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Where to study entrepreneurship in Ontario

8 programs at Ontario colleges and universities, each one opened on the institution's own page and read there — not copied from a directory site.2 of them are not taking students, and both are still described as available elsewhere on the web. That is the single most useful thing on this page, so it is at the top rather than buried in a table.

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Colleges

Ontario colleges

Two-year diplomas you can enter from high school, and graduate certificates you cannot.

OpenBarrie

Georgian College — Business – Entrepreneurship

Ontario College Diploma · 2 years, full-time, in person

Nineteen program courses covering organizational behaviour, entrepreneurship essentials, finance mathematics and marketing, aimed at people who intend to run something rather than analyse it.

The catch

Nothing unusual, which is worth saying because most on this list have something. Grade 12 English and any Grade 11 or 12 mathematics gets you considered.

Entry:
OSSD or equivalent, Grade 12 English (C or U), any Grade 11 or 12 mathematics (C, M or U)

Georgian College's own page for this program

OpenOshawa

Durham College — Business – Entrepreneurship and Small Business

Ontario College Diploma · 4 semesters (2 years)

Build and refine a business idea, do the market research and produce an investor-ready plan. Students run a Holiday Market for real selling experience, and the college points at Durham Region's chambers of commerce and boards of trade for networking.

The catch

None found in the entry requirements. The published domestic tuition is the lowest confirmed figure on this page, and the international figure is roughly five and a half times it — worth knowing before you compare colleges.

Entry:
OSSD or Mature Student status, Grade 12 English (C or U), Grade 11 mathematics (C, M or U)
Published tuition:
Year one: $2,776 domestic, $15,489 international

Durham College's own page for this program

OpenOttawa

Algonquin College — Business – Management and Entrepreneurship

Ontario College Diploma · 2 years

A management diploma with entrepreneurship through it, offered in a co-op and a non-co-op version.

The catch

The co-op is ending. The college states that “Winter 2027 is the final intake eligible for Co-op”. If paid work terms are the reason you are choosing this program, that changes the decision.

Entry:
OSSD or equivalent, or Mature Student status (19+ without a high school diploma); Grade 12 English (ENG4C or equivalent) and Grade 11 mathematics (MBF3C or equivalent)

Algonquin College's own page for this program

No intake scheduledCommerce Court Campus, North Bay

Canadore College — Entrepreneurship Management

Ontario College Graduate Certificate · 1 year, full-time

A one-year graduate certificate for people who already hold a credential and want to run something of their own.

The catch

Two things. The college states there are “no planned intakes for this program for the upcoming academic year”. And it was never open from high school: you need an Ontario College Diploma, Advanced Diploma or degree to apply at all.

Entry:
An Ontario College Diploma, Ontario College Advanced Diploma, degree or equivalent

Canadore College's own page for this program

Page removedToronto

Humber Polytechnic — Business Management – Entrepreneurial Enterprise

Ontario Graduate Certificate · Was a graduate certificate

A graduate certificate covering developing an idea through to launching and managing the enterprise, with automatic membership of Humber's Centre for Entrepreneurship.

The catch

The program page returns a 404 as of 23 September 2026 — we checked it directly. It is still described as available across third-party directories and search results. Humber's Business Management diploma is the live alternative; ask Humber directly before planning around this one.

Humber Polytechnic's own page for this program

Inside another credentialSarnia

Lambton College — Business

Ontario College Diploma · 2 years (four semesters)

A general business diploma with entrepreneurship taught inside it: BUS-1603 Entrepreneurial Mindset in term two introduces “the development of an entrepreneurial mindset” through a Canadian lens. Students can also join Enactus Lambton.

The catch

There is no standalone entrepreneurship credential here. If the word on the diploma matters to you, this is a Business diploma. If what matters is learning it near home in southwestern Ontario, it is the closest option to Chatham-Kent on this page.

Entry:
OSSD or equivalent, Grade 12 English (C or U). Mature student assessment and academic upgrading are available.

Lambton College's own page for this program

Universities

Ontario universities

Where entrepreneurship is a full major, and where it is something you add to another degree.

Open55 Dundas Street West, Toronto

Toronto Metropolitan University — Entrepreneurship and Innovation (major)

Bachelor of Commerce (Honours), Business Management · 4 years

A full major inside the Ted Rogers BComm. The school's own claim is that it “offers more undergraduate entrepreneurship courses than any other English language university in Canada” — that is their statement, not our measurement.

