Graduate Diploma in Public Administration

Western's Graduate Diploma in Public Administration (GDPA) is designed for mid-career local government administrators who wish to further develop their public management perspectives and skills at the graduate level. Most GDPA students work for municipal governments, but some are employed by separate boards, provincial ministries, not-for-profit organizations, or in the private sector.

The four GDPA courses offer specialized education in local administration and policy analysis, preparing students for the challenges of modern community, urban, and regional governance and administration.

The Diploma has been offered annually since 1974. Thousands of students from across Canada, with widely varying backgrounds, have completed the program over the past 50+ years. Many medium-to-large Canadian municipalities consistently use Western's Graduate Diploma in Public Administration as part of their professional development program for senior managers. 

Western's GDPA is highly accessible to students working full-time, because of its flexible format. We offer two streams of the GDPA, the On-Campus GDPA and the Online GDPA.

The cross-disciplinary faculty who teach in the GDPA program include academic researchers specializing in local government and practitioners with extensive local government experience.

Students receive Western graduate credits for the four GDPA courses and those wishing to continue their studies at the master’s level can either apply to the Master of Public Administration and receive credit for their GDPA coursework (within five years of graduating from the GDPA) or transfer directly (see below for eligibility criteria).