Public Safety (BA in Combination)

Make a difference in your community and develop the critical thinking skills essential for any public safety-related career. Learn from passionate professors with real-world experience and join our graduates who have successfully pursued careers in mental health, government and communications.

Experience ultimate flexibility with this fully asynchronous online program, allowing you to customize for yourself a hybrid schedule of online and on-campus courses, designed to help you face challenges head-on in the public safety field.

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Program Details

Degree Highlights

Your future professors work hard to make sure your academic experience is current, complete and designed to open doors in your career. Here are a few things you can count on:

  • Customize Your Degree: Earn a double major by combining our Public Safety degree with a second pairable major. Our practical courses pair seamlessly with courses such as criminology, psychology and sociology to provide a well-rounded learning approach. Choose a minor or option to compliment your learning and edge out competition in the job market.
  • Hybrid Learning Flexibility: Combine your in-person courses on campus with our asynchronous online offerings to customize a schedule that fits with your lifestyle.
  • Content that Really Matters: Analyze ethical considerations and other consequences of action or inaction in public safety situations. Demonstrate intercultural competence and sensitivity and apply these skills when working with marginalized populations.

Top Experiences

Here are just a few ways our students apply their learning in the real world throughout their degree:

  • Your Laurier Community: Meet other students with similar interests by joining an on-campus club or association such as the Double Degrees Club, Criminology Students' Association, or Foot Patrol/Hawk Walk in Brantford or Waterloo.
  • State-of-the-Art Security Software: Construct crime maps, disaster maps and municipal emergency incident maps using online GIS mapping software.
  • Data Analysis: Analyze social media data via analytics and data mining platforms.

Courses, Options and Pathways

First and Second-Year Courses

  • Introduction to Public Safety
  • Public Safety Administration and Government Relations
  • Introduction to Digital Technology and Public Safety
  • Leadership and Career Development in Law Enforcement
  • Public Safety Policy Analysis
  • Gladue Principles
  • Social Science Research Methods

Sample Electives

  • Leadership and Personal Development
  • Introduction to the Criminal Justice System
  • Foundations for Community Engagement and Service
  • Introduction to Indigenous Studies

Sample Upper Year Courses

  • Theories of Correctional Justice
  • Emergency Management Interoperability
  • GIS, Crime Mapping, and RTM
  • Immigration and Conflict Zones

Combinations

Expand your field of expertise by pairing your Public Safety major with these popular program choices:

  • Psychology*
  • Criminology
  • Game Design 
  • Health Studies
  • Communication Studies

*Apply directly to Public Safety and Psychology with OUAC code UCJ (Brantford) or UCH (Waterloo).

Options and Minors

These are a few of the many popular academic opportunities which allow you to broaden your knowledge:

  • Criminology Minor
  • Leadership Minor
  • User Experience Design Minor
  • Health Studies Minor
  • Computer Science Minor

Check out other options to enhance your degree.

Admissions

  • Format: full time or part time
  • Duration: four years
  • Start: September (fall term), January (winter term) or May (spring term)

Your Career Awaits

It’s not only about the journey; it’s about the destination. Let us help you get to where you’re going.

Here are just some examples of our graduates' destinations. What’s yours?

Sample Career Options

Note: Additional training and education may be required.

  • crime analyst
  • mental health worker
  • communications professional
  • public health officer
  • emergency management planner
  • cybersecurity/fraud investigator
  • intelligence analyst
  • law enforcement personnel
  • urban planner

Explore more careers.

Support After Graduation

Alumni for life means that you have access to Career and Employment Support offered at Laurier for your entire career.

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Tuition and Scholarships

Getting a university education is an investment in your future.

At Laurier, we take financial health seriously by providing a wide variety of funding opportunities for you throughout your degree, such as scholarships and bursaries, and by equipping you with the skills to manage your finances effectively in the years to come.

 

Laurier is among the top 6 percent in the Global 2000 World University Ranking

 

Laurier students engaged in hands-on learning in 2023

 

Laurier graduates employed or in post-graduate studies in 2023

Locations

Pair the online Public Safety program with a program on either the Waterloo or Brantford campus. Online degrees offer a flexible option for students looking to pair convenience with the strong community Laurier is best known for. 

The Brantford campus is woven into the downtown core of the City of Brantford and is home to more than 3,000 students. With classrooms and study spaces close to great restaurants, shopping and hiking trails, you get the best of both worlds.

The Waterloo campus is home to more than 17,700 undergraduate and graduate students. You're steps away from classes, residence, and campus amenities on this close-knit campus.

Chat with Current Students

Want to know what it’s really like to be in this program? U Community is our Discord server where future Golden Hawks like you can connect with current students to get their first-hand stories and tips on living and learning at Laurier.

Connect with Us

Questions? Email chooselaurier@wlu.ca, call 548.889.8888 or see all contact information.


You Belong Here

Think this program might be the perfect fit for you and your future?