The Master of Public Service (MPS) program is a course-based, co-op program offered through the Faculty of Arts. Launching in Fall 2010, this new program provides professional, multidisciplinary training for future public sector employees at any level of government (federal, provincial, regional municipal and Aboriginal).
Canada’s public servants have long been regarded among the very best in the world. Whether working in policy development, financial management or government research, well-trained public servants are essential to good government. Today all levels of government need employees with the knowledge and ingenuity to ensure resources, organizational capacity and effective communications are in place to meet the challenges ahead.
Given the wave of public service retirements anticipated in the coming years, governments in Canada need more well-trained employees. This is the message clearly conveyed to UW during an extensive series of consultations with senior-level public servants as part of the MPS program development. Responding to current and future needs is the driving force behind the Waterloo MPS program. Accordingly, the primary aims of the program are:
- to provide students with the skills, knowledge and on-the-job experience they need to become effective public servants in any branch of Canadian government;
- to ensure that municipal, provincial, and federal public administrations have a supply of well-trained and capable graduates in the future;
- to make available a unique professional program in Canada in which students coming from a variety of undergraduate fields can make the transition to a career in public service; and
- to provide a program that gives special emphasis to the distinctive demands made on modern public servants, in particular the need for ethical sensitivity, modern communication skills, sophisticated financial management, and excellent leadership.
Detailed program information is available on the Master of Public Service website.