College Diploma - Advertising and Marketing Communications

The Advertising and Marketing Communications diploma is a two-year program covering the strategy and account side of advertising rather than the creative execution.

Coursework covers advertising principles and agency structure, consumer behaviour and audience insight, media planning and buying across channels, campaign strategy and creative briefing, account management and client relationships, digital and performance advertising, social media strategy, marketing communications planning, budgeting and campaign measurement, and presentation skills. Students develop full campaign proposals to client briefs.

Media planning is the underrated content. It is the analytical function of advertising — deciding where budget goes and proving what it returned — and it is where agency careers are most durable, because measurable accountability is harder to commoditise than production work.

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 09.0903 (Advertising). 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.