Students enrolled in the Master of Public Service program must successfully complete 10 courses from the approved list. Students may choose to take additional courses beyond the 10 courses required for the program.
Not all courses are offered each year. For a current list of courses, please see the Graduate schedule of classes.
Courses
PS 611 - Government, Politics and the Public Service
Canada's political system is foundational for public servants. This course unpacks the Westminster system upon which it's based and investigates the public service's role within key Canadian governance institutions.
PS 612 - Government Finance I: Accounting and Accountability
Governmental financial planning presents its own unique challenges. Delve into priority-setting, resource planning, and budget allocation, while focusing on stakeholder roles and responsibilities.
PS 613 - The Politics of Difference
Canada's evolving diversity brings about varied policy challenges. The curriculum emphasizes Canada's Indigenous communities, exploring subjects from aboriginal title to urban and reserve challenges.
PS 616 - Spoken French in Context*
Bilingualism is essential for many public service roles in Canada. This intermediate French course enhances is designed to refresh and reinforce linguistic skills students have acquired through previous French language training (e.g. senior high school or university courses).
PS 614 - Communicating with Diverse Audiences
Public servants often have to become communication specialists to communicate with diverse audiences using a variety of methods. This course offers participants an opportunity to identify and interrogate the stylistic and visual strategies characteristic of the documents in their workplaces.
PS 615 - Effective Problem-Solving and Decision-Making
Systematic problem-solving is critical in government. Through real scenarios, students will learn to analyze problems, discern causes, and develop actionable solutions.
PS 617 - Values and Ethics in Government
Values and ethics anchor exemplary public service. Use the Public Service's Values and Ethics Code to explore these concepts, examining their influence on policy and delivery.
PS 618 - Public Policy Development
Public policy development is a key role for many public servants. Study the dynamics of this process in Canada, from problem identification through to evaluation.
PS 619 - Government Finance II: Practices and Procedures
Governments have distinct financial practices and procedures. This hands-on course imparts essential skills within this specialized financial landscape.
PS 620 - Effective Leadership and Management
An effective leader demonstrates mastery of skills in four key domains: personal, interpersonal, organizational, and contextual. Using these four areas as a guide, this course shapes future managerial leaders for effective governance.
PS 621 - Project Management in Government
Project management is a core competency required of public servants. This course provides students with training in the key elements of effective project management, including team building, priority setting, scheduling, resource management, communication, and project implementation and completion.
PS 623 - Government, Business and Civil Society
Public service work frequently involves interactions with various levels of government, business, and civil society. Using political economy and social movement theory, this course assesses stakeholder resources and potential tensions.
PS 624 - Research Methods and Data Analysis
Data-driven decision-making is pivotal for modern public service. This course explores the principles and practices of effective research design and equips students with essential skills in data collection and analysis.
PS 625 - Economics and Public Policy I
Economic principles deeply influence public policy. Dive into microeconomics topics, emphasizing cost-benefit analysis and associated areas.
PS 626 - Economics and Public Policy II
This course focuses on the rationale for government intervention in a market economy. The course examines market successes through the analysis of the first and second theorems of welfare economic as well as market failures.
PS 627 - Coding for Policy Analysis*
Big data analysis is becoming increasingly relevant for policy analysis and there is a significant demand for coding skills. This course covers fundamental skills in programming that are essential for the analysis of large data sets that may be structured or unstructured.
PS 628 - Digital Government
The future of the public service is one that acknowledges that these systems need change, but that change can only come from new ways of understanding the relationship between the public and public service. This course envisions the future of digital government, studying both existing and upcoming transformations.
PS 629 - Data Mining and Statistical Methods*
This course will build on methods taught in PS 624 and PS 627 and consist of advanced applications of programming languages such as R and Python. The course will teach students on how to use such languages in the analysis of different types of data and employing complex statistical models, with the objective of extracting behavioural insights.
*Optional additional courses