• mba@cbu.ca
  • 1250 Grand Lake Road, Sydney, Nova Scotia
Information Sessions
Admission

Earn your MBA Online on Weekends​

Offered Online across Mountain Time and
Eastern Time Zones​

Next Available Intake:

Winter 2025

Program Overview

The Cape Breton University (CBU) MBA in Community Economic Development (CED) is now available anywhere you live and work, online and on weekends, reaching every community in Canada.
With classes scheduled for about 16 weekends a year over a 2-year period, the MBA in CED online format caters to working professionals who need the flexibility to balance work, family, and studies.
All courses are delivered on weekends by acclaimed faculty from all across Canada, allowing you to advance your career while continuing to work by earning your MBA degree in 24-26 months.

Mountain Time Zone(MTZ) & Eastern Time Zone Online Cohorts

Ideal for working Professionals, the Online Cohort schedules on Mountain Time Zone (MTZ) and Eastern Time Zone(ETZ) on weekends allows you the Flexibility to balance your work and personal life, while levelling up your career.

Admissions

Review the Admission requirements for Online MBA program and documents needed for the application

Accessible to degree holders and diploma holders with significant experience

GMAT waiver available

The CBU MBA is an accessible program, open to Canadian citizens and permanent residents of Canada who do not have an undergraduate degree and show potential for success in graduate level study.  Extensive career and/or volunteer experience are expected. These candidates will be assessed individually in such areas as experience and performance in a number of education/training courses.

Potential applicants can send their resumes and unofficial transcript(s) to mba@cbu.ca for a preliminary assessment of their program eligibility and potential for GMAT waiver.

  • Bachelor’s Degree with a B+ (75% average) from a recognized University
  • A completed application form, with the non-refundable application  fee
  • official transcripts for all previous post-secondary study
  • a resume detailing employment experience, skills, community involvement, and interests
  • a 500-800 word statement on the desire to enter the program
  • three reference letters, preferably including one professional and one academic reference, each accompanied by a completed reference form
  • Satisfactory scores on GMAT or GRE
  • Satisfactory scores on the TOEFL/IELTS(for students whose native language is not English)
  • Satisfactory performance in an interview
  • For Canadian candidates who do not have an undergraduate degree:

Canadian candidates who do not have an undergraduate degree, and show potential for success in graduate-level study, may be admitted to the MBA in CED as non-traditional students. Extensive career and/or volunteer experience are expected. These candidates will be assessed individually in such areas as experience and performance in a number of education/training courses. Applicants must provide all documentation listed above and a 4-6 page essay outlining their desire to enter the program.

Reference letters must be originals, and sent directly by the referees. Only official transcripts sent by the Registrar of the issuing institution will be accepted. The Educational Testing Service must forward GMAT, GRE, and TOEFL/IELTS score reports. Photocopies of any of these documents will not be accepted. 

To submit your references or to learn more about CBU’s Master of Business Administration in Community Economic Development program, please email mba@cbu.ca.

Course Schedules

Review the course schedules for upcoming intakes for Mountain Time Zone and Eastern Time Zone cohorts.

ETZ #4 Schedule for classes starting January 2024
MTZ #3 Schedule for classes starting January 2025

Course Curriculum

Designed to foster capacities of analysis, critical thinking, leadership, and effective communication, the MBA in CED program equips students with both theoretical foundations and practical skills; the knowledge and tools to function effectively and productively in an increasingly changing global community.
There is a significant amount of reading, writing and class discussion within each course. In addition, each student is required to complete an Applied Research Project, the culmination of the degree, which approaches a problem in a holistic, multidisciplinary manner and must meet the highest academic standards.

This course explores the theoretical foundations of community economic development, emphasizing business as a means to improve community life and introducing concepts like community development corporations and worker-owned ventures.
This course combines financial and managerial accounting topics, tailored for those in a CED setting, with a focus on interpreting financial statements and addressing cash flow management, budgeting, and relevant costs from a managerial perspective.
This course explores marketing strategies for community and social organizations, covering both strategic and tactical approaches to influence various target markets, including customers, clients, funding sources, policy makers, volunteers, media, and staff, with a focus on the marketing mix.
The course presents the history, theory, models and research in several topics in organization behaviour and organization design, including strategic human resource planning.
This course introduces students to analytical tools used by economic geographers to measure spatial variations in economic growth, explores mechanisms of uneven development, and applies this knowledge to assess the potential for economic recovery in depleted communities.
This practical course examines the relationship between business and the community, focusing on challenges, issues, and implementations in the context of CED and the social economy.
This course covers financial management topics including analysis, planning, asset valuation, capital budgeting, capital structure decisions, short-term finance, and tax principles.
MBAC6106: Leadership Training and CED
This course utilizes lectures, discussions, cases, and presentations to teach leadership training techniques, emphasizing conflict resolution, mediation, and the impact of cultural and political differences on community organization and leadership.
This course takes a comparative approach to assess development philosophies in both the North and South, focusing on sustainability, natural resources, governance, and strategies for achieving sustainable communities, emphasizing global thinking and local action with sustainability indicators.
This course allows students to apply previous business knowledge to plan and develop a venture, understand and evaluate business plans, and explore the distinctions between traditional business and community economic development.
This course covers various applied research methods, encourages critical analysis of their strengths and weaknesses, and guides students in preparing research proposals aligned with their projects.
This course explores international business topics, including the economic and financial environment, trade issues, and strategic management, with an integrated approach across business functions.
This course introduces basic business strategy concepts and methodologies, emphasizing their application in the context of CED through extensive use of the case method.
The ARP is a multidisciplinary research project in business and CED, supervised by faculty advisors.

Attend an Information Session:

Learn more about the program, course structure, tuition, admission criteria and get your questions answered at our In-Person and Virtual Information sessions listed below. To be notified of upcoming In-Person sessions in your city email mba@cbu.ca

CED MBA