About

The Department of Politics and Public Administration was founded in 1962 with politics and public administration courses offered to ‘mature students’ as part of a certificate program at the then Ryerson Institute of Technology. In addition to the certificate program, which became a part-time undergraduate degree program in Public Administration in 1983, the Department launched both its full-time Politics and Governance Bachelor of Arts degree and the Master of Arts in Public Policy and Administration in 2005. The Department also has a partnership with the First Nations Technical Institute to deliver the Bachelor of Arts in Public Administration and Governance.  The Department offers double-majors in collaboration with Criminology, History, and Sociology and is an active participant in several interdisciplinary programs, from certificates to doctoral programs.

Building on its historical expertise in public policy and administration and Canadian politics, the Department of Politics and Public Administration has strengthened its research and teaching capacity in the fields of global politics, comparative politics, and political theory in the past fifteen years.

In line with Toronto Metropolitan University’s mandate, the Department strives to excel in the advancement of theoretical as well as applied knowledge to understand how politics and political institutions work at various levels - local, regional, provincial/state, national, and global. Researching and teaching governance by focusing on its political, economic, social, and cultural dimensions since 1962, programs in Politics and Public Administration prepare students for careers in the public, private, and not-for-profit sectors with its balanced approach between theory and application through experiential learning.

The Department is proud to have more than 3,000 alumni, while currently serving close to 1,500 active students in the three programs.