Graduate Studies

Three graduate programs

Program FAQs

Our strength is the quality of our faculty and research facilities

The department has close to 30 members. There is a strong research focus. Our faculty members have won many awards and honours for the quality and impact of their research.

We also hold awards for high-quality classroom teaching and excellence in thesis supervision.

Economics faculty members

Research strength

Our research strength has historically been empirical, applied economics in the areas of labour, health and public economics.

Recent investments in international macro, international trade and international finance make these new areas of excellence.

Department faculty lead or take part in many research centres at McMaster, including:

Secure Empirical Analysis Lab (SEAL)
McMaster Decision Science Laboratory (McDSL);
Centre for Health Economics and Policy Analysis (CHEPA);
Quantitative Program in Economics and Population (QSEP);
Statistics Canada Research Data Centre (RDC), and others.

Research

Program size

Graduate programs at McMaster are a modest size. Our programs provide a personalized approach to training. You will have many opportunities for interaction with faculty.

In a typical year there are 15-25 students enrolled in each of our Masters programs.

Each year McMaster admits five to eight students to the PhD program. Twenty-five students are currently enrolled in the doctoral program.

McMaster offers a co-op option in all three of its graduate level economics programs.

Job prospects

Our Masters students typically obtain positions in the public sector at both the federal and provincial levels in a diverse set of economic and policy areas such as:

finance
health
education
social policy
and the environment.

They also excel in the private sector in:

financial institutions (e.g. CIBC, RBC)
large employers with research divisions (e.g., Target)
research organizations (e.g., Dymaxium, I3 Canada).

Our PhD students typically obtain faculty positions in other Canadian Universities (e.g., Carleton, University of Waterloo, University of Saskatchewan, University of Alberta), or research positions within government (e.g., Statistics Canada, Bank of Canada).

Alumni

Awards and funding

We fund our graduate students so they can devote their time and energy to their studies.

Doctoral students receive funding of $13,500 - plus the cost of tuition - during each of first four years of doctoral study.

All students admitted to the PhD program are offered:

Teaching Assistant (TA) position. 130 hours of marking or tutoring in each of the fall and winter terms in exchange for a total payment of $11,687 (2021).
Research Assistantship (RA). Many upper-year doctoral students also receive support in the form of an RA. RA's work on research projects with faculty members.
Students are eligible for TA and RA positions during the Spring and Summer terms, which provides extra support.

Graduate Resources

Find a list of resources and links to useful information for Economics graduate students including:

Weekly seminars and visiting lecturers

The department holds twice weekly seminars. Many of the department visitors set aside time to meet with graduate students.

The opportunity to present and discuss your research is good practice for employment interviews.

Weekly Seminars

International Student Services

Canada is a great place to live and learn. McMaster University offers a number of services to help our English-as-an-Additional-Language (EAL) speakers including online learning modules that focus on the daily language needs of graduate students and postdoc learners, workshops, conversation circles, mentorship programs and social events.

International Graduate Students