1.
Rogers Cybersecure Catalyst, Toronto Metropolitan University 5/5 (13 reviews)
2.
Lighthouse Labs 4.75/5 (24 reviews)
3.
BrainStation 4.7/5 (223 reviews)
4.
Conestoga College 4.9/5 (16 reviews)
5.
University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies 4.15/5 (15 reviews)
6.
The G. Raymond Chang School of Continuing Education, Toronto Metropolitan University 5/5 (5 reviews)
7.
Springboard 4.95/5 (23 reviews)
8.
Humber College 5/5 (17 reviews)
9.
York University School of Continuing Studies 3.8/5 (11 reviews)
10.
Toronto School of Management (TSoM) 4.8/5 (231 reviews)
11.
Seneca College 3.45/5 (9 reviews)
12.
Centennial College 3.65/5 (3 reviews)
13.
Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) 3.55/5 (7 reviews)
14.
Canadian College of Technology and Business (CCTB) 5/5 (13 reviews)
Rogers Cybersecure Catalyst, Toronto Metropolitan University
Founded in 2019, the Toronto Metropolitan University Rogers Cybersecure Catalyst is fostering innovation and leadership to advance Canada’s global competitiveness in cybersecurity. The Brampton-based training hub delivers several unique programs, including an accelerator for growing cybersecurity businesses, a gamified learning program for teens and an intensive cybersecurity certification program delivered in partnership with the SANS Institute, a preeminent global cybersecurity educator.
What sets Toronto Metropolitan University Rogers Cybersecure Catalyst apart?
The Catalyst’s flagship offering CLIC (Certifications for Leadership in Cybersecurity) is an immersive six-month program, delivered entirely online with both synchronous and asynchronous elements. The SANS-led training equips students with top-notch practical skills and defensive strategies, and you’ll graduate with two GIAC certifications, an internationally recognized credential that will open doors with any employer.
What Students Are Saying
“Hands down, the SANS instructors are the best in the business, and with over 2M vacant cyber jobs worldwide, the Catalyst provides a clear-cut path to a career in cybersecurity. ”
Junior, Array
The curriculum
CLIC is a deep dive into the essential concepts and knowledge for a successful cybersecurity career, including practical programming, compliance, enterprise infrastructure, cloud security, network security, vulnerability management and more. The later weeks of the program include two weeklong bootcamps and exams to earn your certifications. The program wraps up with cyber range experiential learning, where you’ll test your new skills in an immersive environment with real-world attack scenarios.
Locations
Brampton, Ontario
Lighthouse Labs
Since its founding in Vancouver in 2013, Lighthouse Labs has quickly taken a leading role in tech education and digital skills training across Canada. The full-stack coding bootcamp, which is consistently among CourseCompare’s top coding bootcamps each year, delivers intensive job training and education alongside upskilling courses to future-proof your career in cybersecurity, data analytics, web development and other highly employable tech skills.
What sets Lighthouse Labs apart?
Lighthouse’s accelerated programs – including its cybersecurity bootcamp – are easily accessible to people with little to tech background, providing a hands-on virtual experience and expert mentoring to establish an in-demand digital toolbox. Recent graduates emphasize the role community plays here, where students, instructors and administrators alike maintain close professional relationships even after graduation.
On top of the expertise and skills training on offer, you’ll receive career coaching and mentorship, interview and resume prep, and ample networking opportunities to help parlay your new cybersecurity savvy into a career.
What Students Are Saying
“I not only learned to code but went deep into the cybersecurity skills employers are looking for, like incident reporting and encryption and threat detection. I learned alongside great instructors working in the field and students who were mature (22-33) and serious about this career move. Best of all, I completed the program part-time, through live online sessions, in about 6 months. Excellent experience at Lighthouse Labs! ”
Dave Saunder, Cyber Security Flex Program
The Curriculum
Lighthouse’s state-of-the-art curriculum is based on the principle of “everything you need to know, but only what you need to know,” delivering a comprehensive cybersecurity education in 12 weeks. You’ll develop your skills through a mix of live online classes and self-guided learning.
