College Diploma - Advertising and Graphic Design

The Advertising and Graphic Design diploma is a two-year program combining visual design craft with advertising concept development.

Students cover design fundamentals including typography, layout, colour and composition, the Adobe production suite, advertising concept development and idea generation, art direction, copywriting fundamentals, brand identity and visual systems, digital and social advertising formats, print production, photography and image-making basics, campaign development across media, and portfolio building. Studio critique runs throughout.

The advertising framing changes what the program teaches versus a pure design credential. Advertising design is problem-solving against a brief and a business objective, not decoration — agencies hire on the strength of the idea in the portfolio at least as much as on the execution.

The work placement is a graded part of the program, so you finish with documented Canadian experience and a referee rather than only a transcript.

Humber Polytechnic — formerly Humber College — is Ontario’s largest public college and a Designated Learning Institution (DLI O19376943122). The Lakeshore campus sits on the shore of Lake Ontario in south Etobicoke, next to Colonel Samuel Smith Park, and is home to Humber’s business degrees, media and creative arts, and social and community services programs. Heritage buildings, a residence opened in 2024 and a free shuttle to the North campus make it the most distinctive of Humber’s sites.

Its field maps to CIP 50.0409 (Graphic design). Important: this is a college credential rather than a degree, so it is not exempt from the November 2024 PGWP field-of-study restriction — eligibility depends on this CIP field appearing on IRCC’s eligible list when you apply. Humber publishes a PGWP-eligible program list with CIP codes; check it, and confirm with an Apply Study Visa counsellor before committing. IRCC makes the final decision.