Master of Business Administration (MBA)

Earn your MBA in Waterloo in just 12 months.

Designed for professionals with more than two years of full-time work experience, the Lazaridis Full-Time MBA helps you accelerate your career with a rigorous, integrated curriculum and real-world application. You’ll start in September at our Waterloo campus and can complete the program in just 12 months (3 terms) or choose to extend to 16 months if you prefer a lighter course load. Since 1976, our program has delivered a career-focused, world-class business education and was the first in Canada to offer a one-year, full-time MBA. You'll graduate with cross-disciplinary skills, practical insights, and the confidence to take your next big step.

Program Design

• Three or four academic terms.
• This schedule reflects the 12-month, three-term option.

Term 1:

• Business Analytics
• Financial Management
• Financial Reporting and Analysis
• Operations Management
• Strategic Management

Term 2:

• Marketing
• Organizational Behaviour
• 2 electives
• Capstone Applied Business Research (project) + Not-for-profit practicum

Term 3:

• 4 electives
• Capstone Applied Business Research (project) + Not-for-profit practicum

Gain real-world experience while earning your MBA.

The Full-Time MBA + Co-op program is designed for recent graduates with less than two years of full-time work experience who are ready to strengthen their resumes and jump-start their careers. Over 20 months you’ll complete 12 months of academic coursework and eight months of paid co-op work experience, allowing you to apply your learning in a professional environment, exploring new industries, and building career clarity. Classes begin each September at our Waterloo campus. You’ll graduate with both the academic foundation and hands-on experience that will set you apart in today’s job market.

Program Design

• Twenty months (three academic terms and one paid eight-month work term)

Term 1:

• Business Analytics
• Financial Management
• Financial Reporting and Analysis
• Operations Management
• Strategic Management

Term 2:

• Marketing
• Organizational Behaviour
• 3 electives

Terms 3 and 4:

• Co-op work term of eight months

Term 5:

• 3 electives
• Capstone Applied Business Research (project) + Not-for-profit practicum

About Co-op

Canada's largest business degree co-op.

Wilfrid Laurier University is the home to the first business co-op program in Ontario and is now the largest business degree co-op program in Canada. We earned accreditation from the Co-operative Education and Work-Integrated Learning Canada (CEWIL Canada) for meeting high program standards. The Lazaridis Full-Time MBA + Co-op program is the first MBA co-op program in Canada to receive this prestigious accreditation.

Jump Start Your Career

In any given year, we are proud to offer more than 5,700 job postings from over 1,000 organizations. Many of Canada’s leading companies are attracted to the reputation of the Lazaridis business co-op program which often leads to full-time employment opportunities. Learn more about co-op at Laurier.

Balance. Flexibility. Impact.

Designed for working professionals, the Lazaridis Part-Time MBA lets you advance your career without putting it on pause. Delivered in person at our Waterloo campus, the program offers a flexible evening schedule that adapts to your life whether you want to fast-track your studies or spread them out over time. You’ll learn in small, engaged classes from faculty with real-world experience, alongside peers from diverse industries. With three annual start dates and the option to complete your degree in 20 months to 4 years, you can shape your Part-Time MBA journey around your goals.

Program Design

• Start classes in January, May or September.
• Flexible options to complete the program in 20 months (accelerated option), 2.3 years, or extend it and take courses over 4 years.
• Classes are held in the evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Note: This Part-Time MBA Evenings program is not available to international applicants requiring a Canadian study permit. International applicants are invited to apply to our Full-Time MBA or Full-Time MBA with Co-op programs.

Schedule

The below schedule reflects an example of course progression for students who begin in September and take two courses per term, continuously.

Term 1:

• Financial Reporting and Analysis
• Organizational Behaviour

Term 2:

• Financial Management
• Business Analytics

Term 3:

• Marketing
• Operations Management

Term 4:

• Strategic Management
• One elective

Term 5:

• Two electives
• Begin Applied Business Research (project) + Not-for-Profit Practicum

Term 6:

• One elective
• Complete Applied Business Research (project) + Not-for-Profit Practicum

Term 7:

• Two electives

This concentration focuses on using business analytics to understand the operations and outcomes of your organization’s practices. This concentration will teach you how to produce and interpret data and use it to take decisive action.

• BU655 Managing Innovation and Technology Transfer: Study the challenges of managing technology and innovation, and gain skills to lead successful innovation and technology transfer strategies.
• BU665 Advanced Business Analytics: Build on core analytics concepts like forecasting, optimization, and data mining. Apply these tools across business areas to support evidence-based decisions.
• BU671 General Managers in Action: Explore how leaders put strategy into practice, integrating management concepts with real-world implementation challenges.
• BU702 Data-Driven Marketing: Turn marketing data into actionable insights. Develop analytics skills that add career value across consulting, brand management, and customer strategies.
• BU618 Personnel Analytics for Managers: Learn how to analyze HR data to support decisions on turnover, pay equity, employee engagement, and workforce performance.

