Business Fundamentals

Post-Secondary Programs
Credential Earned: College Certificate (1 Year)
Campus: Haileybury, Kirkland Lake, Moosonee, Timmins, Distance
Program Length: 2 Semesters

Program Codes
B289-HL (Haileybury Campus)
B288-KL (Kirkland Lake Campus)
B294-JB (Moosonee Campus)
B287-PC (Timmins Campus)
B292-CK (Distance)

Business Fundamentals at Northern is a one-year certificate that will provide you with the foundation you need to kick-start your career.

It’s also the gateway to all of Northern’s two-year business diploma programs — including Marketing, Accounting, Human Resources, and more.

You’ll get started with hands-on introductory courses that provide an overview of everything from recruitment and recordkeeping, to communications and management.

Then, you’ll dive deeper into what it takes to maintain an organization’s competitive edge — exploring microeconomic theory, organizational behaviour, and the interrelationship between entrepreneurship, ethics, and social responsibility.

Contact Information

For questions about being admitted into the program, please contact Northern College Admissions at admissions@northern.on.ca or by phone at 705-235-3211 ext. 7222.

For questions about the content of the program, contact the Program Coordinator.

Jami Burns
Program Coordinator
Tel: 705-235-3211 ext. 2114
Email: burnsja@northern.on.ca 

Admissions Information

Admission Requirements

  • Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD)
  • Grade 12 English (C, U)
  • Grade 11 Math (C, U)

Or equivalent

 

Academic prerequisites for this program may be obtained free of charge through Academic Upgrading.

Applicants who do not have a high school diploma or equivalent and will have reached the age of 19 years on or before the start of the program must undergo academic testing and may be required to complete Prior Learning Assessment & Recognition (PLAR) process to demonstrate equivalency of admission requirements prior to admission into a program.

For more details, please contact the Admissions Office at 705-235-7222 or admissions@northern.on.ca.

Additional Requirements for International Students

In addition to the admission requirements, international students must have proof of English Proficiency and meet the requirements below.

1. Proof of Senior High School Diploma/Certificate with an equivalent Grade 12 Mathematics (50% min.) and/or Business/Commerce stream.

2. English Proficiency (we will require one of the following):

    • IELTS Academic– International English Language Testing System: a minimum overall score of 6.0 must be achieved with no individual band score under 6.0; however, we will accept one band at 5.5.
    • TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) – Computer-based overall minimum score of 79
    • PTE (Pearson Test of English) Academic – Graduate Diploma: 58+

If your country of citizenship has English as its official language, we may accept alternate proof of English Proficiency

All educational documents must be submitted in English and will be dependant on the country of citizenship.

For more information, contact the international admission office directly at INTLapply@northern.on.ca

Additional Information

If your goal is to earn only the one-year certificate apply directly to this program using the program codes below. If your goal is a two-year business program, apply to the Northern College program of your choice on OCAS. When studies commence, you are automatically registered in first year Business Fundamentals. After completing this first year, you can register for the fall into the second year of the two-year business program of your choice.

What You Learn

The program synopsis with course descriptions can be found below.

Please note, course information are based on current offering and are subject to change. Current students can find more information on courses in their student account.

For questions about the content of the program, please contact the Program Coordinator.

Semester 1

In this course, students will be introduced to the accounting cycle and the preparation of financial statements. Topics include recording entries, preparing financial statements and accounting for merchandising activities. This course will be essential for further study in financial accounting.

In this course, students will learn how proper recruitment/selection strategies, and training and development methods, maintain an organization’s competitive advantage. The integral role of job design and analysis in affecting compensation management and performance appraisal decisions will be examined. Students will investigate a variety of employment and health and safety laws as they relate to managing a diverse workforce. In addition, the fundamental principles of the union-management framework will be explored.

In this course, students will be introduced to business in Canada, focusing on introductory topics for those interested in employment in a business management role. Topics of study will include the relationships between the areas of finance, human resources, marketing, and operations within an organization, business ethics and social responsibility, management concepts and practices, and an exploration of the entrepreneurial spirit.

Communications I is a practical course designed to help strengthen essential oral and written communication skills. Students will be exposed to a variety of learning methods and communication formats. Emphasis will be placed on the use of appropriate structure, writing conventions, tone and style as well as the enhancement of interpersonal, teamwork and presentation skills. Students will also develop discipline-specific documents, practice proper business etiquette and learn the importance of ethical behaviour and professionalism in the classroom and workplace. Attention to detail is emphasized.

In this course, students will gain practical experience with Microsoft Excel for Windows. Excel will be used to prepare various reports, presentations and applications which directly correlate to the critical-thinking requirements of the workplace. Students will gain practical experience working with formulas and functions, developing, and enhancing financial reports, organizing data with charts, data lists, and tables, managing multiple work sheets, workbooks, and external data sources, developing macros, using conditional functions, working with financial tools and functions, and performing what-if analysis.

In this course, students will begin with a review of basic arithmetic and algebraic manipulations, continuing topics that include ratios, proportions and percentages, math of merchandising that include mark-ups and mark-downs, various payroll scenarios, and the evaluation and calculations using simple interest.

