Bachelor of Public Relations (Honours)

at Humber College - Lakeshore Campus Canada

The only program of its kind in Ontario, the Forensic Identification graduate certificate provides you with leading-edge forensic knowledge and skills for public and private policing. As the only graduates of this program in the province, it is designed for students who are interested in becoming frontline investigators. The program’s unique hands-on approach provides expert instruction utilizing the most modern criminal forensic technology within a specialized curriculum. You will study advanced fingerprint development and analysis, physical matching of footwear and tool marks, digital photography, DNA and blood profiling, forensic interviewing, fraudulent document examination, rules of evidence, and trial procedure.

Training takes place in a state-of-the-art crime scene studio and forensic lab located at the Humber Centre for Justice Leadership. This innovative facility features a simulation lab for processing forensic evidence from staged crime scenes including photography, fingerprint development, advanced evidence collection techniques, and digital crime scene mapping. The centre also features four interviewing labs for practising interviewing techniques and assessing credibility. Finally, your forensic investigation skills and knowledge are put to the test in our mock courtroom.

Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of the program, a graduate will:

• Mitigate personal, public and legal risk during crime scene investigations by adhering to industry established ethical and technical standards
• Document crime scenes using various methods including scale diagrams, models and charts to present forensic evidence in judicial proceedings
• Preserve evidence using established forensic techniques and standards to aid investigations
• Employ a range of fingerprint collection and analysis techniques to contribute to investigations
• Evaluate the legality, reliability and limitations of forensic interviewing techniques to inform professional practices
• Analyze bloodstain pattern evidence to establish its value, meaning and limitations
• Articulate justification for arrest, search and seizure to aid in judicial proceedings
• Assess the authenticity of documents to support and validate evidence in civil and criminal investigations
• Communicate with colleagues and the public in high-stress environments to contribute to investigative goals and to maintain the human rights of everyone involved

What Makes This Program Different?

• While there are several universities that offer forensic programs with a theoretical science-based curriculum, Humber is the only public college in Canada that provides a comprehensive hands-on approach to forensic identification.
• From day one, we'll have you in our state-of-the-art labs, such as our crime scene lab, forensic studio, interview rooms, and our realistic mock courtroom, working on a variety of engaging forensic-based projects. In two semesters, you’ll develop career-ready skills in forensics, making you a highly desirable candidate to employers in the Criminal Justice field.

In the current knowledge economy and information age, and as organizations recognize the growing need for research on which key policy and strategic decisions are based, the demand for social, market, and marketing research has increased substantially. The Research Analyst graduate certificate program focuses on the theoretical, practical, and ethical underpinnings of research, while equipping you with the statistical, technical and professional skills necessary to do applied research in a variety of different settings throughout the public and private sectors.

In this program, you will focus on all of the major aspects of the research process including research design, information retrieval and evaluation, data collection, analysis and interpretation, and the preparation and presentation of research findings.

Special features of the program include an emphasis on professional, ethical and legal implications when designing research studies; new research technologies for data collection; analysis; presentation; proposal writing; research entrepreneurship; project management; and program evaluation.

Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of the program, a graduate will:

• Interpret primary and secondary data applying principles of currency, relevance, authority, accuracy and purpose.
• Design and execute a marketing or social research project to provide recommendations and actionable insights.
• Manage research projects with due consideration to budget, schedule, quality, scope, ethics, and data governance.
• Prepare a variety of effective social and marketing research documents and deliverables using knowledge translation and mobilization practices.
• Communicate results of research using effective and engaging written, oral, visual and multi-media modes, that are appropriate for diverse audience needs.
• Respond to the evolving sensibilities/concepts of equity, diversity and cultural sensitivity in conducting research.
• Mitigate risk by the detection of bias in research design and processes.
• Collect data using varied robust, effective and appropriate quantitative and qualitative research methods.
• Organize and analyze primary and secondary data using industry standard software tools.
• Conduct research projects in accordance with legal, ethical and professional standards.
• Develop a career ready profile through goal-setting, on-going professional learning and industry exposure.
• Evaluate research evidence and findings for the identification of assumptions, soundness of logic and the veracity of claims.
• Select and synthesize academic, trade, business, institutional, governmental, or non-governmental resources for appropriate research purposes.

Work Placement

• Students complete a twelve-week placement allowing them to gain valuable practical and professional experience.

