Advanced Certificate in Communication

The Advanced Certificate in Communication provides students with skills in applied communications. Students develop competence in areas such as professional writing, public relations theory and practice, management communications, marketing writing, and visual communication. Completion of the program will provide students with a valuable skill-set, applicable to every potential career. The certificate will be of interest to students who are looking to complement their previous post-secondary experience by focusing on an applied, career-related field. 

The certificate features flexible completion of required courses, allowing students to complete the requirements as part-time and/or evening study. In addition, students can apply six credits of first-year Communications or English earned in previous post-secondary study toward the Advanced Certificate in Communication. 

Admissions Requirements

Successful completion of 60 credits of post-secondary study from Arts, Science, or Business or an Engineering Technology diploma. In addition, students will need to demonstrate one of the two following options:

1. For students whose 60 credits of post-secondary study are in English as principal language of instruction, a minimum GPA of 67% in the Communications or English courses.
2. For students whose credits of post-secondary study are not in English as principal language of instruction, an IELTS score of 7.0 with a band no less than 6.5 in each of the four categories (Reading, Writing, Listening and Speaking) or alternatives as follows:

TOEFL 101 with no score less than 94
Cambridge 192 with no score less than 180
Applicants with tests other than these should connect with Admissions and the Communications department to determine an appropriate score.

Program Outline

The program allows for flexible completion and for student choice. Students can choose to register in whichever of the available Communications or English courses that are of most interest to them as long as they are not restricted to particular programs, in order to satisfy the graduation requirements. Please consult the Calendar for a complete list and contact the Chair of Communications for advice on currently available courses.

Graduation Requirements

The Advanced Certificate in Communication will be granted upon the successful completion of 18 credits, including six credits of first-year CMNS or ENGL, and 12 additional credits of CMNS, of which at least nine credits must come from courses numbered 300 or higher. Students may apply six credits of first-year CMNS or ENGL earned in previous post-secondary study toward the Advanced Certificate.