Why Get an MBA in Canada?

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What does Canada have to offer the MBA student looking to enter into a good, credible program?

With Canadian schools consistently strong performers in world rankings, international students have discovered the benefits of studying in Canada, and local students are delighted with the value of business education at home.

The quality of Canadian business schools is comparable to programs in the US  According to BusinessWeek, five of the top 10 MBA programs outside the US are in Canada – including Richard Ivey Business School, while the latest Financial Times ranking has six Canadian MBA programs in the top 100.

Canada is one of the world’s most ethnically diverse countries.  More than 13 million immigrants have come to Canada in the past century. That diversity is expected to grow and it is estimated that visible minorities will make up 20 per cent of Canada’s population by 2017.

The diversity of the country’s population is reflected in the classroom at Canada’s business schools, so students looking for international experience and exposure can get it without necessarily having to study overseas.

That said, an increasing number of Canada’s top business schools have international trips to emerging hotspots such as India and China.

Life in Canada: A top MBA destination

Canada’s varied economic base includes high-tech firms, biotechnology, manufacturing, agriculture and a large service sector.

The country is a member of the G-8 and has a population of about 33.2 million spread across one of the largest and most geographically diverse countries in the world.

Canada consistently ranks near the top of quality of life surveys. The United Nations ranked Canada fourth on its Human Development Index in 2007-2008.

Its natural heritage is stunning, with more than 40 national parks that are among the best in the world. They encompass huge tracts of wilderness in the north, ocean playgrounds on the coasts and easily accessible hiking and canoeing.

The vast geography of Canada has also helped shape its inhabitants, building a nation of resourceful and entrepreneurial people with small- and medium-sized businesses accounting for nearly half of the country’s GDP.

Canada as a top MBA destination: Entrepreneurial spirit

Canadian business schools recognize the importance of enhancing the entrepreneurial spirit. The Pierre L. Morrissette Institute for Entrepreneurship at the Richard Ivey Business School focuses on enhancing an entrepreneur’s ability to create value in high growth enterprises.

As well as offering courses and programs to students, the institute also works with small- and medium-sized companies to deal with and overcome challenges to growth.

Canada is home to many entrepreneurial success stories including Research in Motion, the creator of the Blackberry, Cirque de Soleil, one of the most creative entertainment companies in the world and Thomson Reuters, a large international multimedia news organization.

It is also home to many successful large-cap companies including a large group of financial services companies such as Manulife Financial, Sun Life Financial, Royal Bank of Canada and Scotiabank.

Canada also has a strong presence in oil and gas, including Suncor, EnCana and PetroCanada, as well as global mining companies such as Barrick Gold, Potash, Cameco and TeckCominco.

As well, many international companies recruit at Canadian business schools including Accenture, Johnson & Johnson, Deloitte, IBM, General Mills, Sears, Eli Lilly and InBev.

The good news for students applying from abroad is that Canada has made it easy to study and work here and, for international students interested in staying in Canada, there’s a high success rate for finding jobs here.

For instance, international students can stay and work in Canada for up to one year after graduation without needing a job offer first, so that they can gain international work experience, which is a top requirement for senior leaders these days.

Some Canadian business schools have been branching out internationally. Ivey is committed to building a presence in Asia and is the world’s largest producer of Asian cases.

In fact, Ivey’s focus on the case-method of learning differentiates it from other business schools. Students tackle hundreds of cases, putting them in a strong position to understand the theory and the practical solutions to business challenges.

An intense evaluation of the complexity of doing business in today’s increasingly fast-paced and global society caused Ivey to move to a curriculum of cross-enterprise leadership a few years ago. Cross-enterprise leadership is a holistic, issues-based approach to teaching business education to prepare students for the reality they’ll face when they step into the business world.

Students at many Canadian business schools also take advantage of opportunities to work with local non-profit organizations. The students give back to their communities through pro-bono consulting, community clean-up days, fund-raising and environmental initiatives such as tree-planting.

As more students in Canada and elsewhere have become more engaged in social entrepreneurship activities, Ivey has also made that kind of giving back integral to its programs.

The school’s mission statement is to develop business leaders who think globally, act strategically and contribute to the societies within which they operate.