A few years into your career post-bachelor’s degree and searching for the opportunity to strengthen your knowledge in public policy? You’re certainly not alone. From a Deputy Commissioner for the in Bengaluru, India, to a Philippine-born and raised immigration officer in Canada supporting immigrants and asylum-seekers, that’s the wide range of students who head to McGill University in Montreal every year to solve complex global challenges through bold and better policies.
Across 11 months full-time, the Max Bell School of Public Policy’s Master of Public Policy (MPP) programme strikes the right balance between policy theory and practical realities. In fact, every course option includes a variety of real-world examples and applications. Its capstone Policy Lab provides a unique opportunity to work closely with a private, public or non-profit organisation to solve a real-world policy issue.
Breaking down silos, disrupting the status quo and challenging powerful opinions are never easy – but MPP graduates achieve just that thanks to a curriculum that’s big on experiences.
In the MPP, you’ll build a large network comprising a global cohort of students, expert faculty, and real-world practitioners. Source: McGill University
Rigorous, hands-on courses
When Pallawi Anand was promoted to become the Deputy Commissioner of the Department of Revenue in Bengaluru, India, she had no small task ahead of her: she had to her team through the newly implemented goods and services tax. For the first time, Anand had to read and enact the law, even leveraging her engineering background to tackle complex tax laws and solve seemingly no shortage of problems.
By this point, Anand had been working for seven years. Sensing it was time to grow, she sought an intensive master’s degree related to her current career. “I always thought that having a degree in public policy would make me a better officer,” she says.
Although that would mean giving up a prestigious job in India’s civil services – one that she had to take an exam with a success rate of 0.1% to 0.4% to land – Anand found herself drawn by the practical opportunities of Max Bell School’s MPP programme. “I feel that unless you haven’t had hands-on experience in something, you don’t realise what goes into policymaking,” she says. “The Policy Lab does that, providing us with practical experience and that truly attracted me.”
The MPP curriculum spans 45 credits, split into four components: six-week Core Policy Courses, one-week Policy Case Studies, one-week Complexity Seminars, and the Policy Lab. In the Core Policy Courses component, you’ll complete 4 six-week modules with 1 required course and the choice of 1 complementary course that you can choose and tailor to your needs.
Two courses stood out to Anand: The Global Political and Policy Landscape, and Analytical Methods for Policy Evaluation. “Learning about data analysis which in turn helps in making informed decisions [are some of the] things I will take when I go back to the field,” she says.
Practical application is a given in the MPP curriculum – you’ll work with real-world organisations through the Policy Lab. Source: McGill University
Perhaps the most hands-on experience of the four components is the Policy Lab. Set over two terms, this is when you get to collaborate with a sponsoring organization and apply what you learn to a tangible policy challenge. No two cohorts work on the same issue as the Max Bell School has an extraordinary network of partner organisations across all sectors.
For example, 2024 MPPs investigated refugee housing rights, newcomers in Canada’s non-profit sector, greenhouse gas emissions in telecom networks, flood risk reductions, and so much more.
“This idea of not only tackling the old issues where the policies are written and implemented, but rather thinking about new issues that are emerging,” says Arwa Emhemed, a graduate from Libya. “The school really sets the heart of policymaking and the contentious issues of how we go about that.”
Born and raised in Lebanon, Emhemed saw first-hand the impacts of policies governing human migration in the mediterranean region. She would go on to complete a bachelor’s degree in political science, public administration, and international law, where her final capstone focused on the nexus between conflict and gender inequality, highlighting the issue of policy intervention at the grassroots level in the Global South region.
Yet, Emhemed still felt she lacked practical experience. “I was particularly drawn to the concept of the Policy Lab at Max Bell,” she says.
Through the lab, she integrated key programme elements such as policy theory, data analysis, stakeholder trade-offs, and communication challenges, with evaluation based on group-produced policy briefings to solve a real-world policy issue. Like most MPP students, Emhemed got a taste of what it was like to truly make a difference.
And she learned just as much from people and places beyond campus. The Ottawa trip was her favourite networking opportunity. She met policymakers, senators, and parliamentarians, gaining insights into the work of governance at the highest levels and created connections amidst the corridors of power.
Nina Hernández from Mexico has been just as impressed with the connections made during her time at Max Bell. “I have been able to talk, interact, and learn from the experiences of so many people that I would have never been able to have such close interaction with,” she says.
Ready to make an impact? Check out the MPP programme at the Max Bell School of Public Policy today.
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