Canadian Studies is an interdisciplinary field, attracting students from a wide variety of disciplines and backgrounds. It is exciting and innovative, with a critical perspective on Canadian policy, culture, and social values in a rapidly changing pluralistic society.

The School offers an M.A. in Canadian Studies and a Ph.D. in Canadian Studies. See what our graduates are doing.

See our currently offered graduate courses.

In our unique interdisciplinary space, we address questions of:

  • the discourses, institutions and practices that construct “Canada”; the history and present of settler colonialism
  • the politics of language, identity, race, and nation in Canada and Quebec; diasporic worlds within and beyond the settler nation-state; local and global scales and strategies of decolonization
  • cultural and spatial heritages; sustainable heritage conservation; cultural heritage and climate change; public memory, alternative archives and emotional geographies

Our MA in Canadian Studies offers three streams: coursework, research paper, or thesis.
We offer a standard MA in Canadian Studies, or the option to specialize by adding:

Concentration in Heritage Planning and Studies – a longstanding strength of the School. Find details on this Concentration and see what graduates of this stream are doing now

OR Collaborative MA in Digital Humanities – combine the study of Canada with a focus on new digital media, texts and tools.  Find details.

Our PhD in Canadian Studies allows you to develop your own research agenda within Canadian Studies. Explore the areas of research expertise among our faculty members and the research projects of current students and recent graduates. 

The PhD program includes the option of a Collaborative Specialization in Political Economy. See details.


Canadian Studies Graduate Community

The grad students organize social activities as well as an annual research symposium. Take a look!

Graduate Professional Development

Carleton offers professional development resources and programs to help you improve your skills and plan your career trajectory. To learn more, visit the Graduate Professional Development website.

International Students

Please contact the Graduate Supervisor with any questions about MA or the PhD Program before submitting your application. We are happy to consider international applications; however, international fees can be prohibitive and the funding we can access to support international students is very limited.

The deadline for all applications, including referee letters, is February 1st. Apply online.

Our core and affiliated faculty engage in research and teaching across a number of thematic areas including Heritage Conservation; Culture, Memory, and Place; Nation-building, Nationalisms, and Nation-branding; Indigenous Studies; Social Justice: Voice, Power, and Policy; Critical Settler Studies; Gender and Sexualities; and Identity, Representation, and Performance.  In the emerging global economy, the development of Canada-centred knowledge has become even more relevant and in demand. What better place to study Canada than in Ottawa?

Graduate Student Resources

Graduate Students and Recent Graduates in the News