The geography PhD in Canada

Abstract

This overview of trends in PhD training in Canada shows very robust enrolments across the country, but especially in Ontario where growth has been rapid since the inception of the Reaching Higher program. Programs are well funded and of high intellectual quality. There is no doubt that the generational transition from a majority of faculty having been trained abroad in the 1970s to the majority trained in Canada today has resulted in strong development of research on geographies of Canada. The future prospects for those currently enrolled in Canadian PhD programs is difficult to assess. More in-depth research is required to assess where graduates are currently being placed, and where there is demand: in international programs, in government and the private sector, and in the growing community college sector.