This concentration focuses on the logistics of business operations. You will gain a practical and theoretical understanding of how to apply an analytical lens to business challenges such as supply chain logistics, marketing, or operations management.

• BU635 Global Operations and Logistics: Examine how companies compete globally by managing supply chains, logistics, and exchange rate risks while coordinating international operations.
• BU642 Marketing Strategy: Develop advanced marketing plans that respond to company goals, competition, and external environments.
• BU645 Supply Chain Management: Learn how to manage the flow of goods and information between firms, suppliers, and customers, with focus on drivers like inventory, transportation, and facilities.
• BU652 Consumer Behaviour: Study how consumers make decisions and how social, legal, and media forces shape their choices. Apply insights to solve marketing problems.
• BU662 Marketing Research: Master the research process to support management decisions. Gain skills in designing, analyzing, and presenting applied research projects.
• BU665 Advanced Business Analytics: Build on analytics concepts like simulation, optimization, and data mining to solve complex business challenges.

This concentration is designed for learners looking to start their own company or bring an innovative mindset to their organization. You will gain a valuable entrepreneurial toolkit centred around accounting, organizations design, scaling, and incorporating innovation into your business venture.

• BU611 Entrepreneurship: Learn the process of launching a new business, from identifying opportunities and assembling resources to building a business plan. Topics include franchising and ventures within established companies.
• BU613 Entrepreneurial Finance: Explore financing challenges for fast-growing small and medium-sized firms. Study funding sources such as angel investors, venture capital, and equity markets, and learn how deals are structured.
• BU631 Social Entrepreneurship: Understand how to launch and grow ventures dedicated to solving social and environmental challenges. Develop skills in opportunity evaluation, planning, and resource mobilization.
• BU635 Global Operations and Logistics: Examine the strategic and operational issues of managing supply chains and logistics across borders, with focus on risks like exchange rates and global competition.
• BU661 International Strategy: Study how organizations expand globally, including foreign market entry, sustaining competitiveness, and managing globalization’s pressures.
• BU675 Project Management: Gain skills to manage complex projects effectively, covering scope, scheduling, resources, leadership, and cross-functional communication.
• BU699 Design Thinking: Learn how to apply design and innovation principles to tackle rapidly changing business challenges in competitive markets.

Building on the foundational accounting course in this program, this concentration will teach you advanced practices in finance and accounting management to ensure the financial and operational success of your organization.

• BU620 Managerial Decision Making: Explore how management control systems ensure organizational strategies are carried out effectively. Focus on tools that align decision-making with performance goals.
• BU643 International Financial Management: Study corporate finance from the perspective of multinational firms. Learn about global capital structures, exchange rate risks, and financing strategies beyond domestic markets.
• BU647 Tax Essentials for Professionals: Gain practical knowledge of tax rules and how they apply to day-to-day decisions faced by managers and organizational leaders.
• BU663 Advanced Corporate Finance: Dive into advanced valuation methods, including discounted cash flow, relative valuation, and options theory. Apply these to mergers, acquisitions, restructuring, and capital structure decisions.
• BU673 Investment Management: Explore the theory and practice of portfolio management through simulated trading. Topics include security analysis, investment taxes, mutual funds, and equity and bond market strategies.

This concentration will equip you with advanced leadership techniques and help you gain a managerial perspective centred around strategy, leadership, negotiation, and organizational change.

• BU614 Negotiation and Conflict Management: Learn negotiation strategies from theoretical, practical, ethical, and strategic perspectives, with practice through role-playing and case studies.
• BU628 Leadership: Study the nature of effective organizational leadership and how it contributes to better management of people and organizations.
• BU678 Human Resources Management: Examine HR strategies including workforce planning, employee development, evaluation, and compensation to manage talent effectively.
• BU701 Competitive Strategy for a Sustainable World: Explore how organizations deliver economic, social, and environmental performance simultaneously. Learn strategy tools that integrate sustainability and competitiveness.
• BU703 ESG Finance: Study the financial implications of climate change and the low-carbon transition. Gain skills in ESG investing, analytics, corporate finance, and climate risk assessment.
• BU731 Corporate Governance: Analyze governance frameworks, board roles, and fiduciary responsibilities in corporate and nonprofit contexts. Discuss current governance issues across industries.
• BU741 Corporate Strategy: Examine strategy and decision-making in multi-business enterprises. Topics include diversification, mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, outsourcing, and portfolio management.

