Learn more about this field and the career opportunities it offers.
Public Policy and Administration Certificate
Unleash your policy leadership potential. Learn how to craft and deliver persuasive policy proposals. Hone your diplomatic and communication skills to gain respect as a policy advisor. Build a practical toolkit of skills to advance your career in public policy.
What Will You Learn in the Public Policy and Administration Certificate?
Government impacts all aspects of our lives. Everyone feels the effects of public policies enacted by the federal, provincial, and municipal governments.
Policy advisors and analysts have the potential to influence how leaders think about and respond to key issues like affordable housing, taxation, the environment, racism, pandemics, etc.
The Public Policy and Administration certificate helps aspiring policy leaders unleash that potential and advance their careers.
In this course, you will learn:
- How to think systematically, critically, and creatively about challenging public policy issues
- Exactly how government policy is developed and the realities of working in a policy-making role
- Key skills and attributes that are required for policy work
- Diplomacy in politics and persuasive communication techniques
- How to influence public opinion
- How to craft strategic, persuasive policy proposals
- How to gain respect and advance your career as a policy advisor or analyst
Benefits of Online Public Policy Training with Kompass
Most people seeking professional development must balance training with a busy work schedule.
We offer a flexible online format that makes this balancing act much easier, without sacrificing on quality or instructor-student engagement.
Online Public Policy training with Kompass is the ideal way to hone your skills and advance your career.
Here’s how it works:
- Study online at your own pace from anywhere in Canada
- Learn from a proven policy leader with extensive experience
- Get personalized support and coaching throughout the course
- Exchange ideas with your peers through online discussion
- Learn practical policy-making skills you can apply immediately at work
Check out this interview with the instructor to learn more about what to expect in the Public Policy and Administration certificate.
Career Paths in Public Policy and Administration
What to expect when graduating
There is consistent demand for skilled policy leaders in several sectors. Policy advisors and analysts are employed by:
- All levels of government
- Advocacy groups
- NGOs
- Private sector
Course Schedule and Format
Instructor-Supported Format
(Asynchronous)
Instructor-supported courses come with the support of a dedicated instructor but do not follow a set class schedule. Students work at their own pace to complete the course within a set time period. The instructor may offer pre-recorded lectures that are available for students to review or check-in sessions that students can participate in via video conferencing.
(1 -2 weeks)
All policy is inherently and unavoidably political. Policy is seen as having certain incontrovertible characteristics. It is purposive. It is a decision to pursue a particular course of action and to achieve a specified goal. It is outcome focused; policy decisions consider both ends and means. Policy may involve action or inaction; it must be more than mere political rhetoric.
The main goal of the course is to help you think systematically, critically, and creatively in giving policy advice to decision-makers in the public sector, or in undertaking actions to influence policy change.
(2-4 weeks)
Policy in Practice delivers the essential toolkit to the public sector. Public servants are adept at tackling complex policy challenges, from concept to delivery. This complexity means that an increasingly broad range of skills is required if you are to be effective in government. This course will add new tools to your toolkit, sharpen your existing skills, and unleash your policy leadership potential.
Who is it that practises policy? It is rare that any one person, or even any one organization, is responsible for the identification of a particular problem, the generation of an original solution, the development of a specific proposal, and the creation of the necessary support required to see a new policy implemented. These multiple layers of policymaking allow for a wide range of individuals and organizations to participate in the policy process. While the skills and knowledge required to contribute to different elements of the process may differ, an awareness of other participants is likely to be of use to all involved, if only to ensure that they develop the necessary relationships to ensure that their contribution is supported by others.
(2-4 weeks)
Governments depend on the policy advice they receive to help inform their policy decisions. In an environment where ministers are bombarded with complex information on mental health strategies, affordable housing plans, tax cuts, environmental consultations, budgets, crisis communications, and high-profile project setbacks from a range of sources with varying degrees of credibility and influence, a trusted advisor is extremely important! Policy advisors and analysts provide timely and comprehensive advice that simplifies complicated and technical information and balances good information with political strategy.
(2-4 weeks)
Conflict is inevitable in our day-to-day lives. We see it in our relationships, our workplace, and our families. However, it is also ubiquitous in decision making impacting public policy and politics! Cities are not signing international treaties, nor do they have embassies around the world. However, cities and municipalities can certainly engage in all kinds of negotiations, reach agreements, and influence public policy and politics. Cities form networks, engage in dialogue with counterparts, facilitate public diplomacy, share best practices, and encourage collaboration between private and public entities. This course will discuss the importance of diplomacy as a tool of good governance and how it can serve public policy discourse.
Instructors
Meet our industry-expert instructors.
Ryan is an accomplished policy professional with many years of experience in policy analysis, strategic communications, and stakeholder relations.
Since completing his master’s degree at the University of Toronto School of Public Policy and Governance (now the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy), he has served as a policy advisor to a Toronto City Councillor, an operations advisor with the Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, and an issues manager with the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. He is currently the policy director for the York Region Police Services Board.
Overview
Scholarship Offer
Register for this certificate and receive a $200 discount automatically on tuition!
Ready to start?
Classes begin every Monday!
Who Should Take the Certificate?
The Public Policy and Administration certificate is designed for those working in (or seeking to work in) government. The training is also relevant to individuals seeking policy roles in the private sector, NGOs, and advocacy groups.
ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS:
- Post-secondary university degree or college diploma; OR
- Relevant professional experience