Honors B.A. in Social Innovation

This program, which combines management and the social sciences, helps you discover new ways of solving social problems, such as poverty, discrimination, and the climate crisis.

In this program, you will gain a deeper understanding of these deep-rooted problems, as well as the related systems and institutions. You will also explore models of organizations and social enterprises that can help to mobilize your community to bring about positive and sustainable change.

Throughout the program, you will have the opportunity to develop practical skills, including budgeting, strategic planning, project management, and citizen engagement. Whether you are launching your own social innovation project or doing an internship in an existing organization, you can apply your knowledge in a concrete and practical way.

An innovative pedagogical approach

Practicing what it preaches, the Élisabeth-Bruyère School of Social Innovation offers a one-of-a-kind education model featuring intensive teaching blocks for mandatory courses.

Instead of attending weekly classes for different courses throughout a semester, you will take one course at a time for three weeks before moving on to the next one. This approach allows for more consistency between courses and more field trips. It also allows you to focus on one subject at a time.

Mauril-Bélanger Social Innovation Workshop

All students in social innovation are members of the Mauril-Bélanger Social Innovation Workshop, also known as the Atelier. The Atelier is a center for training and collaboration for people and organizations that want to have a positive impact on the community.

As part of the Élisabeth-Bruyère School of Social Innovation, the Atelier serves as a dynamic hub that cultivates innovative projects, social entrepreneurship, and social innovation research. As part of the first year of your program, you will be supported by the Atelier as you work on social innovation projects in partnership with community groups.

Who should apply?

Engaged individuals who would like to build or work in organizations that change the world.

Foundational Courses (12 units)

Compulsory Courses: 12 units

• Approaches in the Humanities: Interpreting the Human Experience
• People, Social Justice and Ecology
• Critical Analysis, Reading and Writing Academic Works
• The First Peoples of Canada

Discipline-Specific Courses (78 units)

Compulsory Courses: 60 units

• Introduction to Social Innovation
• Social Justice and Critical Thinking
• Social Movements
• Democracy and Civic Engagement
• Social and Solidarity Economy
• Management, Administration and Social Innovation
• Self-Management in Organizations
• Practical Seminar: Introduction to Action Research
• Capitalism, Classes, and Inequalities
• Labor Movements
• Gender and Feminisms
• Feminist Movements
• Ecology and Environmental Justice
• Accounting of Social Organizations
• Mobilization, Framing, and Communication
• Anti-Racist and Anti-Colonial Theories
• Anti-Racist and Anti-Colonial Movements
• Power Relations in Organizations
• Starting a Social Organization
• Internship I

Optional Courses: 18 units from:

• Introduction to Group Dynamics
• Group Intervention and Active Listening
• The Spiritual Dimensions of Leadership and Group Facilitation
• Project Management and Social Innovation
• New Technologies and Social Innovation
• Accessibility and Ableism
• Poverty and Social Exclusion
• Territories and Local Development
• Arts and Social Transformation
• Popular Education and Knowledge Sharing
• Selected Topics in Democratic Management
• Selected Topics in Social Action
• Finance and Funding Social Innovation
• Social Innovation and Global Interdependencies
• Internship II
• Social Marketing
• Introduction to Public Relations
• Social Justice
• Feminist Ethics
• Ethics and Public Service

With the approval of the School of Social Innovation, students may also choose optional courses from among those offered by the School of International Development and Global Studies in order to add an international perspective to their studies.

Elective courses (30 units)

Students choose 30 units or complete a minor (30 units).

• Founder of a social enterprise or cooperative;
• Team coordinator in the public or private sector;
• Head of an NGO or foundation;
• Project manager in international cooperation;
• Leader for member engagement in a union, feminist, environmental, or antiracist context.

Internships

This program includes at least one hands-on experience in the field. This experience can be done within an existing organization — in Canada or abroad — or it can involve starting a project.