Diploma in Business Administration (Co-op Optional)

at NorQuest College - Edmonton Campus Canada

The Disability Studies program is a two-year diploma that will develop the skills needed to effectively work in supporting individuals with disabilities across their lifespan. Individuals with developmental disabilities need support in early intervention, community settings, schools, recreation, and employment opportunities. A skilled workforce is needed to help people with disabilities achieve their goals and effectively participate as members of the community.

Disability service workers can work in a family or community setting in teams or independently to support individuals and their families. Graduates will create, implement, assess and modify plans to help utilize individuals’ strengths and abilities to increase avenues for meaningful participation in the community and society.

NorQuest College's Practical Nurse Diploma for Internationally Educated Nurses program will prepare you to become a professional practical nurse who will provide high-quality care to clients in a variety of health care settings.

Building on your previous education and experience, you will be supported in learning about Canadian health care while strengthening your professional communication and English language proficiency.

What to expect from the program
This two-year diploma program is designed to train internationally educated nurses to achieve academic and professional success. Language training instructors and practical nurse instructors will help you acquire the nursing knowledge, clinical judgement, and communication skills needed to become a practical nurse in Canada.

Collaborative classes, labs, workshops, and innovative learning strategies are designed to target specific student needs to prepare you for practicum, writing the Canadian Practical Nurse Registration Exam, and future career success.

Students are more likely to be successful in this program if they:

• are physically and emotionally able to manage workplace demands
• have access to a vehicle to travel to complete their clinical practice
• have access to a computer and Internet, and basic computer skills
• are able to demonstrate professional and ethical behaviour

The Machine Learning Analyst diploma program provides a flexible, industry-aligned education to help you enter the artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) workforce.

This program will prepare you for entry-level jobs creating business solutions for companies of all sizes. The program focuses on developing fundamental skills in AI and ML, such as data analytics and computer programming, and will help provide you with fundamental business acumen so you can work in multi-disciplinary teams to develop competitive business solutions that are based on modern strategies.

This program was developed as part of the Alberta AI Pathways Partnership. Through this partnership, the program prepares you for AI-related careers through a work-integrated project course where you work on real-world ML problems with local businesses, while also developing a portfolio to prepare for employment.

NorQuest College’s Justice diploma program is an interdisciplinary program that allows students to gain skills and knowledge across the spectrum of the justice field. It is a unique offering in the Edmonton region and in Alberta. The program offers broad education in the justice field that leads directly to a career as well as university transfer courses for laddering opportunities to university. Students will select from a variety of electives that are linked to areas such as diversity and inclusion, Indigenous justice, youth justice, law enforcement, and corrections.

Graduates will be prepared to explore a number of career options within the justice field and to work collaboratively with other justice professionals. Justice students will explore a broad range of skills important to a justice career including crisis intervention skills, health and wellness initiatives, and strategies for working with diverse groups of Canadians. Students have the option to focus on specific areas of interest, including youth work, corrections and law enforcement, Indigenous justice, advocacy, and many others.

Business Analysis professionals play a vital role in helping organization create efficiencies, update processes, and modernize to meet the challenges of today. This is a non-credit program that issues a Professional Certificate upon successful completion of the courses and three-month work integrated learning component.

The Addictions Recovery Practitioner post-diploma certificate program provides health and human services professionals with the knowledge and skills to work with clients experiencing substance use and concurrent disorders. The program is offered in a flexible combination of online courses and live classroom instruction on evenings and weekends.

The program emphasizes acquisition of applied skills and best practices in direct client care, advocacy, ethics, and work with families and communities. The program builds upon students’ previous training and experience, and graduates are equipped to meet client and employer needs in a range of relevant settings.

Practicum/Work Experience

• This program includes 15 hours of community service learning.

Laddering Opportunities

• Upon completion of this program, you can continue your studies by taking one additional semester to receive certification in the Mental Health Recovery Practitioner program.
• Laddering opportunities are being explored for related diploma and degree programs within Alberta and across Canada.

The Child and Youth Care program is designed to prepare students to support children and youth who have experienced social, behavioural, and emotional challenges. Focused on diversity, inclusion, and Indigenous culture, the program teaches students the foundational skills of child and youth care practice, as well as perspectives and strategies for supporting all children and youth in culturally respectful ways.

Students will learn the impact of physical and emotional experiences on youth and families and the importance and strength of diversity and difference, and developing professional practice. The program will train students for the child and youth care worker roles through theory-based courses and hands-on practicum experience.