Following an introductory pre-work prep, students dive into foundational modules covering bases like network administration and incident handling, then moving into advanced concepts like forensics, ethical hacking, secure design principles and threat intelligence. Along the way, you’ll hone your skills in Splunk, Nmap, OpenVPN, GUI, Wireshark and a wide range of cutting-edge tools and platforms.
Lighthouse Labs’ cyber bootcamp launched in 2022, with job placement data coming soon. But if Lighthouse Labs’ other award-winning programs are any indication, students can expect job placement rates above 90 per cent and a vast employer network to draw from upon graduation.
Locations
Live Online
BrainStation
About BrainStation
Popular with busy professionals who want to add credentials and learn in a dynamic environment while continuing to work, BrainStation has been expanding its education platform since 2012, providing students hands-on learning for today’s fast-moving economy. Instructors are constantly developing the curriculum to meet real-world skills.
What sets BrainStation apart?
The school has a robust network of more than 1,000 hiring partners, giving students a distinct advantage when job hunting. The school also offers access to scholarships, often provided by organizations seeking to hire in the technology, financial and consulting sectors. Graduating students can have their capstone projects featured on the BrainStation website in an online student exhibit, and a Career Success team assists in résumé building and developing job interview skills. On average, 92 per cent of students in BrainStation’s full-time diploma programs find work within six months of graduation.
The Curriculum
Back after a brief hiatus, BrainStation’s cybersecurity certificate enables students to understand technologies used every day by cybersecurity professionals, and how security threats exploit vulnerabilities within those technologies. In five- to-ten weeks, you will learn how to navigate the complex and changing information security industry, identify security threats and how to create specific strategies to prevent and mitigate real-world security risks for individuals and teams. Instructors cover how to leverage best practices alongside industry-leading techniques to reduce risk, protect against attacks, and be prepared to act when incidents occur.
Locations
Online, Toronto
Conestoga College
About Conestoga College
Located in Kitchener, Ont., Conestoga College was established in 1967, and now serves approximately 23,000 registered students through campuses and training centres in Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge, Guelph, Stratford, Ingersoll and Brantford and is a provincial leader in apprenticeship training. Continuing education programs attract approximately 30,000 enrolments each year.
What sets Conestoga College apart?
This fully online program is designed to give information and digital security professionals the ability to create and manage policy frameworks, standards and procedures, as well as mitigate risk, related to organizations’ most advanced cybersecurity needs. Graduates will attain the skills necessary to become analysts and security specialists in the cyber security profession.
The Curriculum
Courses include network security and penetration testing, computer forensics and investigation, wireless and mobile device security, ethical hacking and network defence, mobile application security design, hacker techniques, tools and incident handling as well as a cyber security capstone project that integrates the knowledge and skills students have obtained throughout the program. Upon completion, students are able to design and implement comprehensive information security architecture from the planning and design through to the presentation of the final project.
Locations
Online
University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies
About the University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies
The School of Continuing Studies at the University of Toronto offers more than 700 courses in over 40 program areas across a range of professions that help people further their careers and keep up with in-demand skills. Instructors are leaders in business and bring a wealth of practical, real-world knowledge to the academic environment.
What sets the University of Toronto SCS apart?
The Cyber Security Management certificate lays the foundation for getting you closer to the Certified Information Security Manager (CISM) certification by studying content that aligns with ISACA’s model curriculum. You will learn to develop and run cyber security programs. Offered in partnership with Trilogy Education, the school also has a part-time, 24-week, Cyber Security Bootcamp for learners interested in an accelerated format.
The Curriculum
Learn how to recognize and manage cyber risks, design and run a cyber security program, align IT security strategy with business goals and needs, train teams to anticipate, recognize and respond to cyber security attacks, and cover content broadly aligned with ISACA’s (Information Systems, Audit and Control Association) major domains and model curriculum.
