MBA programs in Canada 2021: Ontario
This post was originally published in September 2020. Some information may have changed.
DeGroote School of Business
McMaster University, Hamilton
Full time: 16-28 months
Part time: 36 months
Work experience required: 1 year (required for international students; preferred for domestic), 4 years (required for part-time students)
Tuition: $38,500
DeGroote offers multiple MBA program options, including full-time, full-time with co-op, accelerated and blended learning. Flexible online learning combined with interactive residencies culminate in a capstone project with a corporate partner. The Clinic, a “thinkspace” connected with the McMaster University Medical Centre and St. Joseph’s Healthcare in Hamilton, helps commercialize McMaster’s vast research by having MBA students transform data into viable businesses. Extracurriculars include initiatives that focus on wellness and inclusivity, and cultural and pride events.
Goodman School of Business
Brock University, St. Catharines
Full time: 16-20 months
Part time: 2-4 years
Work experience: Recommended, not required
Tuition: $26,000
A new “double degree” option at the Goodman School of Business allows students to follow up their year in St. Catharines with an overseas French adventure: a year at either Kedge Business School or the Burgundy School of Business. Students graduate with both an MBA and a master of public health (Brock), science (Burgundy) or management (Kedge). (French proficiency is not required; all classes are in English.) Goodman also offers an optional co-op work placement, and recent renovations feature state-of-the-art technology in intimate classes, which are capped at 45.
University of Guelph
Guelph
Full time: 24 months (no part-time)
Work experience required: 3-5 years in a related field
Tuition: $40,600
The relatively hefty work experience prerequisite makes for an impressive cohort that already excels at a wide range of skills. No work placement is required (though the Business Career Development Centre will happily help graduates find work). Beginning each May, students complete nine core business courses, three specialized industry courses and either a research project or two electives. With its recent $21-million donation from Stu and Kim Lang—the largest in the school’s history—the business program will have a new home on campus in the renovated Macdonald Hall, as well as substantial new resources, supplies, scholarships and experiential learning opportunities.
Ivey Business School
Western University, London
Full time: 13 months (no part-time)
Work experience required: 3-5 years
Tuition: $83,300
While Western’s MBA program isn’t technically part-time, a new 12-month accelerated program has been available since January 2020 for working professionals with undergraduate degrees in business. The innovative “blended” program requires just three weekend class days per month and an interactive online portion to be completed at the student’s own pace, wherever they are in the world. One hundred and seventy full-time and 35 accelerated Ivey MBA students enjoy over a dozen clubs, including entrepreneurship, consulting and pride clubs, and participate in various case competitions and community service projects. The newly completed Robert Stuebing Recruiting Centre is dedicated entirely to career management.
Schulich School of Business
York University, Toronto
Full time: 16 months
Part time: 42 months
Work experience required: 2 years
Tuition: $71,900
Ranked the top school in Canada by Forbes and The Economist, Schulich has overseas campuses in India and China and operates exchanges with over 80 leading business schools globally, situating its graduates in one of the largest alumni networks in the world. The school recently opened its new Robert and Cheryl McEwen Graduate Study & Research Building and added two new master’s degrees—a Master of Supply Chain Management and Master of Management in Artificial Intelligence—for a total of eight, making Schulich one of the most diversified business schools in North America.
Lakehead University
Thunder Bay
Full time: 12 months
Part time: 36 months
Work experience required: None
Tuition: $18,600
Early-career professionals with backgrounds of all kinds pick Lakehead’s MBA, offered in a year-long, full-time or three-year, part-time program. Alongside core courses on operations, marketing, financial and human resource management is a real-world industry-embedded capstone project course. In a cohort of 60, 85 per cent are international students. Though not required to, those who prefer a work placement can apply through the school’s Work Integrated Learning program.
Laurentian University
Sudbury
Full time: 12 months (fast track)–24 months
Part time: Up to 8 years
Work experience required: None
Tuition: $25,300
Though the average Laurentian MBA student has 13 years of work experience, they don’t technically need any on-the-job time at all, and they’re not required to take the GMAT. These are big incentives for the school’s more than 200 part-timers (more than four times the full-time cohort) who seek to complete the degree on their own time and terms. A flexible format lets them work online, on-campus or in a combination of both. Class offerings are continually expanding; six recent additions include Ethical Leadership, Global Management and Corporate Finance. A work placement is required only for those with two or fewer years of work experience.
