Diploma in Recreation and Leisure Services

at Algonquin College - Ottawa Campus Canada

Accredited by the Ontario Association of Certified Engineering Technicians and Technologists (OACETT), Computer Systems Technician is a two year Ontario College Diploma program that prepares the students for a career in either the public or the private sector in Information technology. 

The program focuses on the technical aspects of widely used troubleshooting techniques and components for networking technologies, system administration, computer hardware, operating systems, and a suite of related support and application software packages along with developing the communication skills, IT workplace ethics, technical report writing skills, customer support/interpersonal skills, workplace health and safety knowledge. 

The requirements and subject matter found in certifications, such as Computer Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) A+, Network+, Linux+, Security+,  Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS) and Cisco Academy CCENT/CCNA are explored, and the students are encouraged to write relevant industry certifications once they have met the requirements.

The college provides the students with access to the most modern computing facilities running Windows and GNU/Linux/UNIX-based operating system (O/S) platforms, hardware labs, Aruba and Cisco, specialized networking, network-based O/S servers, licensed versions of selected Microsoft O/S, VMWare and supporting a wide variety of pre-installed software applications offering them great exposure to real-world technologies. 

The three-year Business Administration (Core) Ontario College Advanced Diploma program provides you with essential skills and knowledge for a career in business. This program is the perfect option if you are interested in pursuing a career in business, but are unsure which specialization best fits your interests.

This program has been designed to allow you to explore a variety of business fields before ultimately deciding on a major. In the third semester, take one course from each major to help you understand the various career specializations. During this time, you have the opportunity to meet with upper-level students and program coordinators for guidance. Then you make a selection that is most aligned to your interests.

Your final three semesters match the career or field you`re interested in pursuing. Choose to major in Accounting, Finance, Human Resources, International Business, Marketing, or Supply Chain and Operations Management. With all majors, you have the opportunity to network and learn directly from business professionals. Our active Program Advisory Committee ensures that the program continuously evolves to meet the ever-changing demands of today`s organizations.

This one-year Drawing Foundations for Animation and Illustration Ontario College Certificate helps you to develop the strong drawing skills that are necessary for your evolution as an artist, to further your education in various creative visual art programs.

Expand your potential, using a wide variety of digital and traditional mediums to build creative works, while discovering your strengths and preferences along the way. Immersed in a studio environment, you explore life drawing, sculpting, and character, environment and creature design. You also create appealing environments that encompass a sense of character and a lived-in feel using proper perspective, texture and detail. Sculpting and painting with digital tools and software solidifies your understanding of the properties of light, value and colour and their influence in a 3D environment.

You have the opportunity to research and explore your abilities and interests in:

• Animation
• Comic books
• Book illustration
• Concept art
• Graphic novels
• Gaming
• Anime

This one-year General Arts and Science - Introduction to Fine Art Ontario College Certificate program gives you hands-on training in an art studio setting. It introduces you to possible careers and education pathways in the arts and culture sector. Build a diverse set of basic technical skills while gaining practical experience with:

• Painting
• Drawing
• Printmaking
• Sculpting
• Digital media

You also learn essential business skills that are necessary when working as a professional artist. Additionally, you learn about trends and topics in art history, as well as contemporary art theory and practices.

You receive an Ontario College Certificate in General Arts and Science - One Year, with a concentration in Introduction to Fine Art. Using the portfolios you have created, you can apply to a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree program at the university level. You can also continue your education at Algonquin College programs such as:

• Gaphic Design
• Photography
• Applied Museum Studies
• Interior Decorating
• or in Year II of Algonquin College`s General Arts and Science Ontario College Diploma program.

Should you decide to enter the workforce, this certificate demonstrates to employers that you have the ability to learn at a post-secondary, you are committed to a career in the arts, and you possess critical thinking skills.

Learning Outcomes
The graduate has reliably demonstrated the ability to:

• Develop, through general knowledge gained in a wide range of subjects, insight into both self and society.
• Develop flexibility and clarity of both thought and expression in order to develop communications competence to a level required by business and industry.
• Understand and utilize critical thinking processes and problem-solving techniques.
• Examine and evaluate various aspects of our changing society to assist in developing a sense of personal and social responsibility as a citizen in society.
• Employ basic vocational skills drawn from the areas of the Humanities, Social and Behavioural Sciences or Vocational Studies (Business, Technology).

This four-year degree program is designed for students seeking careers in the hospitality, culinary, food services and food science sectors through a unique combination of food science and culinary skills. Well suited for those with a passion for food and a love of science, this program produces skilled graduates with culinary and food science backgrounds equipped with the abilities to create innovative, high quality food products for existing and emerging markets.