Students not taking the bootcamp have three years from the start of the first course to complete the three required courses for this certificate.
Locations
Toronto, Online
The G. Raymond Chang School of Continuing Education, Toronto Metropolitan University
About The Chang School at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU)
TMU’s roots are in applied technical education that prepares students for the current job market. Today, the career-oriented public research university is known for its business and IT programs. Located in the heart of downtown Toronto, the degree-granting institution leverages its urban setting for real-world learning. Instructors come from academia and industry, providing students with a well-rounded experience.
What Sets TMU Apart?
The faculty at the Chang School not only teach in-demand skills required of today’s IT departments, but they also help students find jobs and connect them with employers in the job market. The program gives students the skills and knowledge required in this specialized field and teaches them how to apply them in everyday circumstances. The course includes the Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) certification program, offered by the (ISC)2 and helps students prepare for the CISSP exam.
The Curriculum
Courses include Computer Network Security, Computer Cryptography and Digital Steganography, Digital Forensics Systems, Security Architecture and Design, Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) and Continuity and Risk Management. In particular, the Cybersecurity, Data Protection, and Digital Forensics program packages these subjects together in a career-oriented learning experience designed to help you break into the cybersecurity field after just one year of part-time studies.
Locations
Online, Toronto
Springboard
The Curriculum
Springboard launched its new Cyber Security Career Track program in 2021, which is the only cybersecurity bootcamp in Canada to offer a job guarantee. The program is delivered in partnership with InfoSec Learning, LLC, as well as globally recognized certification body CompTIA Security+ to ensure all students graduate with the technical skills needed to pass the CompTIA Security+ certification exam and begin an IT security career.
Locations
Online
Humber College
About Humber College
Founded in 1967, Humber College is known for applying practical real-life learning, giving its students an excellent foundation to build their careers. Instructors work in the sectors they teach and give students not only foundational skills but insider knowledge on how to land their next job. Humber College is based in Toronto with three main campuses — Humber North campus, Lakeshore campus and Humber Orangeville.
What sets Humber Apart?
Known for attracting instructors who are at the top of their profession, Humber brings together practical knowledge and skillful teachers. This program is currently led by a cybersecurity operational risk specialist from the financial sector who is focused on banking security and the protection of customer data, holding security industry certifications including CISSP, CRISC, CISA, and is trained as a Certified Ethical Hacker.
The Curriculum
Four compulsory courses lead to this certificate, including Understanding Cyber Landscape, The Fundamentals of Cyber Security, Cyber Attacks, and Cyber Defense. You will learn the latest in cyber criminal activity and how hackers, criminals, organized crime and malicious insiders are using technology to perpetrate criminal activity. The reliance on new technologies that make up our digital lives is also making the technology itself a target for criminals.
Locations
Online, Toronto
York University School of Continuing Studies
About York University School of Continuing Studies
Offering one of the largest rosters of continuing education programs in Canada, York University’s School of Continuing Studies provides specialized knowledge to professionals looking to augment their learning and build on practical work experience. The programs allow individuals to explore career options, prepare for promotion and stay on top of current trends in today’s job market.
What sets York University apart?
York’s two programs, the Certificate in Cybersecurity Fundamentals and the Certificate in Advanced Cybersecurity Fundamentals, can be taken separately on a part-time basis for five months or together part-time over 10 months. There is also an option to take the full-time Cyber Security intensive program over 12 weeks. The programs have credibility in the marketplace because the course is aligned with the eight domains of the CISSP body of knowledge.
Completing both programs will prepare you to present the CISSP examination and help you earn your designation.
The Curriculum
The programs examine the information security knowledge framework as you develop an understanding of the eight CISSP domains and gain the required knowledge for information security projects and the designation. You will also develop an understanding of the ethical, legal and regulatory issues surrounding cybersecurity as you learn about security principles, network fundamentals and how to apply these areas to design networks and policies for security and compliance. The courses also cover mitigating risk and protecting ownership by understanding best practices for data gathering, classification, storage, retention and protection.
