Journalism (Graduate Certificate)
Apply for September 2025 and get your chance to win $5,000 toward tuition* See details.
Program Overview
Say goodbye to traditional lectures and exams. Our program is all about real-world journalism experience with constant feedback, guidance and training from our award-winning faculty. You'll dive into podcasting, community journalism, investigative reporting, and more, building a portfolio that showcases your unique voice and sets you apart in the competitive media landscape.
Flexibility is at the core of our approach. Whether your passion lies in uncovering hard-hitting truths, exploring local stories or creating engaging podcasts, you'll have the freedom to focus on the areas that inspire you most. And with a schedule designed for students who work part-time, you can balance your education with your other commitments.
Your progress will be measured against a broad set of industry standards. When you show you’ve mastered a skill, you'll have the opportunity to take on tougher challenges. If you need more assistance, we’re there to provide the support you need to succeed.
As a graduate, you'll be prepared not just for a job, but for a fulfilling journalism career. Our alumni have won prestigious awards and gone on to work at Canada's top news organizations. Others have launched successful freelance careers, leveraging the entrepreneurial skills and innovative mindset fostered in our program.
Take the first step towards your journalism career. Apply now for Humber's Journalism graduate certificate program and start telling the stories that will change the world.
Courses
At Humber, courses are delivered in a variety of formats:
In-Person - An in-person course is delivered fully on campus.
Online Asynchronous (A) - An online asynchronous course has no fixed class schedule and allows students to engage with the course at different times according to their needs. Faculty provide modules, which are completed independently by the students according to established deadlines.
Online Synchronous (S) - An online synchronous course is delivered fully online and requires faculty and students to participate in real-time according to a fixed schedule. Classes are scheduled for a specific day and time.
Hybrid - A hybrid course is a combination of in-person and online classes and follows a set schedule. Students must be available to attend in-person classes at scheduled times during the semester.
The chart below outlines the delivery options available for each course in this program, by campus. For some academic terms, there may be more than one delivery option available. You’ll be able to select your preferred options when building your course schedule during open enrolment. Preferences for course delivery will be considered on a first come, first served basis. Some Humber programs are also delivered fully online, where all courses are delivered online.
International students: the impact of studying from outside of Canada on Post-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP) eligibility differs significantly based on when you start your program. Please review the PGWP eligibility before choosing your program and course delivery.
| Course code and Name | Delivery Type by Location | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Course Code | Course Name | North | Lakeshore | Downtown | DL/Online |
| Semester 1 | |||||
| JNAL 5100 | Journalism Fundamentals | In-Person | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| JNAL 5101 | Reporting Fundamentals | In-Person | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| JNAL 5102 | Writing Fundamentals | In-Person | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| JNAL 5103 | Making Accessible Media | Online (A) | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| JNAL 5104 | Community Reporting | In-Person | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| JNAL 5105 | Multimedia Fundamentals | In-Person | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| JNAL 5106 | Investigative Fundamentals | In-Person | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| JNAL 5107 | Production Fundamentals | In-Person | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| JNAL 5108 | Independent Online Study | Online (A) | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Semester 2 | |||||
| JNAL 5200 | Entrepreneurial Fundamentals | In-Person | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| JNAL 5201 | Advanced Reporting Portfolio | In-Person | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| JNAL 5202 | Newsroom Production | In-Person | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| JNAL 5506 | Professional Practice | Online (A) | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Semester 3 | |||||
| JNAL 5600 | Field Experience - Journalism GC | In-Person | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Work-Integrated Learning
Work-Integrated Learning courses serve as the vital link between academic learning and real-world application. Within this framework, students actively participate in the Professional Practice course, equipping you with the necessary skills and confidence to secure your own field experience. Throughout this journey, a dedicated career & work-integrated learning advisor offers personalized guidance and support.
In Semester 3, students immerse themselves in the Field Experience course, committing 200 hours of practical application within the field. Whether pursuing paid or unpaid opportunities, all experiences undergo approval by your career & work-integrated learning advisor to ensure relevance.
The Humber Advantage
Provincial Election Day Coverage
Watch this video of Humber students covering the 2018 Provincial Election.
StoryLab is commited to data-driven storytelling. It fosters multidisciplinary opportunities for Humber staff, students, and industry partners, including Data-Driven--a data journalism symposium for coders, investigative reporters, developers and data advocates--and collaborative journalism projects such as Surviving Hate.
Our state-of-the-art Digital Broadcast Centre is home of Humber TV, Radio Humber and all newspaper, magazine and web production. The professional radio and television studios provide students with the hands-on environment to learn industry expertise and to meet the demands of the profession.
Humber is the only GTA college to have a campus instructional license from the CRTC and a fully operating radio station, Radio Humber FM 96.9, which broadcasts 24/7 from our North Campus.
