Programs

Graduate Program in Spatial Analysis

Public and private sector organizations increasingly employ spatial information and GIS technology to solve problems and make informed decisions. Many government departments and agencies use GIS and image processing technology for planning, analysis and decision making. In the private sector, the growth of GIS has also been extraordinary. The development of powerful desktop systems has put spatial decision making software into the hands of more and more companies, from major banks and retailers to environmental consultants.

The Department of Geography and the Centre for the Study of Commercial Activity at Ryerson University partner to offer the degree of Master of Spatial Analysis (MSA). They have pooled their academic and professionally oriented resources in spatial analysis and GIS to establish this graduate program. The Department and the Centre are both located on the Ryerson campus in downtown Toronto, one of the most progressive, multi-cultural, and vibrant cities in North America.

The program is designed to focus on current practice involving GIS tools, and the concepts that are needed for practitioners. These practitioners include people working in a wide variety of areas in government, business, NGOs, and academia. The MSA can be completed on a full-time (one year) or a part-time (two year) basis.

The program offers courses, labs, seminars, and research to generate an intellectual environment in which students can focus on analyzing, modeling, reasoning about, and simulating decision-making utilizing large, spatially referenced datasets. The program combines a professional orientation with an academic foundation by requiring both a practicum and a major research paper.

The degree requirements for the MSA include the completion of four core and two elective courses plus the practicum and research paper scheduled during a period of 12 months (three semesters) for full-time students and 24 months (six semesters) for part-time students. Although much of the program is in common for all students, three fields of study are recognized-- physical/environmental geography and landscape analysis; business/commercial applications; and social and community information analysis. Students participate in one of the fields by selecting corresponding electives, the practicum, and their research paper topic.