Courses
The MPA teaches students how to bring broader academic knowledge and perspectives to bear on practical questions of local government administration. Throughout the MPA curriculum, there is a dual focus on academic training and broad-based professional skills development. The interactive teaching methods in the MPA and the mix of full- and part-time cohorts across all courses create natural opportunities for collaboration and community-building among students in the program.
Students will successfully complete these 12 courses to graduate (for progression requirements, see the Progression & Graduation page). The courses are offered in a set schedule, and we have defined progression plans for FT & PT MPA Students (visit Full-Time MPA page or Part-Time MPA page for details).
PA 9901 - Advanced Local Government
This course provides an advanced overview of local government in Canada. It surveys the structures, functions, and financing of local governments, and examines their relations with federal and provincial governments. This course is also a gateway for the rest of the program. It will give students the foundational knowledge needed to understand many of the most important issues facing local governments in Canada.
PA 9902 - The Policy Process in Local Government
Building on PA9901, this course introduces students to selected aspects of the academic literature on public policy processes and applies these in the Canadian municipal context, with particular emphasis on Ontario applications and examples.
PA 9903 – Theories in Organizations
This course introduces students to select aspects of the academic literature on theories of public administration and organizational behaviour. Students will learn how public organizations and the behaviours of the people who inhabit them relate to individual, group, organizational, and societal outcomes. They will apply a theory-based lens to help them better understand how public organizations work.
PA 9904 - Local Government Management/Administration
Drawing upon theories and research findings in public administration and management, this course examines administrative approaches, issues, and debates arising in local government administration. Students will learn how the complex and unstable environment of public sector organizations produces both challenges and opportunities for public sector managers and will apply insights from the management and public administration literatures to real-world local government settings.
PA 9911 - Municipal Law
This course provides students with a general overview of municipal law. Students will be introduced to the field through a review of legislation and cases related to a selection of municipal law topics. The goal is for students to learn how to apply the law to legal issues that tend to arise for municipal officers, administrators and employees. The course is organized to provide students with opportunities to participate in exercises and examine issues leaving them with a better understanding of how the law works and how to deal with legal issues that may arise for local government administrators.
PA 9912 - Financial Management
This course focuses on the tools and understanding that public managers in local government require to effectively manage public resources in the service of good public policy. Students will develop an understanding of the basic elements of public sector financial management, and learn to appreciate how financial considerations play a role in virtually every local government activity.
PA 9913 - Local Economic Development
This course offers a critical examination into the theory, practice, and politics of contemporary local economic development in Canadian municipalities.
PA 9914 - Research Design and Methods
This course is designed to introduce students to the research process. The principles and techniques covered here will be useful both for academic work (including the MPA Research Report) and for applied administrative and policy research. As well, it is designed to help students critically evaluate research encountered in academic work and on the job. By the end of the course, students will have developed a proposal for their MPA Research Report.
PA 9915 - Program Evaluation
The purpose of the course is to familiarize students with the major issues in the fields of program and policy evaluation. Students will develop an understanding of the theoretical frameworks used for evaluative research, validity issues in evaluative research, and the multi-methods, theory-driven approach to evaluation. The course reviews the process through which policies and programs are considered, developed, approved, implemented and evaluated. Evaluation research is of increasing relevance in an era where economy, efficiency and effectiveness are integral to the delivery of public sector services.
PA 9917: Issues in Local Government
This is the capstone course in the MPA program. The objectives are two-fold. First, the course provides a venue for students to review and apply what they have learned in other courses, by discussing a selection of topics related to local government. Second, the course allows students to get constructive critical feedback on their MPA research projects in progress.
PA 9918 - Digital Era Communications
This course introduces students to selected topics in the theory and practice of public sector communications. Students will have the opportunity to get hands-on experience with forms of communication typically employed by public sector organizations. Special emphasis will be placed on digital era communication tools and strategies and their use by local governments.
PA 9923: Strategic Planning and Management
The purpose of this course is to explore the theoretical ideas and practical challenges involved in planning and managing strategically in local government. Its aim is to investigate organization performance and the role of ‘strategy’ in creating public value. Strategic management concepts and planning techniques and processes will be viewed from an organizational, political and community context. The course will challenge the MPA student to think critically about ‘strategy formation’ in public sector management.
Course Exemption
MPA students with extensive academic and professional experience in a field that pertains directly to a specific course topic may be eligible for an exemption from that course. Eligible students must submit their request for exemption in writing to the Program Director. Most exemptions are granted for either PA 9911 Municipal Law or PA 9912 Financial Management.
The criteria for approval are:
1. The student must have management-level employment experience in the field (e.g., municipal lawyer or treasurer)
2. The student must hold or be working towards a professional designation in the field (e.g., with the Law Society of Ontario or CPA Ontario)
3. The student must have taken courses covering similar topics at either the undergraduate or graduate level
