East Campus 5 (EC5)
305 Phillip Street
Tel: 519 888-4567 x 31012
mps@uwaterloo.ca
A collaborative program within the Faculty of Arts, Waterloo’s Master of Public Service (MPS) was created to fulfill the need for specialized applied public sector training.
The program’s first class of graduate students began the program in September 2010. Since then many of our students have developed strong connections with various governmental departments and are now graduating with the knowledge, skills, and experience needed to work at federal, provincial and local levels of the public service in Canada.
As of October 2016, the program introduces its first MPS Advisory Group comprised of honourable public servants with extensive experience in the Canadian political sphere. The goal of the board will be to create opportunities for students to learn from and collaborate with politicians seasoned in public policy administration and implementation.
MPS students complete ten advanced graduate courses from September to April, taught by instructors from a range of academic disciplines, such as Accounting, Economics, English, French, Political Science, and Sociology. They also benefit from the participation of senior-level public servants, who give special seminars and lead classes. From May to December, they complete eight months of co-operative education employment with a government department or agency. The final program component is a Major Team Project, in which teams of students simulate a realistic public service assignment, leading to a professional, thorough analysis of a salient public issue.
The University of Waterloo acknowledges that much of our work takes place on the traditional territory of the Neutral, Anishinaabeg and Haudenosaunee peoples. Our main campus is situated on the Haldimand Tract, the land granted to the Six Nations that includes six miles on each side of the Grand River. Our active work toward reconciliation takes place across our campuses through research, learning, teaching, and community building, and is centralized within our Office of Indigenous Relations.