Did you know health-related occupations accounted for 15% of all Canadian job vacancies in 2024—up from 6.5% in 2016?
According to Statistics Canada, demand is growing for professionals who can manage rising costs, interpret policy, and lead change across Canada’s strained healthcare system. A Master of Health Administration (MHA) develops these skills through specialized training in health policy, operations, economics, regulation, and quality improvement.
At CourseCompare, we’re seeing more experienced nurses, clinicians, and other health professionals pursue an MHA to move into management and leadership roles. Many programs accommodate working professionals through part-time, online, and hybrid formats.
Choosing between an MHA and an MBA often comes down to where you want to lead. An MHA is built around healthcare systems and administration; an MBA offers broader business training that can transfer across industries.
When comparing programs, it’s also important to look beyond delivery format. Residencies, co-op placements, consulting projects, employer connections, and cohort structures can strengthen your network and prepare you for leadership roles.
Based on tuition value, flexibility, institutional reputation, employer connections, and experiential learning opportunities, here are the best Master of Health Administration programs in Canada for 2026.
CourseCompare’s annual school rankings are determined using a process that considers several core metrics and principles. Read more about our methodology here.
University of Toronto
Leadership-Focused Learning for Established Professionals
Geared toward senior and mid-level administrators, managers, and clinicians, the University of Toronto’s Master of Health Science in Health Administration prepares professionals to lead in a complex and changing healthcare landscape. The MHSc in Health Administration has been training Canada’s healthcare leaders for more than 75 years. Launched in 1947 as a diploma in hospital administration and later as a full master’s degree, it has produced thousands of alumni who have served in leadership roles and shaped the Canadian healthcare landscape.
Blending health policy, management, and business, the program gives students the strategic and practical skills needed to guide organizations through change, improve care delivery, and respond to emerging system pressures. The program’s full-time, modular format, delivered both in person and virtually every three weeks with both coursework and practicums, lets students complete the degree in 20 months without stepping away from their careers.
What You’ll Learn
Students will build a strong foundation in health administration, leadership, and organizational change. Through an interdisciplinary curriculum, they will develop skills in health policy and economics, strategic planning, quality improvement, marketing, outcomes evaluation, human resources, information systems, accounting and finance, and quantitative decision-making.
The program includes a practicum placement where students work under the supervision and mentorship of a senior executive at a health service organization. Placements are arranged by the program and tailored to each student’s background, interests, and career objectives. Students can be placed in a variety of settings, including acute, rehab and mental health hospitals, community organizations, long-term care, government and government-related agencies, research organizations, volunteer organizations, and professional associations.
Locations
Toronto, Ontario
Université de Montréal
French-Language Learning for Francophone Students
As the first French-speaking establishment accredited by the Council on Education for Public Health, the Université de Montréal’s Master of Health Services Administration is a fully French, 45-credit graduate program for students interested in management, consulting, or further study in public health. Offered through the School of Public Health, it brings together expertise from management, social sciences, and the health sector, with study available on a full-time or half-time basis at the Montreal campus.
The program is listed with a four-year pathway and offers thesis, directed work, and non-thesis routes so students can pursue different academic and professional directions. While a knowledge of written English is also required, proficiency in French is the primary condition for admission.
What Students Are Saying
Monique DesChenes, Master of Health Services Administration“Completing the Master of Health Services Administration program helped me build the confidence and skills I needed to take on a leadership position in healthcare. I liked that the curriculum balanced management theory with practical applications, and the projects challenged me to think strategically about improving health services. It was a rewarding experience from start to finish. ”
What You’ll Learn
The Université de Montréal’s program allows students to build a foundation in health services management. Depending on their pathway, students may also explore research and evaluation methods, health economics and public policy, or project management and organizational change.
The program includes options for a thesis, directed work, or non-thesis study, allowing students to shape their learning around different academic and professional goals.
Locations
Montreal, Quebec
University of Ottawa
Strong Connections With Industry Partners
The University of Ottawa offers two distinct MHA pathways through its Telfer School of Management—the top 1% of business schools globally, and one of only two in Canada, to hold the “triple crown” of accreditation (AACSB, EQUIS, and AMBA). Both MHA routes are designed for working professionals but tailored to different career stages and schedules.
The Master of Health Administration program combine 20 months of coursework with a four-month capstone administrative residency or field project, giving students direct exposure to real healthcare management settings. The program’s employer network is one of its biggest assets, with more than 90 partner organizations in Ottawa and beyond, including the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO), the Ottawa Hospital, and Canadian Blood Services.
