Public Relations

The Department of Communication offers an Honours Bachelor in Public Relations. This is a joint program with Algonquin College (in English) and with La Cité collégiale (in French).

In Canada, the public relations industry employs more than 40,000 people. A career in this area offers you a wide variety of functions and tasks: developing communication plans and strategies; writing review articles, bulletins, news releases, brochures, and speeches; building and maintaining good relationships with the media; organizing press conferences, product launches, inaugurations, open houses and exhibits; acting as spokesperson; lobbying and public affairs; developing multi-media kits; producing videos; designing Web pages; creating and implementing social media strategies; and managing crises. Public relations are ubiquitous in politics (new policies, new legislation, political campaigns, etc.), in business (product recall, image management, product launches, rumour control, quarterly reports, investor and employee relations), non-governmental organizations (fundraising, awareness campaigns, social advocacy), and even in the entertainment industry (movie premieres, controversy management, career launches, etc.).

There are two ways to complete this degree:

1) Register for the honours bachelor's degree at the University and, after completing 75 credits there (five sessions), transfer to Algonquin College to complete the diploma program in public relations. Because of space limitations at Algonquin, the University can only accept 25 students in this stream. In addition, you must have an average of at least 70% to be admitted.

2) Start by completing two years in public relations at Algonquin College (you must maintain an average of at least 70%) and then transfer to the University of Ottawa to do five more sessions (75 credits). The University has no registration limits in this case.