Humber’s Public Administration graduate certificate program is the first of its kind in Canada providing all of the knowledge, skills and experience graduates need to become successful public service employees. Designed and taught by public administration professionals, this program is your key to succeeding quickly in a public sector job. You will receive advanced training in communications, policy analysis, project management, information technology, public finance, governance, leadership and human resources management. Experienced faculty, most of whom currently work in the public sector, will guide you through the core of the curriculum, with guest speakers addressing specific topical issues. The practical, skills-based curriculum provides the foundation for long-term career success by exposing you to the primary activities of public administration and by providing networking opportunities with civil servants from across the sector.

Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of the program, a graduate will:

• Describe the machinery of government in Canada, including the roles and responsibilities of executives, legislatures and the judiciary, as well as the relationships between all levels of government.
• Define ethics and values which are key to public administration and explain how they apply at all levels of public administration.
• Explore and compare public administration practices found in industrialized countries, especially member states of the European Union and the United States.
• Discuss current issues affecting Canadian public administration and examine how those issues are managed from a public management perspective.
• Discuss key elements of strategic planning processes and examine how these apply to public administration.
• Understand and relate to governments from two perspectives: as business entities with strategic plans, budgets, and core businesses; and as organizations composed of complex human behaviour.
• Explain key economic and finance concepts such as externalities, public and private goods, deficit financing, debt repayment, and fiscal federalism.
• Demonstrate how governments plan, manage and report on the collection and expenditure of public funds.
• Discuss information technology and software applications used in public administration as well as current information technology issues faced by public sector IT managers.
• Prepare and manage human resources in public administration, including the preparation of HR plans, recruitment and selection processes, supervisory skills, negotiating skills and conflict resolution skills.
• Describe the role that communications plays in the public sector and work with stakeholders and partners to meet the information needs of the public, the media, political staff and the bureaucracy.
• Examine how governments develop, implement and evaluate programs in general and learn how to use specific research and analysis tools to contribute to that process in particular.
• Identify the methodological and conceptual issues associated with evaluating and maintaining quality services in the public sector.
• Identify the skills and knowledge required by project managers and project management teams in the public sector.
• Understand and fulfill leadership responsibilities in the public sector by assessing individual leadership traits and behaviours and apply this understanding to the broader theories and concepts of leadership.
• Understand, contribute to, and manage partnerships in the public sector, broadly defined.

Work Placement

• You will gain on-the-job work experience with an eight-week (minimum) work placement within the public sector. With faculty support, you will find placements with an appropriate organization.

Humber’s Business Management – Entrepreneurial Enterprise graduate certificate program provides the practical skills and knowledge you’ll need to take on a wide variety of leadership roles in innovative entrepreneurial enterprises.

This program covers every area of entrepreneurship from the fundamentals of developing and refining ideas to launching, growing and managing the enterprise. You will be prepared to take on key management roles in entrepreneurial enterprises including operations, marketing and sales, finance, human resources and strategic planning. Plus, you will learn all you need to start and manage your own new enterprise.

Students in this program can participate in Humber’s Business funding competitions for a chance to obtain seed funding for their new enterprise and other contests and progams sponsored by Humber's Centre for Entrepreneurship. Students in this program automatically become members of Humber’s Centre for Entrepreneurship which gives them access to mentorship, coaching, networking events, seminars, workshops, and entrepreneurial facilities and workspaces.

Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of the program, a graduate will:

• Develop and implement a comprehensive business plan for a new business enterprise.
• Present an executive summary of a comprehensive business plan to potential financial backers.
• Set up and operate a basic bookkeeping and accounting system for a new enterprise that will enable effective financial management.
• Construct, interpret and analyze key financial statements.
• Devise marketing plans encompassing development, implementation, performance monitoring and adjustment using appropriate tools, techniques and applications.
• Execute leadership strategies by modelling ethical practices and corporate social responsibility to enhance a firm’s competitive position and sustainability.
• Comply with legal and regulatory requirements, tax and other financial requirements, and non-financial compliance requirements and controls systems.
• Apply various selling structures, methods and techniques to generate revenue and effectively manage client relationships.
• Develop and implement an effective human resource management plan to support new ventures and ongoing business operations.
• Build and manage relationships using communication, networking, teamwork and leadership skills.
• Use evidence-based analysis and decision-making in all functional business areas.
• Analyze and realign business strategies to contribute to the operational sustainability of new or ongoing small or medium size enterprise.