Our Full-Time, Full-Time with Co-op, and Part-Time MBA programs follow a rolling admissions model for both domestic and international applicants.

Applications are reviewed as they’re received, and offers are made year-round until each cohort is full or the deadline passes.

Because programs can fill quickly, and international students need time to secure a study permit, we strongly recommend applying early.

• A four-year or three-year bachelor's degree or equivalent from a university or college.
• Minimum of a B standing or a second-class honours in the final year of the undergraduate program (the equivalent of 10 courses). Additional courses that are completed after the requirements for the bachelor's degree have been met will be calculated into the final year GPA. To be considered for admission, the re-calculated GPA must be at least a B.
• Applicants must demonstrate strong quantitative skills, supported by one or more of the following, as outlined in the statement of intent:
  • Work experience (2+ years) in a role requiring quantitative knowledge and application.
  • Successful completion (minimum B+) of a demanding quantitative course at a Canadian university or college within the last five years is required and will be evaluated by the admissions committee.
    • For Laurier students, this includes BU205: Introduction to Applied Statistics or BU255: Managerial Statistics.
  • GMAT Focus (score of 525 or higher) or GRE equivalent.
  • CFA Level I pass.
• Applicants to the full-time and part-time MBA program options must have at least two years of full-time work experience or the equivalent of six co-op work terms.
• Applicants to the full-time MBA with co-op program must have fewer than two years of combined full-time work and prior co-op experience.
• A statement of intent, resume, and three reference forms.
• Applicants whose language of instruction was other than English during their undergraduate degree must supply evidence of proficiency in English prior to admission:
  • Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL): A minimum score of 100 (with minimum skills scores of 21 in each of the four skills sets); or
  • International English Language Testing System (IELTS) or its equivalent: A minimum score of seven (7).

Note: Eligible applicants with a Canadian BBA or BComm (minimum B average in final two years), or those holding a CPA or CFA designation, may request core course exclusions at the time of application. This request should be included in the statement of intent.

After you have submitted your OUAC application, paid the non-refundable application fee, and Laurier has received your application, you'll receive an email from gradadmissions@wlu.ca advising you to upload the additional required documentation to Laurier’s Online Registration and Information System (LORIS).

Please note, the application process and the uploading of supplemental documentation, which includes references, typically takes two weeks.

To apply to our Master of Business Administration program, you must include:

• The OUAC Application Summary, which is generated after you complete your OUAC application (log back in to OUAC to retrieve it).
• All postsecondary education institutions including Laurier (if applicable) must be declared on your OUAC application. This includes transcripts of all past and current degree(s), diploma(s), post-secondary studies for which academic credit was earned (including on letter of permission or exchange), in-progress courses, incomplete post-secondary education and transfer credit courses.
• A completed statement of intent.
• A resume of your academic and work experience. Include a history of your publication and scholarly paper activity and any other information you feel will interest the admissions committee.
• Completed letters of reference. Normally, one academic and two professional references are required (for the MBA co-op program, three academic references are required). Reference forms are electronically submitted to Laurier by the referee and do not need to be uploaded.
• English proficiency (if your native language is not English and you did not complete your most recent degree in English).
• A completed Authorization of Information Release (AIR) form is required if you have engaged the services of an education agent/agency. Upload it to your application checklist when you identify your agent in the OUAC application. Visit Step 2 for more information about the AIR.

Visit our Graduate Admissions Toolkit for more information about applying.

Proficiency in written and spoken English is essential to graduate studies at Laurier. Applicants whose language of instruction during their previous postsecondary education was not in English must submit evidence of proficiency in English. If applicable, results from accepted testing services must be uploaded to LORIS.

• Consulting and Strategy
• Finance and Accounting
• Marketing and Brand
• Technology and Innovation
• Healthcare and Non-Profit
• Manufacturing
• Government and Public Service

• CIBC
• Classic Creations
• CNA Canada
• Coca-Cola Canada Bottling Ltd
• Conestoga College
• DNC Appraiser Co
• Deloitte
• Equitable
• Fidelity Investments Canada
• FTAI Aviation
• Galderma
• Greenpark Group
• IBM
• Intact
• J.D. Power
• Johnson & Johnson
• Kelly Services Canada Ltd
• Key Media
• Manulife
• Mars Canada
• PepsiCo
• RBC Royal Bank of Canada
• Rexall Pharmacies
• Rubicon Strategy Inc
• Salesforce
• Saputo Inc
• Sun Life
• TD Bank Group
• TMG
• Walmart
• WSIB