Technical Communication Courses

The technical communication field has grown in the academic area. Courses are now being offered across Canada in Diploma, Degree and Certificate programs. Web courses are also available through post-secondary institutions. Each section below outlines a short summary of technical communication programs available.

Diploma programs

Algonquin College

Algonquin College in Ottawa offers a 40-week, two-semester technical writing diploma. Students follow a program of approximately 60 percent writing course, 30 per cent technology courses, and ten per cent writing tools courses. Technical writing, on-line documentation, documentation planning and management, telecommunication networking, and Adobe FrameMaker are some of the courses that students take. At the end of the two semesters, students spend an additional eight weeks completing a final writing project at a local company or organization.

Entrance requirements are rigorous. Potential students must possess a university degree or a three-year college diploma, both with a strong showing. Potential students may also enter the program by demonstrating communication skills learned through workplace experience.

Douglas College

Douglas College located in New Westminister, BC, offers the Print Futures Professional Writing Program, a two-year diploma program that offers a mixture of academic and applied writing studies.

George Brown College

by Eric Elstone

George Brown College, in Toronto’s downtown, offers a part-time program for a Technical Communications Certificate. “A minimum grade of ‘C-’ for each of the four compulsory courses and three electives leads to certification.” according to the community college’s calendar. The four compulsory courses are applied psychology of technical communications, two technical writing courses, and Adobe FrameMaker (or another computer software course with graphic capabilities such as QuarkXPress). The electives include On-line Documentation, Indexing, Logic and Persuasive Reasoning, Grammar and Punctuation, and Speaking with Confidence.

Red River College

by Alexa Campbell

Red River College offers a two-year diploma program in technical communication. The first year, students focus on basic software and technical writing forms. They learn Word, PowerPoint, Excel and FrameMaker. Students produce manuals, newsletters, reports, and other short documents. The summer term is a co-operative work term where students are paid for their work in a technical writing job.

The second year, students learn RoboHelp, web design and production, strategic planning, proposal writing and project management. Students produce an applied research journal and conclude their studies with a capstone project that is presented at the Technical Communication conference.

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 Last updated  April 27, 2006