Master of Social Work

Expand your career opportunities with a health specialization Master of Social Work

The School of Social Work is proud to offer Canada’s first health-focused Master of Social Work (MSW) program. The MSW program is housed at Renison, and is part of the Faculty of Health at the University of Waterloo. The MSW will build on your Bachelor of Social work degree and prepare you for leadership in health-related practice areas including clinical, community, health promotion and advocacy, program evaluation, policy, and research settings.

Waterloo’s online MSW degree will advance your understanding of, and practice skills needed to be responsive to, the social and structural determinants of health in relation to individual, community, and global well-being. You will also develop an advanced understanding of social work’s unique commitment in interprofessional health settings to address structural sources of injustice and inequity as they relate to health and health services access.

The MSW is delivered primarily online, allowing you to continue to participate in family and community life while pursuing a graduate degree in social work. The MSW program offers a rich and highly interactive learning environment where you will gain knowledge and skills in advanced social work practice within a focus on health, research/scholarship, professional leadership, and social work supervision.

As part of the program, you will attend our in-person Summer Institutes, which comprises one week at the beginning of the program, and one at the end, both in the month of August. This on-campus experience will give you an important opportunity to meet face-to-face with your peers, faculty members, and staff to build and strengthen teaching and learning relationships.


Renison's MSW program takes a holistic approach to social work

Why pursue an MSW at Waterloo?

  • Canada's first health-focused MSW program
  • Advance your understanding of, and practice skills needed to be responsive to, the social and structural determinants of health in relation to individual, community, and global well-being
  • Gain knowledge and skills in advanced social work practice with a focus on health, research/scholarship, professional leadership, and social work supervision
  • Get the best of both worlds - the flexibility of online learning with the personal connections made during the on-campus summer institutes

“I really liked the MSW’s focus on the social determinants of health. I am able to see policies through multiple lenses – we can structure policies around those social determinants and really make a positive impact on our community. I’ve learned how to mobilize resources from different sources to best support the people I am working with.”

Msenwa Oliver Mweneake, MSW graduate