Online Program

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Western’s Local Government Program (LGP) implemented an online stream of its acclaimed Graduate Diploma in Public Administration (GDPA) in 2020. Taught by some of Canada’s top local government academics and practitioners, Western’s GDPA is the go-to program for mid-career local government professionals who seek a rigorous, highly interactive opportunity to develop their policy skills, management knowledge, and leadership potential.

Our online stream makes the Western LGP experience accessible for local government professionals across Canada. Retaining the small class sizes, academic rigour, and interactive learning format that have been our hallmarks over the years, the online GDPA allows you to affordably access the best graduate education in the local government field, no matter where you are in Canada.

The online GDPA is completed in one year. Students take two classes in the fall term, two in the winter term, and write their final research paper in the summer term. Any modifications to this approved schedule require special permission from the Program Director. 

The GDPA program has a pay per course tuition. There are five courses and a final research paper required to be completed for the GDPA. Western sets all fees & tuition costs before each term and the Tuition Fees Schedules are published by the Office of the Registrar and can also be found here on the School of Graduate & Postdoctoral Studies (SGPS) website.