Graduates will have the knowledge and skills to support children and youth in navigating lived experiences, including helping at-risk children and youth with family processes, access and success in education, physical and mental health, and addictions.

Practicum/Work Experience

• This program includes three practicums totalling 600 hours.

Build the skills you need to thrive in a dynamic business world and choose from five specializations in the second year—Management (entrepreneurship or business operations), Accounting, Human Resources Management, Finance, or General Studies—in which you will develop a core understanding of business fundamentals for any career you choose.

Specialization
Applicants can apply directly to the specialization of their choice. Specialization courses are usually taken in year two.
There are five specializations for the Business Administration program; each provides a flexible and dynamic core understanding of business fundamentals with a wide assortment of job opportunities:

Accounting specialization
Graduates with an accounting specialization have an aptitude for numbers and enjoy problem-solving. They are able to look at the overall big picture while determining the bottom line. They are prepared to work with companies in financial, computerized tax, and cost accounting areas.

Human Resources Management specialization
Graduates with a human resources management specialization will know how to improve corporate culture and increase employee productivity. They will be confident in creating performance management policies, employing effective hiring and retention practices, reviewing and recommending employee compensation packages, creating hiring selection criteria, and applying employment law.

Management specialization
Graduates with a management specialization are becoming increasingly important to business in our competitive economy due to their strategic planning and analytical skills. They assist companies in integrating planning and development strategies using problem-solving techniques and consensus building. Leadership, marketing, and financial information are also studied.

• Entrepreneurship focus: for students who are interested in starting a business of their own or who wish to help a newly formed business grow. It provides a thorough understanding of what is required to start and maintain a sustainable venture. Students will acquire the tools necessary to identify opportunity, assess entrepreneurial potential, produce a business plan, organize, promote, and finance a business, and prepare a marketing and sales structure.
• Business operations focus: for students who are interested in how businesses supply, produce, and distribute goods and services in the most efficient and profitable way possible. Students will learn how to plan, control, and optimize business systems and techniques to deliver projects on time and on budget. Learning how to assess and improve productivity throughout an organization will make these graduates a valuable asset to any organization.

Finance specialization
Graduates with a finance specialization will be well positioned for work opportunities in banks and any financial services organization. As a financial professional, this program prepares students in the areas of financial planning, principles and industry standards, financial products and services, tax and legal implications, managing risks, and building financial customer service sales and expertise.

• Financial services focus: for students who are interested in securing a role in a bank where they can serve customer needs for saving and borrowing. Students will learn principles of personal finance and banking including consumer and business lending, credit management and financial services selling and ethics.
• Financial planning focus: for students who are interested in helping people achieve their financial goals. Students will gain technical knowledge in personal financial planning, Canadian investment funds, insurance and taxation

General Studies
Students may elect not to have an area of specialization. These students would take the common first-year courses, then choose 10 additional courses out of all Year 2 courses offered.

Practicum/Work Experience
This program includes an optional paid co-op placement totalling 640 hours.

The Community Support Worker program is an eight-month certificate designed to develop fundamental knowledge, skills, and attitudes in students to work with marginalized communities and individuals. Graduates are expected to work at the front line of human-service delivery settings.

The following are some of the agencies and organizations that provide these services:

• Street work organizations
• Group homes
• Emergency shelters
• Settlement agencies
• Cultural organizations
• Child and family service agencies
• Indigenous service agencies
• Cultural societies
• Personal and in-home supports for persons with disabilities
• Services that support older adults

Practicum/Work Experience

• This program includes a 200-hour practicum and a 45-hour practicum seminar.

NorQuest Bridging to Post-Secondary provides an opportunity to students who need additional English language or academic upgrading courses to fully meet admission requirements for a post-secondary program.

NorQuest Bridging students will

• Receive a conditional offer of admission to their target post-secondary program and be able to reserve a seat in the target program
• Work closely with an advisor to design a personalized education plan
• Have up to four terms of study to meet the conditions of their admission by completing English as a Second Language (ESL) Intensive or Academic Upgrading courses at NorQuest College
• Be able to take select courses in their post-secondary program prior to full admission
• Take skill development courses to promote academic success

Participating post-secondary programs

• ELP Band E programs
  • Accounting Technician
  • Administrative Professional
  • Business Administration
• ELP Band F programs
  • Disability Studies
  • Early Learning and Child Care
  • Environmental Protection Technology
  • Interdisciplinary Therapy Assistant
  • Settlement Studies
  • Therapeutic Recreation
• ELP Band H programs
  • Health Care Leadership
  • Practical Nurse