Humber’s Introduction to Commercial Jazz Music certificate is a performance-based program designed to help you assess and strengthen your skills. It solidifies your knowledge of the fundamentals of western music and develops your current performance skills through the jazz-specific areas of improvisation, repertoire development and small group ensemble performance. You will emerge from the program with a clearer understanding of the field and your own career potential within it, and as a stronger candidate for entry into postsecondary music degree and diploma programs. All courses have a particular focus on the commercial jazz field.

Learning Outcomes

• Upon successful completion of the program, a graduate will:
  • Recognize & identify common styles of music.
  • Describe the commercial/jazz field in terms of tradition, artists, & styles.
  • Explain the contribution of various artists to the development of particular styles & idioms.
  • Analyze the components & performance differences of recorded selections.
  • Play a repertoire of memorized materials that are considered standards in the commercial/jazz field & reflect the various styles inherent in this music.
  • Write diatonic melodies in various styles demonstrating knowledge of relevant harmonic & melodic concepts & structures of form.
  • Perform in an ensemble demonstrating basic ensemble skills such as intonation, tuning, time, feel, balance & dynamics.
  • Identify their own musical strengths & weaknesses in terms of a performance career in the commercial/jazz field.
  • Implement strategies & plans for on-going personal & professional growth & development.
  • Establish a practice of critical self-assessment & professional goal setting.

Humber’s Comedy: Writing and Performance diploma program helps you develop your craft while gaining an understanding of the commercial side of the industry. Our faculty is comprised of seasoned, award-winning professionals who are active in the comedy industry. You’ll learn stand-up, improvisation, scriptwriting, sketch comedy and all other aspects of the craft. In addition, the program’s strong alumni network supports you through reunion shows, business opportunities and continued coaching. The program features many mainstage class shows, weekly Humber student shows at Yuk Yuk’s Comedy Club and Comedy Bar, and an organized showcase at Second City Toronto for scouts, directors and agents with students included on the basis of merit. Upon graduation, you will have the tools you need to embark on an exciting career in one of North America’s fastest growing industries: comedy.

Learning Outcomes:
Upon successful completion of the program, a graduate will:

• Produce a variety of comedic materials including sketches, screenplays, sitcoms and variety shows.
• Prepare and perform stand-up comedy routines.
• Discover their comedic voices and create materials that stem from these voices.
• Study both dramatic and comedic performance techniques, and apply those techniques to their own work.
• Prepare written humorous materials for magazines and newspapers as well as for radio broadcasts.
• Practice individual and ensemble comedic performances both in the classroom and in comedy centres.
• Apply the technical requirements of all genres of comedic writing.
• Respond to improvisation demands and create characters quickly on stage.
• Evaluate the business of comedy and develop career strategies and contacts.
• Learn from well-known North American comedic writers and performers and network with those individuals.

Humber’s Bachelor of International Development degree program is an interdisciplinary program that provides you with a solid theoretical foundation in sustainable international development studies and its related disciplines, as well as professional and technical skills in development management. The program is designed specifically to bridge the gap between theory and practice by building hands-on project management skills and capabilities. The program fosters a comparative understanding of developed and developing countries - countries of the global North and South - through directed study, analytical research and opportunities to travel that provide cross-cultural learning experiences.

Your core courses, in which you’ll develop professional competencies, include four streams: international development studies, supplementary disciplines, management skills and research skills.

Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of the program, a graduate will:

• Describe and critically evaluate the values, key theoretical approaches and concepts in international development.
• Demonstrate critical thinking in relation to international development policy and practice.
• Analyze international development through a variety of disciplinary lenses.
• Examine the roles and responsibilities of various actors within the field of international development.
• Design, plan, implement and evaluate international development projects using a variety of methodologies.
• Examine and apply various qualitative and quantitative research methods and assess the appropriateness of their use.
• Implement effective management of key financial, information and other resources associated with international development projects.
• Exercise initiative, personal responsibility and accountability in personal, professional and group contexts related to international development.
• Analyze cross-cutting themes of gender and environmental sustainability and their effects on international development projects.
• Communicate and work effectively in diverse environments.
• Critically analyze the practical and ethical implications of doing international development work across borders and cultures.
• Critically examine political, social and economic behaviours of various societies and their impact on sustainable international development.

Work Placement

• The 14-week/420-hour work placement is from May to August following Semester 6. A placement advisor will support your efforts to find a position that fits your academic and career goals. Your placement will give you the opportunity to explore the field of international development, as well as gain the hands-on, real-world experience that employers value.  We will work with employers and our partners to help you identify the best opportunities to pursue.