Through combining the disciplines of food science and culinary arts, students develop the necessary skills and knowledge to become professionals within this innovative and emerging field. Students examine a broad range of topics including food chemistry, food microbiology, sensory evaluation, food processing, as well as culinary science and food service management, with a focus on food product development and enhancing the nutritional value of food products. These core science skills are complemented by advanced skills in food preparation, cooking, baking, safety and sanitation, management and leadership. Through applied research in product development, students have the opportunity to research, create and market their own products. In addition, students participate in two practical cooperative education learning opportunities gaining valuable applied industry experience.

Major food companies and producers seek individuals who have the ability to design, develop and process quality food choices that are healthy, affordable, desirable and safe for consumers. Graduates are well positioned to find employment opportunities with major food manufacturers or small, private label companies, in the areas of food production management, food technology, product development, quality assurance management, food services and food research and development as well as in health-related industries or entrepreneurial endeavours. Algonquin College is working closely with the Research Chefs Association (RCA) in seeking RCA`s accreditation as a Culinology(R)program. Graduates of this program are well positioned to write RCAs Certified Research Chef examination.

The two-year Broadcasting – Radio Ontario College Diploma program prepares you with the creative production, hosting, and technical operation skills needed for a career in radio broadcasting and podcasting. You gain practical experience working at Algonquin College’s two radio stations – CKDJ 107.9 FM and AIR AM 1700. With the help of a second-year mentor, you are on the air within three weeks of starting the program.

Find your passion in on-air performance, audio production, and creative writing for radio and podcasting. Courses cover all areas of these two industries including:

• On-air performance
• Audio production
• Podcasting
• Voiceover announcing
• Broadcast journalism
• Basic video production and photography
• Creative writing and storytelling
• Promotions and marketing

While working at the campus radio stations, you put the theory you learn into practice. In the first level of the program, you study alongside Journalism and Broadcasting – Television students, building a strong foundation in transferable media skills while exploring these related fields. As well, during your first level, you are scheduled for weekly shows on CKDJ 107.9 FM and AIR AM 1700. The importance of teamwork is a focus while operating both Algonquin College stations. In this program, you are given the opportunity to
work on interprofessional teams with other media programs. In the second year, you will have the opportunity to choose a specialty elective course that aligns with your media interests. Towards the end of the program, you continue to expand and apply your skills during a field placement in the industry.

The two-year Early Childhood Education Ontario College Diploma program prepares you to become an educator of children in a variety of early learning settings. Gain the knowledge and skills necessary to work with families and other professionals to support children`s learning and development.

This program provides you with the ability to create, implement and assess play-based curricula while building stimulating child-centred environments. Benefit from both theoretical and hands-on learning opportunities. You have three field placements during the program that focus on children from birth to age 12. These real-world experiences allow you to integrate theory with professional practice in early learning programs.

You assist in providing guidance to children while planning, implementing and evaluating programs. Through your placements, you gain valuable hands-on skills and experience to help you understand the diverse roles, settings, and responsibilities of an Early Childhood Educator.

Learning Outcomes
The graduate has reliably demonstrated the ability to:

• Create learning contexts to enable, build and maintain caring, responsive relationships in partnerships with children, families and communities that value and respect social, cultural and linguistic diversity including Indigenous peoples’ worldviews and Francophone identity.
• Co-create, facilitate and reflect upon inquiry and play-based early years and child care programs and pedagogical approaches to support children’s learning, holistic development and well-being following children’s capabilities, interests, ideas and experiences.
• Co-design and maintain inclusive early learning environments to value and support equitable, accessible and meaningful learning opportunities for all children, their families and communities in a range of early years and child care settings.
• Collaborate with children, families, colleagues, agencies and community partners to create, maintain, evaluate and promote safe and healthy early learning environments to support independence, reasonable risk-taking and healthy development and well-being.
• Use observation strategies to identify children’s strengths and challenges and to ascertain when children and families might benefit from additional support or community resources.
• Use professional communication in interactions with children, families, colleagues, employers, the regulatory body, government authorities and children’s service agencies to meet legal and ethical standards of the early years sector.
• Act in accordance with relevant legislation, regulations, College of Early Childhood Educators Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice, agency policies and procedures and principles of evidence-informed practice and reflect upon their impact on one’s own role in early years and child care settings.
• Identify, report and document when a child is in a situation of perceived risk for, or actual neglect or abuse, in accordance with legislation, the College of Early Childhood Educators Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice, policies and procedures.
• Create and engage in partnerships with families, communities, colleagues, inter-disciplinary professionals, authorities and child service agencies to advocate for quality early years and child care programs and services.
• Engage in reflective practice and continuous professional learning in accordance with principles of lifelong learning, evidence-informed practices in the early years sector and requirements of the College of Early Childhood Educators.
• Identify and apply discipline-specific practices that contribute to the local and global community through social responsibility, economic commitment an environmental stewardship.