The University of Ottawa also offers an Executive Master of Health Administration degree, a solid choice for those looking to move into senior roles since the program is primarily online and can be completed in 20 months (or five terms). One of its biggest strengths is industry fit: The program connects students with healthcare leaders and has a formal link to the Canadian College of Health Leaders, which supports the path toward obtaining the Certified Health Executive (CHE) designation.
What You’ll Learn
The MHA program allows students to study business management, health-systems leadership, budgeting, team management, change, innovation, and service delivery improvement. The residency or consulting project is a major advantage, placing students inside recognized healthcare organizations and allowing them to apply what they learned in real settings.
On the other hand, the EMHA program combines asynchronous learning with opportunities to address real-world scenarios and complex challenges facing the healthcare sector. The capstone experience lets students apply course content to an existing healthcare challenge through case-based group work and presentations. Students will connect with world-class speakers and visit organizations to explore healthcare innovation. They can also participate in the course’s Leadership Coaching program, which matches them with an accomplished healthcare leader for one-on-one coaching.
Locations
Ottawa, Ontario
Dalhousie University
Personalized Guidance Through Close Faculty Mentorship
Dalhousie University’s CAHME (Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education) accredited Master of Health Administration program is highly personalized and prepares students to pursue management and administration careers that contribute to stronger healthcare systems and communities.
The program’s four-month residency offers a placement that pairs students with a senior health executive who serves as their one-on-one mentor and helps them take the steps to achieve their career goals. Students also receive additional support through the ELEMENT Mentoring Program, where they are matched with a current healthcare leader for regular guidance, goal-setting, and problem-solving over the span of 12 months.
Completed full time in 16 months, with part-time options also available, the program brings students together from varied academic and professional backgrounds.
What You’ll Learn
Students develop a broad foundation in health administration through studying healthcare organization and management, accounting and financial management, healthcare law, Canadian and international health systems, and more.
The curriculum also includes real-world health education through a four-month residency, taking place with host organizations such as district and regional health organizations.
Locations
Halifax, Nova Scotia
York University
Applied Learning Through Hands-On Experience
York University‘s Master of Health Industry Administration program at the Schulich School of Business offers hands-on learning in real care settings. Combining advanced management training with specialized health sector expertise, the program explores strategic thinking, systems design, healthcare quality, and leadership development.
The Krembil Public Healthcare Internship Program offers MHIA students a chance to gain 10 to 16 weeks of hands-on experience with leading organizations across Canada. Under the mentorship of health executives, interns sharpen their professional and leadership skills, while contributing directly to the sector. For many, the program acts as a stepping stone to full-time employment.
MHIA graduates can also work toward the Certified Health Executive (CHE) designation since the program is accredited by the Canadian College of Health Leaders. The program is offered both full time over 12 months or part time over 24 months.
What You’ll Learn
Students develop a specialized understanding of healthcare management, leadership, and strategy. The curriculum covers healthcare economics, public policy, digital health, financial decision-making, marketing, entrepreneurship, sector innovation, and more.
Through a consulting capstone, students also apply their learnings to a real-world organizational challenge and develop practical recommendations for improvement.
Locations
Toronto, Ontario
McGill University
Leadership Development for Healthcare Professionals
Founded in 1906, McGill University‘s International Masters for Health Leadership is designed for experienced professionals working across the health sector and is the ideal choice for those looking to enhance their leadership skills.
Delivered in a cohort format, the program is structured around five intensive 11-day modules over 12 months, with three live online modules and two in-person sessions, followed by a final master’s paper. This format allows students to continue working while completing the program, which helps them to seamlessly integrate their learnings into the workplace.
Between modules, students complete online workshops, reflection papers, and a managerial exchange, exploring how management works in real-world healthcare settings. It looks at how power, authority, and responsibility are used in the workplace, while helping students identify ways to strengthen their leadership skills and improve their organizations.
What You’ll Learn
Students examine health leadership through five interconnected managerial mindsets: reflective, analytic, collaborative, worldly, and catalytic. The program is crafted to help participants apply new insights to challenges within their own organizations and health systems, with opportunities to explore areas such as personal and organizational leadership, workplace decision-making, and systems-level change.
