The promise of freedom and adventure, but also economic prosperity, has drawn immigrants to Canada from all over the world over the past five hundred years. Most of the 33 million Canadians today live in the big cities in the south of the country. These are characterized by their multiculturalism, their security and their extensive cultural offer. Because the northern neighbor of the USA relies on diversity: the cultures of the different immigrant groups and the indigenous population groups – the First Nations, Métis and Inuit- should be preserved. The official languages to this day are the languages of the two former colonial powers England and France, with French being mainly spoken in the provinces of Québec and New Brunswick.
Not only immigrants, but also more and more international students are drawn to the vastness of Canada, a major country in North America listed on clothesbliss. Many Bachelor graduates from all over the world decide to enroll for a Master’s degree at one of the renowned universities. There are enough reasons for this, because the country’s university landscape is at least as impressive as its nature.
What makes the master’s degree in Canada attractive
- The rich country has a very good education system. Canada is a world leader in spending on higher education. The state’s investments are reflected in the consistently high quality of teaching and the large number of university graduates.
- Application-oriented research and teaching, intensive and personal support, no overcrowded lecture halls and seminars.
- The study system is based on the British and US systems and is therefore just as flexible and internationally recognized.
- Many years of experience in the Bachelor-Master system: There are a large number of specialized Master’s programs that do not exist in Germany.
- The tuition fees in Canada are lower compared to the neighboring USA.
- Students benefit from the bilingual and multicultural nature of the country, which makes it easy to train the intercultural skills and foreign language skills that are repeatedly required in professional life.
- The quality of life and the safety standard are very high.
A Masters in Canada: Overview
As in the Bachelor’s degree in Canada , the Master’s degree offers the option of either concentrating more on professional practice (professional education) or specifically on a career in research (academic education). A distinction is made here between
- Master by Coursework (professional education) and
- Master by Research (academic education).
The universities basically offer both types, although they do not differ from one another in the first two semesters. The students initially attend the same courses and only decide in the course of their studies for either the research-oriented or the practice-oriented variant. This is possible in almost all departments. The type of master’s degree can often be identified, as with the Bachelor’s degree, in the name of the academic title:
- Master by Coursework: e.g. Master of Engineering (M.Eng.)
- Master by Research: Master of Science (MSc) or Master of Arts (MA)
Both types of Masters have a standard period of study of three semesters. In reality, however, students tend to need four or five semesters. Students who achieve very good academic performance also have the opportunity to go straight to their doctorate after two semesters (fast track).
Master by Coursework
The Master by Coursework in Canada is similar to a bachelor’s degree: the students collect their credits primarily by attending events and doing the accompanying courses, such as exams or small term papers. In the first semesters they deepen their theoretical knowledge. In the higher semester they attend application-oriented courses and apply the knowledge they have acquired there in a targeted manner on a project.
The prestigious MBA (Master of Business Administration / maîtrise d’administration des affaires) and LLM (Master of Laws / maîtrise en droit) degrees are classic Masters by Coursework.
Master by Research
In the Canadian Master by Research, students first deepen their knowledge from the Bachelor’s degree. In the course of the master’s program, the focus is on writing a small but independent research paper. This is why the students in the higher semesters attend fewer events than their Master by Coursework fellow students and concentrate more on their academic work. Master by Research graduates then usually go on to a doctoral program.
Requirements for a Masters degree in Canada
A requirement for a Master’s degree in Canada is at least a first university degree (Bachelor, Magister or Diploma). Since the bachelor’s degree in Canada usually takes one year longer than in Germany, the German bachelor’s degree is not always recognized as equivalent to the Canadian one. In case of doubt, the Canadian universities check individually whether the study achievements achieved in the bachelor’s degree are sufficient for direct admission to the master’s degree in Canada.
Similar to the US, Canadian universities require certain Masters programs to take specific academic admission tests to ensure applicants meet certain requirements. And international students usually have to prove a certain level in English or French by means of a language test and enclose it with the application.