Fundamental concepts as well as information on selecting controls and countermeasures, and the application of cryptography, are also covered. Students also learn relevant business skills, like how to apply best practices in vendor procurement, investigations and preventative measures, resource management, disaster recovery, and business continuity.
Locations
Online
Toronto School of Management (TSoM)
About Toronto School of Management
Located in downtown Toronto, the Toronto School of Management brings together seasoned instructors and industry partners who strive to provide students with a solid basis of technical and soft skills to find employment in some of the fastest-growing companies in Canada.
What sets Toronto School of Management apart?
The year-long Diploma in Cybersecurity Specialist includes a 240-hour co-op work placement at one of the school’s more than 100 workplace partners, ensuring that students get important on-the-job training and exposure to professionals who can teach them skills beyond the classroom. The program is powered by CompTIA, giving graduates the knowledge to build a solid foundation towards the Security+ certification.
The Curriculum
The curriculum covers all aspects of cybersecurity, including blockchain, risk management, big data and the Internet of Things (IofT). You will study computer systems and networks and assess risks to determine how security policies and protocols can be improved. Instructors teach students how to identify information security risks and implement new ways to protect an organization’s computer systems and networks, how to handle computer communication across multiple operating systems, respond to security alerts, and uncover and fix flaws in computer systems and networks.
Locations
Toronto
Seneca College
About Seneca College
With campuses throughout the Greater Toronto Area, Seneca’s size and diversity give students the advantage of partnerships with industry leaders, the latest in hands-on computer technology, a variety of class sizes, and full-time, part-time and continuing education options. Seneca also employs various methods of teaching – from in-class lectures and online learning to co-op and field placements – in programs related to applied arts, business, financial services and technology.
What sets Seneca apart?
As a graduate of this eight-month Ontario College Graduate certificate program, you will be equipped with industry best practices and skills in communication, information security, project management, problem-solving and more. The industry capstone project and optional work term will give you hands-on experience and position you for a career in one of the world’s fastest-growing fields. The program was developed in partnership with Toronto Finance International and its members, which include Canada’s big five banks.
The Curriculum
Courses include information security principles and policies, OS, mobile and network security architecture, ethical hacking and vulnerability testing, and security for cloud and Internet of things, as well as threat intelligence and IT security forensics. An IT security capstone project rounds out the final semester. Upon completion, students will be able to design and implement comprehensive information security architecture from the planning and design phase through the presentation of the final product.
Locations
Online, Toronto
Centennial College
About Centennial College
One of Canada’s oldest community colleges, Centennial has transformed itself over the last 50 years from a local college to a global career enabler, with a presence in China, India, South Korea and Brazil. The focus has always been on providing graduates with the skills to be ready for the job market whether in Canada or abroad. With four campuses across Toronto, the college offers flexibility in full and part-time learning both online and in-class.
What sets Centennial College apart?
Taught at the School of Engineering Technology and Applied Science, this full-time one-year graduate program in Cyber Security is completed over two semesters. To enhance your applied learning experience, you’ll learn current IT security tools, policies and techniques in a modern cybersecurity lab that was established in collaboration with the college’s industry partners.
The Curriculum
The program provides instruction in protecting computers, applications, and networks from unauthorized and malicious users or software. Core cybersecurity concepts will be covered including cryptography, cyber forensics, and network security. In-demand knowledge of mobile network security and cloud security will also be covered.
Locations
Toronto, Online
Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT)
About SAIT
Established in 1916, The Southern Alberta Institute of Technology is a polytechnic institute in Calgary, Alta. The school offers more than 100 applied career programs in technology, trades and business, 1,300 continuing education courses and corporate training programs to more than 200 companies annually.
What sets SAIT apart?