Meet Miranda Anthistle
Meet Anne-Marie Green
Meet Dina Pugliese
Meet Tim Duboyce
HumberNews.ca is an online news publication produced by Humber Journalism students in the graduate certificate and advanced diploma programs. Visit HumberNews.ca for local, national and international stories, and to subscribe to the student-produced newsletter.
Expert Faculty
Lara King
Lara King is a program coordinator and professor of journalism at Humber College. She teaches long form, design, and data journalism, and derives joy from working with the next generation of journalists turning out award-winning publications.
Rob Lamberti
An awarding-winning newspaper and multi-media journalist in Ontario with 30 years of experience in writing news, photography, videography, editing, and assigning. Holds Journalism Diploma, Humber College; B.A. Political Science, York University; and Master of Communication Management, McMaster University.
Mike Wise
Mike Wise is a journalism professor and program co-ordinator at Humber College in Toronto. Before joining Humber, Mike spent almost 32 years working for CBC Television, most recently as the anchor of the local 11 pm newscast in Toronto. Mike started working at CBC when he was just 17 and still in high school. One of his first behind-the-scenes responsibilities was to work on a federal election broadcast special, even though he wasn't legally old enough to vote.
Mike is married and has a teenage daughter. He holds a master's degree in Communication and Technology from the University of Alberta and an honours degree in Political Studies from Queen's. While at Queen's, he served as the executive producer of Studio-Q, the weekly student-produced campus TV show.
Study Abroad
Propel your resume and life story to the next level by taking advantage of the global opportunities offered at Humber. Gain academic credit, develop highly valued employability skills and create connections with people from all over the world through our many offerings: Summer Abroad, Semester Exchange, Humber Global Summer School, and many other opportunities!
To learn more, visit Humber Global, or contact Jennifer Cleary at Jennifer.Cleary@humber.ca.
Your Career
Graduates will emerge with media business skills that can be directly applied to work within established news agencies or as media entrepreneurs and freelance journalists across both traditional media industries and in emerging multiplatform settings.
Related Programs
Program Availability
| START | DELIVERY | LOCATION | STATUS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | North | Open |
| START | DELIVERY | LOCATION | STATUS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | North | Open |
Humber is a publicly funded institution. International students graduating from a PGWP Eligible program at Humber are eligible to apply for a Post-Graduation Work Permit.
International students in Canada could be eligible for an automatic scholarship*. Apply now!
Check out the step-by-step Admissions Road Map for helpful information and additional resources.
| START | DELIVERY | LOCATION | STATUS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | North | Open |
Humber is a publicly funded institution. International students graduating from a PGWP Eligible program at Humber are eligible to apply for a Post-Graduation Work Permit.
International applicants outside of Canada can apply through Humber International. Check out the step-by-step Admissions Road Map for helpful information and additional resources.
Upcoming Recruitment Events
News Feed
The Future of Journalism is Local
Tue, October 29, 2024
Humber Polytechnic partners with Village Media to give journalism studnts a competitive edge.
Preparing the next generation of journalists
Fri, February 23, 2024
Humber College offers a robust School of Journalism designed to provide students with the skills and experiences to be successful in the constantly changing industry.
Journalism students premiere documentary at LA film festival
Wed, October 14, 2020
Pearl Under Pressure, a documentary short by Lucy Lau and Harmony Multani, had its public premiere at the Los Angeles Lift Off Film Festival.
The 12-minute film, the pair's capstone project for the Journalism graduate certificate program, highlights efforts to combat child abuse in Uganda. The film grew out of a health and social change intiative led by Denmark's University College Absalon with partial funding from the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union.
Read more about Lau and Multani's film and their experience documenting the stories of women and children in Uganda.
Humber Journalism Wins Two BNC Awards
Mon, May 07, 2018
On April 20th, 2018, Humber Journalism won two BNC Awards at the 2017 Ontario Community Newspaper Association convention.
The BNC awards are organized by the OCNA and recognize the outstanding work of local Ontario newspapers. The student-run newspaper, Humber Et Cetera, won first prize in the General Excellence category against stiff competition in the Colleges/Universities division.
This is a tremendous honour for our third-year diploma students who write, edit and lay out the newspaper, as well as second-year students who work as reporters and supply most of the copy. Thanks to Salem Alaton for his many years of hard work helping the students produce an award-winning paper. Thanks as well to Rob Lamberti who worked magic last year to help second-year students transform their academic writing into quality newspaper copy. And a special shout out to Marlee Greig, creative advisor, and technical support. Humber Journalism also won second place in the Student News Writing category for investigative pieces that a team of third-year students wrote about the $400K rebranding of IGNITE.
Congratulations to Tyler Bloomfield (now full-time CBC contract), Brandon Austin (co-founder of a thriving social media management firm with major clients), Alana MacLeod (full-time Global News contract), Erian Amor De Los Reyes (full-time CBC contract) and Ken Kellar (moving to Winnipeg to pursue journalism there).
No news at this time.
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