Lazaridis School of Business & Economics
Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo
Full time: 12 months
Part time: 40 months
Work experience required: 2 years
Tuition: $33,000
Routinely ranked No. 1 in student satisfaction by Maclean’s, Laurier is home to Lazaridis’s co-op business degree—the largest in Canada—and the MBA that pioneered the development of an integrated curriculum. Eighty-five full-time and 90 part-time students (a full half of them female in both streams) focus on immersive learning with an emphasis on management (though there’s no management experience required for the co-op program). Options abound with classes offered on weekends and evenings and in two locations: the Waterloo campus and downtown Toronto.
Odette School of Business
University of Windsor, Windsor
Full time: 14 months
Part time: 24 months
Work experience required: None
Tuition: $28,000
Designed to accommodate students without business backgrounds, this intimate and immersive 14-month program—capped at just 48 people per year—features some cool crossovers for students with many interests. Odette’s partnership with Windsor’s Faculty of Law offers an integrated MBA and JD, for example, and the accounting stream, accredited by the Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario, directly prepares grads to write the body’s final exam. A unique co-op placement divides the classroom into small groups and pairs them with corporations like Crayola and Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment.
Rotman School of Management
University of Toronto, Toronto
Full time: 20 months
Part time: 28-32 months
Work experience required: 2 years
Tuition: $92,500
More than 400 MBA students annually choose U of T’s Rotman School: it’s in the heart of multicultural Toronto, enjoys a global reputation of excellence and offers massive choice with 90 electives across seven academic areas and 15 majors. Nine classrooms were recently renovated with the latest technology to accommodate a similarly wide range of learning options (traditional, hybrid-online, experiential and immersive lab delivery). Many students take advantage of academic credits available through a large slate of experiential learning ops such as the Creative Destruction Lab, where they serve as business advisers to technology start-ups.
Smith School of Business
Queen’s University, Kingston
Full time: 12 months (no part-time)
Work experience required: 2 years
Tuition: $83,000
Smith’s innovative approach focuses on team-based learning that mirrors the workplace. For the duration of their core program, students are assigned to small groups in which they collaborate on assignments, projects and presentations while they also identify their individual strengths and skills. Each student benefits from a team coach who supports their progress and effectiveness. Students can customize their MBA experience from six specializations, which include digital transformation, management analytics, entrepreneurship and innovation. Alumni return regularly to teach courses and lead weekend workshops on business areas not directly covered in the curriculum. One-on-one career coaching helps identify career preferences, nurture emotional intelligence and strategize a job search plan.
Sprott School of Business
Carleton University, Ottawa
Full time: 16 months (no part-time)
Work experience required: None
Tuition: $19,000
Construction is well underway for the Sprott School of Business’s new home in 2021: the Nicol Building, a 115,000-sq.-foot facility designed for collaborative learning. Since the curriculum is specifically designed for creative, high-performing individuals who want to start their own companies or make the leap into the corporate world, Sprott students don’t need any work experience or even a business background. (Those with no experience at all, however, complete a 16-week internship, usually in the summer.) Sprott’s offerings of broad business skills and a range of applied projects make it an ideal choice for anyone starting from scratch.
Ted Rogers School of Management
Ryerson University, Toronto
Full time: 12-16 months
Part time: 24-36 months
Work experience required: 2 years
Tuition: $23,000
The MBA program at the Ted Rogers School of Management has been totally modernized for the fall of 2020. The new curriculum is driven by four themes—diversity, technology, innovation and entrepreneurship—and offers maximum flexibility and innovation for students looking to change careers, move up and into management, or enter the business world from a different background. (No undergraduate business degree is required.) The new program emphasizes flexibility in its delivery format with a combination of online, modular and hybrid lectures and live online sessions. The elective curriculum focuses on business disruption in data analytics, finance, human resources and other current management topics.
Telfer School of Management
University of Ottawa, Ottawa
Full time: 12 or 24 months (no part-time)
Work experience required: Minimum 3 years’ full-time management experience
Tuition: $30,400
Students in Telfer’s MBA program can complete the program in as little as 12 months. Telfer excels at extracurriculars—exchange programs, co-ops, student clubs, speaker series and partnerships with local businesses—that strive to incorporate French and English and thrive within the Canadian and international francophone communities. Anyone looking to perfect their bilingualism should consider the immersion stream. All grads complete a consulting project where teams of four or five devote consulting services to local businesses.
2021 MBA Guide
British Columbia
Prairies
Ontario
Quebec
Atlantic Canada
Online
2021 EMBA Guide
British Columbia
Prairies
Ontario
Quebec
Atlantic Canada
Online