Graduate Certificate - Professional Writing and Communications

The Professional Writing and Communications graduate certificate is a one-year postgraduate program in the writing and editing that organisations pay for.

Coursework covers business and professional writing, editing and proofreading to publishing standards, technical writing and documentation, content strategy and writing for digital platforms, corporate communications and reports, grant and proposal writing, plain language and accessibility standards, publishing and production processes, and project management for writing work. A twelve-week placement follows.

Technical writing deserves particular attention. It is the best-paid writing specialism in Canada, consistently short of qualified people, and largely invisible to graduates who imagine writing careers as journalism or fiction. Software, engineering, financial and health organisations all need documentation written to a professional standard.

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 23.1303 (Professional and technical writing). 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.