To prepare for further post-secondary study, the General Arts and Science - Community Studies Ontario College Certificate program helps you explore your interests, aptitudes and skills, with a focus on social sciences.

Discover new educational pathways and find your potential. You receive an Ontario College Certificate in General Arts and Science - One Year, with a concentration in Community Studies. This certificate helps prepare you for success in a variety of Algonquin College programs, including:

• Child and Youth Care
• Developmental Services Worker
• Early Childhood Education
• Community and Justice Service
• Social Service Worker

You can enter the workforce and demonstrate that you have well-developed skills and general knowledge in a variety of topics. Completion of this certificate confirms to potential employers that you have the ability to learn at a post-secondary level.

With this certificate, you may also choose to continue your education in Year II of the General Arts and Science Diploma program. After completion of Year II with an overall GPA of 3.0 or higher, you can apply for advanced standing at Carleton University or the University of Ottawa.

Paramedic is a two-year Ontario College Diploma program well suited for the students who are looking for a dynamic, challenging and professional career and are able to work effectively under stressful situations in challenging environments. 

The program revolves around professionalism and dedication, integrity, leadership, compassion and commitment are the learning outcomes. The curriculum is challenging and includes practical/laboratory, in-class and online learning, high fidelity simulation and hospital clinical and paramedic practicums allowing the students to develop the clinical reasoning skills necessary to deal with traumatic and medical emergencies and the ability to communicate effectively with patients, family members and healthcare professionals.

Learning Outcomes

The graduate has reliably demonstrated the ability to:

• Communicate and interact effectively and appropriately with patients and others.
• Assess patients using relevant theory and practices and in compliance with current legislation, regulations, standards, and best practice guidelines.
• Establish patients` treatment and transport priorities based on assessment findings.
• Implement preventive and therapeutic patient management strategies to maintain and promote patients` well-being in compliance with current legislation, regulations, standards, and best practice guidelines.
• Integrate and perform delegated controlled medical acts in a simulated, clinical, and field setting.
• Evaluate in an ongoing manner the effectiveness of patient management strategies used and adapt or change strategies to provide optimal care for patients.
• Report and document patient information completely, accurately, and in a timely manner, in compliance with current legislation, regulations, standards, and applicable policies and procedures in a simulated, clinical, and/or field setting.
• Ensure personal safety and contribute to the safety of partners, patients, and others.
• Ensure the operational safety and preparedness of an ambulance and its equipment and operate an ambulance-type vehicle in a simulated setting.
• Collaborate with a broad range of personnel such as first responders, paramedics, emergency services personnel, health care professionals and other allied health care workers.
• Integrate and meet legal, ethical, and professional responsibilities while providing optimal care for patients.
• Identify and apply discipline-specific practices that contribute to the local and global community through social responsibility, economic commitment and environmental stewardship.

Learn to capture, create and alter images at a professional level

The two-year Photography Ontario College Diploma program encourages you to express your creative side while designing and capturing images that communicate effectively. You demonstrate a professional level of craft and creativity in digital imaging using high-end equipment and the Mac OS platform.

Learn the fundamentals of photography and create images that meet the needs of your client. By creating a state-of-the-art portfolio and a personal website using high-end digital cameras to capture professional-level work, you show your creative and technical abilities.

In addition to photography design and techniques, gain knowledge and skills in the areas of:

• Entrepreneurship
• Networking
• Branding
• Marketing
• Business practices 

Our studios have up-to-date studio and location lighting systems, lighting booms, soft-boxes and professional backdrops.

At the end of the program, enhance your knowledge and skills with a real-world experience during a two-week field placement where you gain valuable practical application and industry contacts. The program concludes with a student-run networking trade show, which potential employers and industry representatives attend.

There are many job opportunities in the industry after graduation. Graduates may find employment as a photographer in areas such as:

• Commercial and industrial photography
• Wedding and portrait photography
• Scientific and medical photography
• Photojournalism
• Image manipulation/retouching
• Print and graphic production companies
• Visual content creation