The catch

It is a four-year honours degree, so the commitment and the entry bar are a different order from a two-year college diploma. Co-op is available on all BComm majors, and there is a part-time evening route for people working or with family obligations.

Toronto Metropolitan University's own page for this program

Inside another credentialWaterloo

University of Waterloo — Conrad School of Entrepreneurship and Business

Minor in Entrepreneurship, Diploma in Business and Entrepreneurship, or course options · Taken alongside your degree

No standalone entrepreneurship degree — instead a minor, a diploma, BET courses open to students in every faculty, an Entrepreneurship Option in Engineering, and Enterprise Co-op, which lets you work on your own business and earn a co-op credit for it.

The catch

You cannot apply to this out of high school as a program. You apply to a Waterloo degree and add the entrepreneurship layer once you are there. Enterprise Co-op is the piece worth knowing about: getting co-op credit for your own company is rare.

Entry:
Admission to a University of Waterloo undergraduate degree; the options are then open across faculties unless stated otherwise

University of Waterloo's own page for this program

Before you apply

Five things to check

These apply to any program, including the ones not on this page.

  1. Check the intake is actually running

    Two of the eight programs on this page are not taking students, and both are still described as available elsewhere on the web. A program page can sit online for a year after the last intake. Phone admissions and ask when the next start date is.

  2. Check whether it needs a credential you do not have

    Anything called a graduate certificate or postgraduate certificate requires a diploma or degree first. Several of the entrepreneurship programs that come up in a search are these, which means they are not routes out of high school at all.

  3. Check whether co-op is still offered

    Co-op is often the real reason to pick one program over another, and it can be withdrawn while the program continues. Ask which intake is the last one eligible.

  4. Decide whether you need the word on the credential

    At several institutions entrepreneurship is a course or a minor inside a general business credential rather than a program of its own. That is not worse — it is often broader and more employable. It just is not what the search result implied.

  5. Compare the domestic and international fee

    Where colleges publish both, the international figure can be five times the domestic one. If you are reading a fee on an aggregator site, check which one it is quoting.

You don't have to wait

None of this is required to start

A program buys you structure, a cohort and time. It does not buy permission, and nobody has ever needed a diploma to get a first customer.

Questions

Common questions

Which Ontario colleges offer an entrepreneurship diploma?
Of the colleges checked for this page, Georgian College (Barrie), Durham College (Oshawa) and Algonquin College (Ottawa) currently offer a two-year Ontario College Diploma with entrepreneurship in the name and are taking students. Canadore College's Entrepreneurship Management graduate certificate has no planned intakes, and Humber Polytechnic's Entrepreneurial Enterprise page returns an error. Always confirm the current intake with the college before you apply.
Can I study entrepreneurship straight out of high school?
For a college diploma, yes — the entry requirements are typically an OSSD, Grade 12 English and a Grade 11 or 12 mathematics. But anything labelled a graduate certificate or postgraduate certificate requires a diploma or degree first, so several of the entrepreneurship programs that come up in a search are not open to you yet.
Is a university entrepreneurship degree better than a college diploma?
They are different things rather than better and worse. A college diploma is two years and aimed at running something. A university degree is four years, costs more and opens different doors. At some universities, including Waterloo, entrepreneurship is not a degree at all — it is a minor, a diploma or a set of options you add to whatever you are already studying.
Do I need a business program to start a business?
No. Nothing on this page is a requirement for starting something, and plenty of people run good businesses without any of it. What a program buys you is structure, a cohort and time — not permission. Launch League's Business 101 is free and open from age 12 if you want to start before you decide about any of this.
How current is this list?
Every program was opened on the institution's own page and read there on September 23, 2026. Nothing is taken from a directory site or a search snippet. Programs change between review dates, so the institution's own page always wins over this one — that is why every entry links straight to it.

Sources

How this was checked

Every program above was opened on the institution's own page and read there on September 23, 2026. Nothing is taken from a directory site, an aggregator or a search snippet, and where a page did not state something — a tuition figure, an entry requirement — this page says nothing rather than guessing. Programs change between review dates, so the institution's own page always wins over this one. How we research and correct guides is set out in our editorial standards.

Not yet listed: Conestoga, George Brown and St. Clair. Their pages could not be read at source on the day we checked, and reporting a program as open or closed on the strength of a secondary source is exactly the error this page exists to correct. They will be added once they can be verified.

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