Quick Facts
Credential
- Bachelor of Commerce (BCom)
- Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA)
- Bachelor of Management (BMgmt)
- Combined Bachelor of Commerce
- Associate of Business (AB)
- Diploma
Program Length
- Combined bachelor's degree: 4-5 years
- Bachelor's degree: 4-5 years
- Associate's degree: 2-3 years
- Diploma: 2-3 years
Entry
- Combined bachelor's degree - entry after 1-2 years of study
- Bachelor’s degree – direct entry; entry after 1 or 2 years of general foundation studies; enter into third year with associate’s degree
- Associate's degree - direct entry
- Diploma – direct entry
Areas of Study
- general management studies
- specializations in business areas such as accounting, finance, marketing, organization behavior, human resource management, international management, operations management, etc. or specific industries such as tourism and hospitality, insurance, banking, etc.
Special Features
- co-op work experience or industry practicum
- international exchange
- combined programs
Over 60 university-level business schools across Canada offer undergraduate business programs run under different names – BCom (Bachelor of Commerce), BBA (Bachelor of Business Administration), or BMgmt (Bachelor of Management). Some programs are direct entry four-year programs (i.e., students begin their business studies in the first year). In other programs, students may do one or two years (i.e., 1+3 or 2+2 programs) in arts and sciences before being admitted to the Business School.
Some schools believe in “streaming” students into specific areas of concentration such as accounting, marketing, finance, organization behavior and resource management, marketing, operations management, etc. Alternatively, other business schools will offer specializations in such areas as entrepreneurship, hospitality, or international management. Still other business schools offer broad based management studies that are designed to prepare graduates for positions of leadership in organizations of many types.
While some business programs believe that one method of teaching business is superior to others – case method, lectures, field studies – often business schools will use a variety of deliveries, with increasing use of the case method in senior classes. In most business programs teamwork is emphasized and classes tend to be interactive with interactions between instructors and students and amongst the students themselves. As well, co-op work terms and international exchanges are incorporated into many business schools.
Most community colleges in Canada will also offer a business administration program that may comprise a two-year diploma or an associate's degree that is a ladder into a Bachelor of Commerce or similar program at a university.
The curriculum is typically very application oriented and, similar to university-based programs, includes a number of foundation courses followed by more in depth coverage of topics that prepare students to pursue a range of careers in fields such as accounting and financial management, banking, insurance, purchasing, entrepreneurship, marketing, tourism, government, not-for-profit and international business.
