College Diploma - Accounting and Payroll (Optional Co-op)

The Accounting and Payroll diploma combines core accounting with payroll administration — a deliberately practical pairing, with an optional co-op.

Alongside financial and managerial accounting, taxation basics and accounting software, students cover payroll legislation and compliance in Ontario and federally, payroll calculation including statutory deductions, CPP, EI and income tax, taxable benefits, termination and record of employment processing, year-end reporting and T4 preparation, payroll systems and software, employment standards, and payroll accounting and reconciliation.

Payroll is the underrated half. It is technical, legally exacting, error-costly and something every employer must do correctly — which makes payroll administrators consistently employable and often better paid than general accounting clerks. The coursework also maps toward national payroll designations; ask about that pathway.

The optional co-op stream is worth taking if offered: paid Canadian work experience before graduation improves hiring outcomes and Express Entry points, and co-op students frequently convert a placement into a full-time offer.

Newnham is Seneca’s largest campus, on Finch Avenue East in North York, with its own residence, library, athletic centre and specialised technical labs. It sits on the TTC network with subway connections, and carries the bulk of Seneca’s business, technology and engineering catalogue — which means the widest range of student clubs, services and peers of any Seneca site.

Seneca Polytechnic — formerly Seneca College — is one of Ontario’s largest public colleges and a Designated Learning Institution. Newnham is its biggest campus, on Finch Avenue East in North York, and carries the bulk of Seneca’s business, technology, engineering technology, aviation and applied science catalogue. It has its own residence, a large library and athletic centre, and sits on the TTC network with connections to the subway.

Its field maps to CIP 52.0301 (Accounting). 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. Seneca publishes a PGWP-eligible program list; check it, and confirm with an Apply Study Visa counsellor before committing. IRCC makes the final decision.