the study of public administration seeks to advance individual understanding of how governments work and of their role in contemporary societies. it examines public management principles from various perspectives (administration, financial management, human resources, ethics, administrative reforms, governance, etc.) and the processes involved in designing public policies (policy cycle, roles of various stakeholders, ideologies, contextual factors, etc.). the program offers a high-quality education to students seeking a career in the public or para-public sectors, as well as those who seek to work in the private or non-profit sectors, or in government relations.

political science seeks to describe, analyze, understand and assess the principles and power relations that govern social life. it revolves as much around the structures and institutions that define these relations and principles as around the ideas and practices that drive them. it studies everything that influences political life and institutions (ideologies, groups, social movements, etc.) on a local, regional, national and international scale.

the university of ottawa’s programs offer in-depth training in political science and encourage critical reflection on pivotal issues like citizenship, identity, political participation, globalization and development, governance and the state, and ethics and democracy. a discipline open to many theoretical and methodological approaches, political science constantly exchanges and shares with other fields. at the university of ottawa's school of political studies, students build their knowledge in four subfields of political science: political thought, canadian and quebec politics, comparative politics, and international relations and global politics.

the university of ottawa french immersion stream is designed for anglophone and allophone students who wish to pursue part of their university studies in french. students who have attended high school in a language other than french and have followed a french-as-a-second-language program are eligible. the french immersion program allows students to study bilingually by taking 35% of their courses in french and discover le monde francophone at world’s largest french-english university. immersion courses will help students transition to french courses, by combining a three hour content course with a one and a half hour accompanying language course that is based on material in the content course but focused on comprehension skills. students also have the choice to take up to eight french courses as pass/fail grades, which won't count in their academic average (not available in the faculty of science or faculty of engineering).