Toronto is at the economic centre of Canada, anchoring its manufacturing, finance, design, music, film and TV, and technology industries. But it’s an expensive place to live between rents, groceries, entertainment and transit/parking, and that alone is enough to deter many people from the idea of returning to school full time. Not only do you have to pay for tuition, but you also have to find a way to live in one of the most expensive cities in Canada. Still, you’ve seen the salary expectations of someone with an MBA, and you know that it will give you a return on your investment, if you can make it happen.
A part-time,alternate weekend program may be the solution that allows you to continue to work while you earn a Master of Business Administration. Here’s how it works:
1) Classes take place on Friday evenings and all-day Saturday, on alternating weekends, leaving your Sundays free to recharge, spend time with your family, or tackle assignments.
2) July and August are always free, with no classes, giving you a chance to go on holiday and prepare for another busy year.
3) Complete the same specializations a full-time student would, even including double degrees or the CPA designation or CFA® designation.
4) The general comprehensive degree can take from 2.3 years to 5 years, depending on what credentials you possess and how you want to organize your schedule, with an average of 3.3 years.
That’s the typical breakdown of how the program works at the Lazaridis School of Business and Economics at its downtown Toronto campus. Located in the heart of the financial district, it sits in one of the city’s most transit-friendly areas (near Union Station, the subway, and several streetcar routes), making it easy to commute to from anywhere in the GTA. The first term of the program is taken up by Integrated Core Study, which requires that students tackle real business case studies using all eight business fundamentals in a holistic way. That means students have to apply principles taken from economics, marketing, financial and strategic management, accounting, business analytics, operation management, and organizational behaviour. The Integrated Core is an innovative and effective teaching style unique among MBA programs in Toronto and prepares students for the Applied Business Research Consulting Project, in which students consult a real client on a real issue facing their business.
Toronto is a great city for people to work and study, and in a survey of major cities across the globe, the Citi Foundation found that Toronto is the number one place for opportunities for young people, beating out places like New York, London, Chicago, Hong Kong, and Sydney. The city is home to nearly 15,000 technology companies (employing more than 150,000 people), the operational head offices of the Big Five Canadian banks (among the strongest in the world), over $1 trillion in Assets Under Management in the Mutual Fund industry, and a workforce that’s 1.4 million people strong. Earning your MBA at a Toronto b-school like the Lazaridis School of Business and Economics while building your career puts you on the pulse of Canada’s economic heart. There is nowhere else in Canada where you will find more opportunities to take the next step in your career and life.