Through the managerial exchange, students examine how management is accomplished in health-related settings by focusing on real-life workplace challenges and opportunities for improvement. Students also complete a master’s paper with the guidance of an advisor.
Locations
Montreal, Quebec
University of British Columbia (UBC)
Systems-Level Approaches to Complex Healthcare Challenges
The University of British Columbia’s Master of Health Administration is a 24-month professional program for clinicians, managers, administrators, and researchers interested in addressing complex challenges in healthcare delivery.
The program combines study in health systems, policy, and management, with a flexible schedule designed for working professionals. Classes are offered in a compressed format during Friday afternoons and weekends, with the program taking place both online and in person.
What You’ll Learn
Students build a multidisciplinary foundation in health administration through coursework spanning health policy, systems, management, and core business topics—from finance and accounting to measurement. The program also emphasizes leadership skills connected to strategic decision-making, organizational performance, change management, and collaboration across healthcare teams. The program culminates in an independent capstone research project that’s based on a real-world health administration issue.
For the capstone experience, students apply their learnings from the program to examine a focused area of practice and propose solutions to a complex health system challenge.
Locations
Vancouver, British Columbia
McMaster University
Career-Focused Learning for Professional Advancement
Designed for health professionals already working in a clinical or management capacity, McMaster University‘s Master of Health Management is an online 32-month, part-time program for those who want to reach their next career milestone.
Within a year of completing the program over 50% of graduates see a change in job title, position, or level. Graduates of the MHM program have also earned awards, presented at national and international conferences, and published their work.
The program includes two short two-to-three-day mandatory residencies and is delivered through a partnership between the DeGroote School of Business and the School of Rehabilitation Science.
What You’ll Learn
Students will build a broad foundation of knowledge that spans Canada’s healthcare system and policy landscape, evidence-based decision-making, strategic planning, accounting and finance, and leadership. Depending on course selection, students may also explore areas such as economic evaluation, strategic writing, knowledge translation, and quality and patient safety.
Through the Health Management Independent Experiential Study, students gain practical experience in a healthcare organization outside their current workplace. Working with a faculty member or workplace supervisor, students arrange their own virtual, in-person, or hybrid placement, where they apply what they have learned in the program to a real-world health management setting.
Locations
Hamilton, Ontario
University of Regina
Specialization Preparation for Health Information Careers
The University of Regina’s Master of Health Administration is a primarily online, part-time program for professionals already working in health-related fields. Crafted to fit alongside full-time employment, the course-based degree can be completed in just two years and includes two short in-person residency weekends centred on group-based learning through case studies, simulations, breakout sessions, and presentations.
Students may choose to pursue the Health Informatics and Information Management major, which focuses on the use of health information within the Canadian healthcare system. Graduates from this stream may pursue roles in health information management, digital health, data governance, clinical information systems, and health informatics.
What You’ll Learn
Students build knowledge in health leadership, management, and policy, with a focus on strengthening health services delivery and organizational decision-making. The program fosters skills related to program and policy development, implementation and evaluation, as well as administrative and managerial performance in healthcare settings.
In addition, the MHA student placement allows students to contribute to a health policy project with a partner organization that’s supported by an internal mentor. Placements are flexible, with a time commitment that’s equivalent to roughly one month of full-time work spread across a semester and may be completed in person or remotely with active mentorship throughout.
Locations
Regina, Saskatchewan
Trent University
Multiple Tailored Pathways for Different Career Goals
Trent University’s Master of Management in Healthcare Management is a 16-month program for students interested in building managerial expertise in the health sector. It includes an internship where students gain real-world experience that gives them a competitive edge in the job market after graduation. It also includes an integrated workplace project that allows students to contribute their own innovative solutions to existing challenges in local organizations.
Domestic students may pursue the program part time, with most courses including a remote learning option.
What You’ll Learn
Students develop a foundation across healthcare systems and policy, business and financial decision-making, and organizational leadership. Coursework explores areas such as health economics, law and ethics, accounting and statistics, as well as conflict management and negotiation.
The program concludes with an integrated workplace or consultancy project that allows students to apply their learnings to a professional setting.
Locations
Peterborough, Ontario
University of Niagara Falls Canada (UNF)
Maximum Flexibility for Busy Working Professionals
With a strong emphasis on accessibility and equity, the University of Niagara Falls Canada’s 18-month Master of Health Care Management program is designed for professionals looking to build leadership and management expertise in the healthcare sector. Blending core business training with a health-focused study in policy, ethics, and service delivery, the program helps students build the strategic, financial, and operational skills needed to manage complex healthcare organizations.
