Durham College

Durham College has more than 145 full-time post-secondary programs, including six honours bachelor’s degrees and nine apprenticeship programs in fields as diverse as culinary management, farming and horticulture, business, IT, construction and skilled trades, science and technology, health care, social and community services, media, AI, art and design. In the fall of 2025, the college will launch two new programs: electric-drive vehicle technician and interior decorating. With a focus on experiential learning, the college fosters relationships with business, industry, government and the community to enable field placements, applied research, co-ops and other opportunities. It offers a graduate certificate program to help address Canada’s shortage of skilled AI professionals. The school also has an e-sports gaming arena and a studio for motion capture, virtual reality and augmented reality. 

Durham operates campuses in Oshawa and Whitby, and shares its Oshawa campus with Ontario Tech University. The college has three student residences. Durham College has also been recognized as one of Canada’s greenest employers for eight years in a row. 

At the Oshawa campus, the school recently opened the Centre for Innovation and Research, home to four of the six total applied research centres. The Centre for Collaborative Education brings together local, Indigenous and global communities, featuring the Durham College Spa, Rotary Global Classroom and interprofessional simulation and anatomy labs. The Whitby campus features the new 60,000-square-foot Ontario Power Generation Centre for Skilled Trades and Technology, which focuses on industrial skilled-trades training, innovation and education. The campus is also home to the W. Galen Weston Centre for Food, which provides applied learning opportunities for students in the culinary, hospitality, food science, agricultural and horticulture programs. In 2023, the school opened the Ajax Urban Farm, part of the Barrett Centre of Innovation in Sustainable Urban Agriculture, to help address issues of food literacy and security.

Quick facts

School size:
Large

Tuition:
Degree $7,600-$8,100
Diploma $4,300-$9,200
Certificate $4,300-$11,200
Post-Grad $1,800-$12,300 

Residence offerings:
Yes

Popular programs

Practical Nursing Diploma
Social Service Worker Diploma
Electrical Engineering Technician Diploma
Early Childhood Education Diploma
Trades Fundamentals Certificate

Cool options

Graphic Design: Students learn the skills needed to solve specific visual problems through practical work that covers a broad spectrum of communication in corporate, editorial, advertising and package design.
Community Mental Health: In this bachelor’s degree, students develop a strong cultural lens and thorough understanding of social factors to support the mental health of diverse populations. 
Horticulture Food and Farming Diploma: Students learn the art, science and business of horticulture and gain the skills required to create landscapes, renew historical gardens, enhance communities and express their creativity in a broad range of professional environments. The program includes an optional co-op.