMN 551 - Administrative Justice System in Canada
  • ADMN 556 - Managing Public Policy
  • ADMN 557 - Public Sector Research Methods
  • ADMN 598 - Master's Project
  • ADMN 599 - Master's Thesis

Elective courses

  • ADMN 523 - Special Topics in Public Sector Management
  • ADMN 531 - Performance and Strategic Human Resource Management
  • ADMN 537 - Foundations for Program Evaluation
  • ADMN 544 - Economic Evaluation Methods and Applications
  • ADMN 547 - Intergovernmental Relations in Canada
  • ADMN 548 - Special Topics in Public Policy
  • ADMN 577 - Strategic Planning and Implementation
  • ADMN 578 - European Union Urban Region Policies
  • ADMN 580 - Qualitative Evaluation Approaches and Methods
  • ADMN 581 - Quantitative Methods for Public Policy Analysis and Program Evaluation
  • ADMN 582 - Topics in Evaluation and Performance Measurement
  • ADMN 589 - Co-op Seminar: Introduction to Professional Practice
  • ADMN 590 - Directed Studies (as approved by the graduate adviser)

Master of Public Administration (MPA) students can also take these as electives:

You may need to take prerequisites if you take electives outside the program. These prerequisites will not count towards completion of your MPA program.

Registering in courses outside the MPA program requires permission from the graduate adviser and the other program's instructor. You will need to submit a graduate course change form.

Public Administration & Dispute Resolution (PADR)

These courses are shared between the dispute resolution and public administration on-campus programs.

  • PADR 501 - Collaboration and Engagement
  • PADR 504 - Leadership, Management, Ethics
  • PADR 505 - Policy-Making and Policy Communities

Focus areas

Focus your graduate program electives in an area of interest. Our course focus areas range from climate change and planetary health to Indigenous governance.

Normally, you will only take the required number of electives for your degree. Most of our graduate programs require 2 electives.

Current Special Topics

Fall 2025 10017 ADMN 548 SPCL TOPICS:PUBLIC POLICY Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy in Canada

The course takes an interdisciplinary approach to contemporary and recent policy initiatives to support science, technology, and innovation policy in Canada. Topics range from strategic roadmaps for science, innovation, and industrial policy; foresight, scenarios, and horizon scanning; inclusion of Indigenous knowledge, scientific integrity, science diplomacy, and research security. The course will also delve into themes such as open science and open government, political economy of decision making, and the relationship between science, innovation, and economic growth.

Spring 2026 20011 ADMN 523 SPECIAL TOPICS IN PSM Reforming Government

Governments and advocates have long sought to reform public sector institutions, seeking to better design and enact public policy and improve service delivery to citizens and communities. This course reviews different waves, scale and approaches to public sector reforms in democratic systems, including community-driven, technology-driven, partnership, horizontal, and multi-level governance initiatives. It considers whether reformers have sound plans for implementation and can measure reform success in evolving environments. Students undertake case studies of reform & should become more strategic reformers.

202601 20013 ADMN 548 SPCL TOPICS:PUBLIC POLICY Decolonial Planetary Health Governance

This course provides foundational understandings of Planetary Health through Indigenous, western, and other knowledge systems, with attention to Global North–South dynamics. Students examine the historiography of Planetary Health, socio-political power structures, and governance models across diverse contexts. Topics include colonial violence, Indigenous resistance and resurgence, relationality to land, and justice-centered governance. Through comparative case studies, students assess how projects using decolonial Planetary Health frameworks support equity, sustainability, and transformative policy pathways for social-ecological well-being.