Delivery options are highly flexible and include on-campus, online, and hybrid formats, depending on availability. Students also have the opportunity to apply their learnings to a capstone project or internship.
What You’ll Learn
Students examine how healthcare systems function, how financial and economic decisions shape care delivery, and how leadership, human resources, and policy influence organizational performance. The program also explores technology in healthcare management, accessibility and equity, and emerging issues affecting the sector.
Students have the opportunity to apply their learnings to a practicum and consulting capstone project.
Locations
Niagara Falls, Ontario
Toronto Metropolitan University
Leadership Training Grounded in Community Care
Toronto Metropolitan University‘s MHA in Community Care is the first graduate program of its kind in Canada. It’s built specifically for professionals who want to lead in the fast-growing community care sector, the network of home, community, non-profit, and health services organizations that support people outside hospitals.
Students prepare for leadership roles that involve coordinating services across providers, managing interdisciplinary teams, improving access for diverse populations, and supporting clients and families through complex care pathways. The program focuses on innovation, analytics, entrepreneurship, and management in community-based healthcare, making it especially relevant for those already working in the sector. Its 16-month modular format is designed so students can keep working full time while they study.
What You’ll Learn
Through the courses offered in the program, students work in small groups to complete a project about a policy, management, and/or delivery issue facing an organization in the community care sector. Healthcare leaders from partner organizations mentor students alongside faculty throughout the project.
Students focus on innovation, analytics, entrepreneurship, and management in community-based healthcare as they’re relevant to roles in home care, private care, non-profit care, and coordinated service delivery. In addition, the program integrates real-world experiences through its capstone course, where students work with home and community care organizations.
Locations
Toronto, Ontario
University of Lethbridge
Management Foundations for Healthcare Leaders
The University of Lethbridge’s Master of Health Services Management is a 24-month, part-time program for professionals who want to strengthen their management capabilities in the health sector. Jointly offered by the Dhillon School of Business and the Faculty of Health Sciences, the compressed blended program is delivered through a mix of online learning and in-person sessions at the Calgary campus, allowing students to continue working while they study.
Applied research, critical thinking, and decision-making are integrated throughout the program. The degree culminates in an applied project in which students identify a current challenge within a healthcare organization, develop a potential solution, and present their findings at a scholarly level. Together, the coursework and project prepare graduates to work effectively as managers and administrators across public and private health care environments.
What Students Are Saying
Nicky Bolland, Health Services Management (MHSM)“This program exceeded my expectations. I enjoyed working on case studies that reflected real issues facing healthcare organizations and learning alongside professionals from different healthcare backgrounds. The connections I made with classmates and faculty were just as valuable as the coursework, and I left the program feeling much more confident as a healthcare leader. ”
What You’ll Learn
The interdisciplinary curriculum examines health services management through five modules: Design, Financial Structure, Leading and Bridging, Political Environment, and Conceptualization. Students develop an understanding of the Canadian healthcare system, while strengthening practical skills in systems thinking, numeracy, critical analysis, decision-making, team-building, and the management of interdisciplinary workplaces.
The program builds applied skills in research, critical thinking, decision-making, and collaboration, while helping students examine health systems beyond Canada. These competencies are brought together through an integrated project focused on diagnosing and addressing a real management issue in a healthcare organization.
Locations
Calgary, Alberta
Laurentian University
A Focus on Rural, Northern, and Indigenous Health
Laurentian University’s online Master of Health Administration is for health professionals preparing for management and leadership responsibilities in care organizations. The program is delivered fully online, offering flexibility for professionals who can’t relocate or travel for school. Developed through a partnership between the university’s graduate nursing and MBA programs, the MHA brings together health administration and business perspectives, with particular attention to rural, northern, and Indigenous health contexts.
Students may complete the program on a full-time or part-time basis through a mix of live and self-paced online learning.
What You’ll Learn
Students will examine the leadership, operational, and accountability demands of health administration, with coursework spanning management in healthcare settings, accounting, business statistics, organizational behaviour, risk management, program planning and evaluation, healthcare resource allocation, and accountability structures.
The program also integrates ethical reflection and Indigenous health administration across the curriculum and concludes with a capstone project focused on a significant administrative issue in a healthcare setting.
Locations
Sudbury, Ontario
Editorial Team