The Toronto Campus will offer a graduate certificate in applied artificial intelligence beginning in January 2027. The certificate is designed for working professionals with a bachelor's degree and some experience with data, but it does not require a computer science background.
Students take four courses over two terms, meeting two evenings a week at the campus or online. Credits from the certificate can be applied to the campus's master's in data science.
The certificate was developed with an advisory board of employers who said they need staff who understand both what AI tools can do and where they can go wrong. Classes will be taught by Toronto Campus faculty and by practitioners from partner organizations.
The first cohort will be limited to 40 students. Applications open September 1, and the deadline is November 15.
The courses
- Foundations of machine learning for decision-makers
- Building and evaluating AI tools with real organizational data
- AI governance, privacy and Canadian regulation
- A capstone project with a partner organization in finance, health care or government
Partner organizations for the first cohort include two Canadian banks, a regional health network and the city of Toronto's digital services office.
Tuition for the full certificate is about 9,800 Canadian dollars, and many Toronto employers offer tuition support for courses like these.
Each capstone project will be supervised by a faculty member and a mentor from the partner organization.
Toronto employers aren't short of people who can talk about AI. They're short of people who can pick the right problem, test the tool honestly and explain the risks to a board.
