Cambrian College first to launch three-year degree program

Cambrian College in Sudbury is the first in Ontario to launch a new three-year degree program after the province announced the expansion last year to address the labour shortage.

The school is introducing a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) degree program starting in the fall at the Barrydowne campus that will take only three years to complete rather than the usual four years at university. Students in the program will also have the chance to study abroad in Austria, Finland or Ireland for one semester.

"This is completely new territory for Ontario’s colleges as we prepare students for the business world of today and tomorrow," Dr. Paula Gouveia, vice-president academic at Cambrian College, said in a news release.

"Employers are demanding more flexibility in terms of the skills and knowledge graduates are bringing to the table, and we’re responding with this first-ever, three-year degree program. Our new BBA enables our students to be more competitive on a global scale and opens doors to further education, nationally and internationally."

Students will acquire foundational business knowledge, critical thinking and decision-making skills.

"This new three-year program will combine degree-level theory with real-world learning experiences, including a mandatory paid internship and experiential learning through business cases, simulations and workshops to produce well-rounded graduates who can work in a variety of business and non-profit organizations," Parvinder Arora, dean of Cambrian’s School of Business, said in a news release.

The program includes six semesters in class and a full semester, 14 weeks long, as a paid intern with a business to give students networking opportunities and job experience.

Students who graduate from the program can earn a specialization in accounting, data analytics or digital marketing through Cambrian's Honours Bachelor of Business Administration program.

Additionally, students who earned a college diploma in either general business or accounting can upgrade to the degree in one year through the new program.

The college said graduates will be able to find careers as accountants, communications specialists, digital marketers, marketing managers, data analysts, business intelligence analysts and data scientists.