Business: Human Resources, Marketing, and Entrepreneurship Dual Postgraduate Certificate

Earn two postgraduate certificates in as little as sixteen months (four consecutive terms), full-time continuous studies, and graduate prepared to deliver the business skills sought after by employers.

This intensive postgraduate, dual-certificate program is open to students who hold an undergraduate degree from any accredited university. Immerse yourself in developing in-demand skills in human resource management, entrepreneurship, marketing, and advertising. Build the foundational tools needed to start a business or pursue a passion for research and innovation.  Designed for students that have already completed an undergraduate degree in another discipline and would like to supplement it with further undergraduate courses concentrating in business specializations.

Graduates of this program will receive both a postgraduate certificate in Human Resource Management (5.0 credits) and a postgraduate certificate in Marketing & Entrepreneurship (5.0 credits).

Admissions Requirements

Entry Term:  January 2023, May 2023, and September 2023, on both the Trent Peterborough and Trent Durham campuses 

Duration: Available for full time studies only

Program Completion Requirements: Completion of 10.0 credits as specified

For more information visit our Admissions webpage 

To apply to this post-graduate certificate, please complete this application form.

Graduating from Trent this year with your undergraduate degree?

As a 2023 Trent grad*, you qualify for direct admission to our Business Dual Postgraduate Certificate program. No need to pay to apply. Registering is easy – just send a confirmation email to admissions@trentu.ca from your Trent University account. We will also waive the application fee.  For more information about this special offer, visit call 1-888-739-8885.

*this certificate is meant for non-Business program graduates, as there is too much course overlap for graduates of Trent’s BBA program.

May/Summer Leave

Trent’s 2023 Summer term (S61, S62 and S12) courses run from May 3 – August 1, 2023. The S61 term runs from May 3 – June 18, S62 from June 19 – August 1, and S12 from May 3 – August 1. If you are taking the Summer term off and returning in September, you need to complete the Dual Business Post Graduate Certificate Summer Leave form. This form is available through the myTrent portal, under Academics/Forms/Dual Business Post Graduate Certificate form.  

If taking a leave it is for both summer terms (S61 and S62).  Summer term must be full time as well. 

The deadline to complete this form is April 30, 2023. Please email businesscertificates@trentu.ca if you have any questions about completing this form.

Courses Postgraduate Certificate Human Resources Management

The Certificate consists of 5.0 credits of ADMN 1221H, 2220H, 2230H, 3021H, 3220H, 3230H, 3260H, 3270H, 3280H and ECON 3500H.  A minimum cumulative average of 65% is required to complete the certificate

Please note the academic requirements are higher for those wishing to write the Certified Human Resources Professional Designation Knowledge Exam (see University Calendar for more information).    

Upon successful completion of the 5.0 credits, students will have satisfied the nine subject areas required for the “Certified Human Resources Professional Designation (CHRP)” and be eligible to write the CHRP Knowledge Exam (CHRP-KE).  Students must achieve a cumulative average of 70% in all courses, with no individual course mark less than 65%. In order to take the exam, a student must be an enrolled member of the Human Resources Professionals Association (HRPA) of Ontario, which involves a monetary fee to the Association.  For more information see HRPA 

Courses Postgraduate Certificate Marketing and Entrepreneurship

The Certificate consists of 5.0 credits of ADMN 1221H, 2080H, 2100H, 3420H, 3021H, 3150H, 3170H, 3430H, 3441H, and COIS 3750H.  A minimum cumulative average of 65% is required to complete the certificate. 

For students pursuing the Human Resource Management and Marketing & Entrepreneurship certificates concurrently, ADMN 1221H and 3021H may not satisfy the requirements of both certificates. ADMN 1221H and 3021H must be counted toward the Human Resources Management certificate and ADMN 2010H and either ADMN 2410H or 4870H must be substituted for the Marketing & Entrepreneurship certificate. Students must take ADMN 2010H in the first term and must take ADMN 2410H or 4870H in the final term of the second year of study.

For individual course descriptions, see University Calendar.  Please consult the academic timetable, for information on when courses will be scheduled. 

It is important to register in your courses without delay and prior to your arrival!

Breakdown of courses by term

Students should follow the schedule outlined below for course selection in each term.  Please do not vary from this schedule.  The courses are scheduled according to timetable availability. This certificate is only available on a full-time basis which is normally five courses per term. 

Required Courses Within the Dual Postgraduate Certificate 

Term 1 

• ADMN 2220H Organizational Behaviour 
• ADMN 2230H Human Resource Management 
• ADMN 2010H Management Skills 
• ADMN 2080H Managerial and Market Research 
• ADMN 2100H Introduction to Marketing 

Term 2 

• ADMN 1221H Financial Accounting 
• ADMN 3230H Training and Development 
• ADMN 3270H Human Resource Planning 
• ADMN 3420H Entrepreneurship 
• ADMN 3150H Advertising 

Term 3 

• ADMN 3021H Managerial Accounting 
• ADMN 3220H Organizational Selection in the Canadian Workplace 
• ADMN 3260H Occupational Health and Safety 
• ADMN 3441H Social Enterprise and Social Innovation 
• ADMN 3430H New Venture Planning 

Term 4 

• ADMN 3280H Human Resource Planning 
• ADMN 3170H Retail Marketing 
• ECON 3500H Economics of Industrial Relations 
• COIS 3750H Online Marketing 
• Elective (either ADMN 2410H or ADMN 4870H see note below)

Elective course – Students have one elective choice in the fourth term.  Students can take either ADMN 2410H Communications in Organizations or ADMN 4870H Field Placement.  The Field Placement course is normally an unpaid, minimum of 100 hours learning opportunity with a local employer. The Field Placement course requires a separate in-house application and a cumulative average of 72% to apply.  Students must earn a placement through a personal interview.   The placement can be in either the field of human resources, or marketing and entrepreneurship.  The application deadline for the placement course is March 15 for the May/summer term, July 15 for the September term and October 15 for the January term. 

For students who have accepted their offer of admission and have questions about registering in their courses or life at Trent, please email businesscertificates@trentu.ca.

Application to Graduate from the Certificate

At the beginning of your last term, when you believe you are ready to graduate, you can submit the Application to Graduate form found in myTrent under Academics → Forms. You should apply as soon as your course registration for your final term is finalized (early in Summer term if you are graduating in September; early in the Fall term if you are graduating in January; early in the Winter term if you are graduating in Spring). The deadline to apply to graduate can be found in the Academic Calendar site under Important Dates, as well as at Important Dates & Deadlines.  

Convocation ceremonies for students who graduated during the last year (September, January and Spring) are held the first week of June.  Please visit Convocation site for the most up-to-date information.