Humber’s Bachelor of Paralegal Studies program is the only four-year degree program to receive accreditation by The Law Society of Ontario as an accredited paralegal education program. This program combines legal theory with practical applications in courses covering ethics and professional responsibility, negotiation and mediation, evidence, advocacy, tort law, contract law, insurance law, and employment law. Students are provided with the legal foundation needed to consider a career as a licensed paralegal.  

We believe that properly representing a client includes understanding the client’s background and motivation. As a result, our program has eight electives which provide students with the opportunity to study social science, humanities and science electives. 

Learning Outcomes

• Upon successful completion of the program, a graduate will:
  • Explain the relationship between a wide range of legal concepts, values, principles, and rules of law related to paralegal practice within the Canadian legal system.
  • Outline relevant philosophical, historical, political, social, cultural, economic, and ethical contexts in which law operates.
  • Define legal terminology accurately and give appropriate, current examples of their use.
  • Research relevant information from a wide range of professional texts and legal data bases using sophisticated search methods and standard techniques of legal interpretation.
  • Use of methods of negotiation and advocacy in order to advance a client’s legal position in a contentious context.
  • Solve complex legal problems through selection of appropriate legal remedies for substantive issues and the related legal and procedural issues.
  • Develop a cogent legal argument based on an organized body of relevant facts verified through corroborating sources.
  • Present legal issues and solutions in client-centered plain language. 
  • Summarize the issues and arguments in a range of complex law cases.
  • Write a range of polished documents used in paralegal practice with accuracy, clarity, conciseness and organization.   
  • Evaluate issues to determine whether a case falls within the paralegal scope of practice and where appropriate, seek support and/or refer the case to a lawyer.  
  • Contribute effectively and professionally in a team environment to complete required tasks within set deadlines.
  • Take initiative to expand personal and professional competence in order to make on-going improvements in meeting client needs.

Work Placement

• Work placements offer on-the-job experience where you will use and sharpen the skills you’ve learned in class and apply them to real-world situations.
• The work placement is from May to August after Semester 6 and lasts 14 weeks/420 hours. You will work with your placement advisor to find a placement that fits your career goals. We provide placement support, such as working with the legal community, to identify work placement employment opportunities.

Humber’s Child and Youth Care advanced diploma program prepares you to promote the optimal development of children, youth and their families. Students are required to develop skills in assessing needs, designing and implementing programs and planned environments, and using daily life events to support and facilitate positive change. The program provides foundational knowledge in infant, child and adolescent development; child and youth care relational practice principles; psychology of the family; evidence-based or evidence-informed intervention strategies; group dynamics; and therapeutic activities.

You will learn that an essential component of professional practice is self-awareness, with many courses emphasizing self-reflection and the classroom being a professional practice environment. Your high energy level and emotional maturity will help you meet the demands of working with children and youth with complex needs.

Our program is delivered by award-winning faculty, renowned in their field, with current, relevant experience and advanced degrees. A key feature of the program is its therapeutic play lab fostering experiential learning.
Work Placement
Field placements with established partnerships are a critical component of this program. There is an exciting variety of innovative and traditional field placements available in and around the Greater Toronto Area. Field placements can also be arranged in your own community and are unpaid.

For the first field placement, opportunities are often school-based and occur two days a week for fourteen weeks. For the final two placements, you will be able to submit four to six placement choices with the school making the final decision. These field placements run four days per week.

Humber’s Protection, Security and Investigation diploma program gives you the skills needed to attract employers’ attention in the growing private/corporate security and public safety fields.

You will learn from industry experts using the latest technology-based methods in investigations, crime and intelligence analysis, security systems, and conflict resolution.

Small classes enhance courses designed to meet current needs and integrate theory with practical learning experiences. You will learn how to use protection, security and investigation techniques and technologies to accurately monitor, assess and document behaviours, situations and events; and to collect, preserve and present admissible evidence. You will also learn public relations skills, how to resolve conflicts and how to act justly when working with diverse populations.

This program is designed to meet both private and public sector demand for graduates who have expertise in protection, security and investigation, as well as a strong knowledge of the criminal and civil justice systems in Canada.

Note: Optional information sessions may be held throughout the year for applicants who wish to learn more about this program.

Work Placement
Semester 4 students can compete for a limited number of job shadowing opportunity with various GTA-based organizations in the corporate security and private investigations fields. This is an optional component of the program.