As Canada's only graduate program in Local Economic Development (LED), the Master's of Applied Environmental Studies program prepares students for careers in local, regional, and community economic development. As well, many economic development professionals take the program to upgrade their skills and earn a specialized Master's degree.
Over the past few years the importance of local economic development has grown as communities and regions search for innovative ways to diversify their economic activities. Our graduates, who benefit from the University of Waterloo's reputation as one of Canada's leading graduate schools, have careers in communities across Canada.
The program is designed to be completed in a year and consists of eight courses, a research paper, and an internship for students with less than two years professional experience. Students learn theoretical fundamentals and applied skills through weekly contact with economic development professionals and the Faculty's own researchers and professors.
Seminars taught by guest speakers and leading researchers expose students to a range of local development issues, including entrepreneurship, information technologies, labour market processes, service sector expansion, globalization, strategic economic planning, environmental impact assessment, and sustainability.
As members of an interdisciplinary program within the Faculty of Environmental Studies, students in Local Economic Development interact with students and professors in the Faculty's other graduate programs: Environment and Resource Studies, Geography, and Planning.
Topics of mutual interest include industrial, urban, and rural economic development, resource and recreation analysis, tourism, as well as urban, regional, and environmental planning. Students also benefit from close ties with the Department of Economics in the Faculty of Arts.
Approximately ten new students are admitted to the program each year, keeping class sizes small to allow students to interact with professors, guest speakers, and fellow students.