The cybersecurity program prepares students for the security profession, providing courses that cover a variety of defensive and offensive tools while learning the fundamentals of networking, malware analysis, reverse engineering, forensics, social engineering and strategy. SAIT has a 92 per cent graduate job placement rate and the median starting salary for this program is $65,000.
The Curriculum
Courses include network protocols and security, military and strategic studies, secure programming essentials, statistics for engineering and tech, security practice and the Canadian legal system, wireless security, malware analysis, operating system exploitation and payment card industry compliance and encryption. A capstone project is done in the final semester.
Locations
Online, Calgary, Alberta
Canadian College of Technology and Business (CCTB)
A central location in the heart of downtown Vancouver and an emphasis on co-op work placement set the Canadian College of Technology and Business (CCTB) apart. Specializing in business and information systems, CCTB has three different cyber security programs.
In addition to cyber security, CCTB offers other co-op programs in business, hospitality and tourism, digital marketing, user experience design, software quality assurance engineering, data engineering, and web development.
What sets CCTB apart?
Whether you are just starting a career in cyber security or looking to advance your skills and climb the corporate ladder, CCTB has a program for you. The Diploma in Cyber Security Analyst Practicum is CCTB’s introductory program that sets you on the path to becoming a Cyber Security Analyst. Through a mixture of in-class lessons and practical work experience, you will gain an expert knowledge of operating systems, data management and general system communications.
Next up is the Postgraduate Certificate in Security Operations Analyst with Co-Op, where you will develop the skills necessary to enhance your career as a cyber security professional. You will learn the in-demand technical skills surrounding Security Operations Center (SOC) processes, procedures, technologies, and workflows.
Finally, CCTB’S Cyber Security Risk Management with Co-Op is a multidisciplinary program that equips learners with a broad range of IT security competencies, enabling you to work across a wide variety of information technology fields in management and consulting positions.
What Students Are Saying
“I am very happy at CCTB. The college has great staff and instructors and a high-quality education. I chose to study the Cybersecurity Analyst Practicum program at CCTB because it is in high demand. After I graduate from CCTB, I want to apply to one of the top companies in Vancouver. ”
Esteban Perez, Diploma in Cybersecurity Analyst Practicum
The Curriculum
Diploma in Cyber Security Analyst Practicum
By the end of the diploma, students will be able to demonstrate an understanding of web programming, implement encryption-based technologies, and run penetration tests on systems to test for potential security risks. The program will close with an opportunity for students to showcase their skills through a Hackathon.
Postgraduate Certificate in Security Operations Analyst with Co-Op
You will gain in-depth knowledge of security threats, attack vulnerabilities, threat actor behavior, the cyber kill chain, and many other SOC-related concepts in this co-op program. You will also identify Indicators of Compromise (IoC), monitor and analyze system logs (IDS/IPS, end-point protection, servers, and workstations), learn Centralized Log Management (CLM) applications and processes, implement and administer Security, Information and Event Management (SIEM) solutions (Splunk, AlienVault, OSSIM, ELK), prepare comprehensive analytical security reports and briefings, perform incident detection and response processes, and implement and administer Service Desk Ticketing Systems.
Cyber Security Risk Management with Co-Op
In this multidisciplinary program you will learn enterprise-level strategic security planning; SOC processes, procedures, technologies, and workflows; SIEM solutions; governance, risk and compliance analysis and planning; system, network, and application penetration testing; advanced monitoring, logging, and alert analysis across multiple technology platforms (IDS/IPS, end-point protection, enterprise servers, workstations, and cloud environments); detection, analysis, and remediation of various network, system, and organizational vulnerabilities; Web Application Security Risk Analysis (OWASP Top 10); and Critical Security Controls (CIS Top 20).
Locations
Vancouver
I enrolled at TMU CyberSecure Catalyst, with help from CourseCompare and the amazing advisors on the team. And it all began with this blog post! Thank you and wish me luck!
Good luck, Brandon! Helping people succeed in the tech sector and beyond is what we get up for in the morning! Please let us know how your studies go.