Online Learning
Real-world Impact

Start the GDBA program in January, May or September.

We schedule lectures, exams, and assignments to accommodate individuals working Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. PT. You may need to make occasional adjustments if you fall outside this time zone or schedule.

We move through the modules at the same rate, meeting the same dates for individual and team assignments. That keeps you on track and engaged with the coursework. Instructors deliver each course online in weekly or bi-weekly modules. During that time, you are free to study whenever it suits you. Expect to spend 8 to 10 hours per week on each course (a full course load is two courses per semester). Each course in the program ends with a final exam/paper.

Most GDBA students complete the program in two years. However, you can study at your own pace, adjusting your academic plan to accommodate your changing life and career.

MBA-level courses and instruction

All GDBA courses are equivalent to courses taught in our MBA programs, and our MBA professors teach most GDBA courses. That makes the GDBA a valuable program and qualification in its own right.

• Attend GDBA orientation, a 14-day online orientation, before classes begin.
• Complete the GDBA in 24 months (six semesters) by taking one course per semester while working full-time—or take more or less time.
• Each course is delivered online in weekly or bi-weekly modules.
• Each course typically involves 8-10 hours per week.
• Each course in the program ends with a final exam/paper.

To level up your leadership skills, participate in a carefully curated set of courses to introduce you to leadership and teamwork fundamentals and the case analysis process.

Managing People & Organizations

Understand how individuals and teams function effectively in work situations. Learn how organizational behaviour themes, such as emotions, motivation, and group dynamics, relate to functional issues such as job design, salary structures, and recruitment.

Financial & Managerial Accounting

Move beyond accounting fundamentals and processes. Learn to make business decisions based on sound financial information analysis to support broader organizational objectives.

Business Ethics (half course)

Professional decision-making involves moving from complexity and ambiguity to action. Build an integrated set of ethical and analytical reasoning tools for addressing the challenges that arise in real-world decisions.

Managerial Economics

Gain an introduction to the basic concepts of economics and explore the relevance of economic reasoning to tactical and strategic managerial decision-making. Study the importance of economic concepts, economic models and quantitative applications, and understand how they apply to common problems managers encounter.

Managerial Finance (Prerequisite: Financial/Managerial Accounting)

Gain a practical understanding of managerial finance and the role of the financial manager. Learn to apply financial statement analysis, valuation techniques, capital budgeting, project analysis, and other financial tools. Explore a wide variety of subjects, including:

• Maximizing shareholder wealth
• Agency conflicts
• Ethical corporate behaviour

Business Analytics

Explore the fundamental concepts of probability and statistics that provide the essential tools to approach statistics critically. Focus on using quantitative or statistical techniques in managerial decision-making and learn to apply them in business settings.

Marketing Management

Get an overview of the marketing process, including learning to analyze data and make decisions on pricing, product design, promotion and distribution as part of developing a comprehensive marketing plan. The course concludes with a collaborative online marketing simulation.

Content for these courses changes each semester. Currently offered topic:

Business & Indigenous Peoples

This course helps students understand the issues involved when companies operate or intend to operate in the traditional territories of First Nations and other Indigenous peoples. It examines the role that Indigenous people play in Canada's economy, including entrepreneurship and community-owned businesses.