For six decades, the School of Public Policy and Administration has been the leading centre for Canadian scholarship and graduate education in policy and administration – examining what governments do, why, and how they could do it better. The PhD is an advanced research degree – the only one of its type in Canada and one of the few in the world. It produces sophisticated analysts with the abilities and experience they need to advance the state of knowledge across a range of Canadian and international public policy issues.
A collaborative specialization in Political Economy is also available.
Capital Advantage
The national capital offers an unparalleled array of learning and professional opportunities, complemented by ready access to government departments and agencies, parliamentary institutions, media and non-governmental organizations.
Faculty Research Highlights
- Aboriginal governance
- Health and social policy
- Sustainable energy
- International development
They require research that is sound in its methods to identify and document the consequences of public policies and the prospects for their reform. They require research that is broad, taking into account the precedents, players and processes that affect the origin and design of policies and the ways they are implemented.
Our PhD in Public Policy prepares you to undertake such research, providing the conceptual and methodological tools needed to study public policies across a range of jurisdictions and fields.
Impact
Increasingly, the top analytical positions in government, NGOs and consultancies require doctoral training. Approximately half of our graduates hold such positions, directly linking the study of public policy to its practice. Others have taken up academic careers in schools of public policy, departments of political science or multidisciplinary programs—helping to shape the analytical frontiers of public policy in Canada and abroad.
The Program
The PhD will advance your knowledge of the literatures and approaches of policy analysis, the effects of markets and incentives in policy contexts and the research methods used to examine the origins and consequences of certain policies. It then enables you to apply that knowledge; first to frame a research question within a particular policy field, and then to address that question systematically through a faculty-supervised thesis. Our faculty have supervisory expertise across a wide range of policy fields—including sustainable energy production, the roles and regulation of the nonprofit sector, the reform of health care, Aboriginal self-government, international policy coordination, or public sector management and ethics.
The Experience
Students enter the PhD from across Canada and abroad, having completed post-graduate degrees in the social sciences, natural sciences, management studies or humanities. They spend the first year primarily as a cohort, covering the literatures, research methods and perspectives that are most relevant to policy analysis. The second and subsequent years become more individualized. Students select particular graduate courses that support their chosen research areas and methodologies, prepare and defend their thesis proposals, conduct their supervised research and then write and defend their dissertations.
Degree Structure
The PhD Public Policy comprises four single-semester required courses, three electives, a comprehensive exam, a research seminar and a thesis. It can be completed within five years of full-time study.
About the course
Our Evidence in Public Policy online programme is an intensive eight-week course which gives you the unique opportunity to hone the critical skills needed to design and implement policies informed by facts rather than opinion or instinct. Upon successful completion of the course, you will be able to evaluate the impact and implementation of policies within the context of your own role, an ability which will have an immediate impact on your career.
The course is focused on the following areas:
- how to use evidence to evaluate the impact(s) of policy
- how to apply evidence to policy decisions
- how policymakers gather and generate evidence in practice
- understanding the demand for evidence-based policy evaluation to be a greater priority in public policy organisations, globally.
This course is created and taught by experts from the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford.
Intakes
There will be intakes in January, May, July and October. Enrolment for October closes on 8 October with the course beginning on 9 October.
Fees
Course fee: £950 (inclusive of VAT)
*Early bird offer: Get 10% off with the code EarlyBirdOct10 until 10 September*
Get in touch
If you have any questions about studying online with us, email us at onlinecourses.bsg@pearson.com
Is the course right for you?
Learning experience
Studying online
Register your interest
Is the course right for you?
The course is designed for those who need to be able to evaluate the impact of policies. You should consider this master-level course if:
- you are an early- to mid-career civil servant who wants to know more about the benefits and application of statistics to provide evidence for the impact of policy in your community, region or country;
- you are an experienced professional in an NGO (Non-Governmental Organisations) or international organisation who aspires to better decision-making in government and public policy, or a civil servant looking to specialise in evidence and statistics;
- you are running for office or are already in office anywhere in the world, this course could help the development of your public policy planning.
Course outline
You will study eight modules over the course of eight weeks. It is a collaborative learning process, week-by-week, so you will have ample opportunity to discuss key policy topics with your peers and a Course Facilitator.
- Module 0: Course welcome and narrative
- Module 1: Introduction and key concepts
- Module 2: Causality and randomised control trials
- Module 3: Causality without randomised control trials
- Module 4: Wrapping up the methods
- Module 5: Aggregating and finding evidence
- Module 6: External validity and applicability of evidence
- Module 7: Practicalities: designing monitoring systems and impact evaluations
- Module 8: Submission of assignment
Learning support and outcomes
In addition to learning from our expert world-leading academics, you will also benefit from a Course Facilitator who will provide academic guidance throughout your learning journey – from beginning to end.
The Facilitator will:
- comment on weekly discussions on specific topics
- provide feedback on all project tasks
- give comments and feedback on all activities throughout.
Upon completion of the course, you will receive a certificate which will support your career in real terms. You will undertake an independent project which you can take into your workplace, potentially creating an immediate impact on your organisation.
Your work on this course will bring theory to life through practical examples which you can apply to your own role:
- weekly projects
- case studies
- discussion forums
- practical exercises.
Canadian Public Policy PhD/Doctorate Programs
Public Policy PhD and doctorate graduate and postgraduate degree programs offered by universities in Canada.
| Canada University Programs | Graduate Public Policy Programs | Public Policy Programs |
Postgraduate Studies in Public Policy
| Business, Economics and Public Policy University of Western Ontario [www], [profile] Richard Ivey School of Business Doctor of Philosophy, graduate studies Comparative Public Policy and Governance University of Victoria [www], [profile] Faculty of Social Sciences Department of Political Science [www] Doctor of Philosophy, graduate studies Public Policy University of Saskatchewan [www], [profile] College of Graduate Studies and Research Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy [www] Doctor of Philosophy, graduate studies Public Policy University of Regina [www], [profile] Johnson – Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy Doctor of Philosophy, graduate studies Public Policy Carleton University [www], [profile] Faculty of Public Affairs School of Public Policy and Administration [www] Doctor of Philosophy, graduate studies |
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