This course is an informative introduction into marketing. Students will become acquainted with current Canadian marketing concepts, terminology and practices, examine strategies to apply them to contemporary marketing situations, and gain an understanding of how they affect an organization’s profitability. Students will also explore consumer and business marketing, product planning, building customer relationships and creating customer value. This course provides a basic understanding of Canadian marketing structures and techniques including defining and segmenting target markets and interpreting market research data.

Semester 2

In this course, students will examine, in more depth, select assets and liabilities found on the balance sheet as well as learn to account for equity transactions involving partnerships. Assets examined include cash, accounts receivable, notes receivable, plant, property, and equipment and intangibles. Liabilities studied will include short and long term notes payable, warranty liabilities and payroll& liabilities.

In this course, students will be introduced to managing and navigating organizational behaviour in a professional Canadian business environment, at the same time keeping in mind the increasingly interdependent nature of globalization. This course examines management and group dynamics from the manager as well as employee point of view, both in an professional setting. There is significant emphasis on how OB research into the area of workplace experience of managers and employees contributes to the productivity of the organization. The course brings in numerous examples of practical applications with the involvement of the learners from real-life situations and personal experiences to analyze the concepts discussed. There is also key emphasis on developing awareness towards corporate social responsibility and the relation between ethical practices and organizational behaviour.

This course is designed to introduce the student to the study of economics, beginning with the field of microeconomics. The course will use scientific theory in order to better understand the relationship and consequence of economic and business decisions. Additionally, this course will use mathematical procedures in order to predict and practically use economic models in real world settings. As oppose to Macroeconomics, Microeconomics will focus on the effects of business decisions on an industry or a single business specifically. Topics include: supply and demand, elasticity, consumer choice, and production costs in the short and long run.

Communications 2 is a one-semester course that applies the oral and written communication tools learned in Comm1 to specific business/technical applications as required by industry today. The student will enhance the writing skills acquired in COMM1 and learn to produce effective documents including business letters, emails, employment documents as well as reports applicable to their field of study. Students will also learn how to plan and participate in meeting situations and participate in mock interviews (as applicable) so that they are prepared to transition into the competitive employment market. Students will continue to learn and apply proper language and grammatical structures and apply editing strategies to business/technical documents through both in-class/online activities and through the usage of the customized Mylab online grammar tool. As with COMM1, the content will be inclusive and reflect the diverse workplace that students will experience in the future.

*Students for whom English is not their first language will receive additional language support through the concurrent delivery of CM2933 (Enhanced Comm2) which continues to focus on the foundational grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure skills introduced in CM1933.

In this course, students will develop their business mathematics skills expanding them to compound interest scenarios that include single cash flows of future value and present value, ordinary simple annuities, ordinary general annuities, simple and general annuities due, deferred annuities, perpetuities and perpetuities due. Throughout the course, students will not only evaluate the requirements but also use their critical thinking skills to evaluate appropriate investments to make and aspects of a variety of loans to consider all in a business environment whether that be in the private, public or not-for-profit sectors of industries.

In this course, students will follow the accepted concepts of marketing, current marketing principles/practices, and their applications as functional decision-making management tools. Topics will include all aspects of product/service marketing and management, price determination and pricing strategies, distribution-related strategies, marketing communications strategies (including advertising, personal selling, sales promotions, event marketing and sponsorship, public relations and direct marketing) and non-profit marketing and global marketing. This course builds on the foundation of MR1073 Introduction to Marketing I. Students will continue to examine current Canadian material on marketing and determine strategies for developing new products and services that are consistent with evolving marketing needs and principles of sustainability. Students will apply their knowledge in producing a marketing plan where they will set marketing objectives, develop a marketing mix, along with developing marketing strategies. Budgetary considerations will be taken into account, and evaluation criteria identified. Students will also contribute to the development of pricing strategies and participate in conducting market research to provide information needed to make marketing decisions.

This general education course will provide students with an introduction to Canadian Indigenous Nations’ history, sovereignty, land titles, cultural history and current critical issues. Topics addressed include the content of Indigenous rights, economic and social development, community and political processes, and business law and policies, justice & social services. Canadian Indigenous History and Relations is a general education course that has been incorporated into all programs at Northern College.

Tuition & Fees

Tuition and fees are updated yearly for the upcoming Academic Year by May 1.

Current amount may be based on last years amounts and are subject to change. Ancillary fees vary by campus and program.

If the tuition and fee information for international students does not appear on this page, visit northerncollege.ca/international/tuition to see amounts for general programs.

Please refer to your Student Account for the most up-to-date information.

Student Year Campus Program Code Tuition Ancillary Fees Total Fees
StudentDomesticYear1CampusTimmins - PCProgram CodeB287Tuition$2,720.56 Ancillary Fees$899.50 Total$3,620.06
StudentDomesticYear1CampusTimmins - PCProgram CodeB287WTuition$2,720.56 Ancillary Fees$843.99 Total$3,564.55
StudentDomesticYear1CampusKirkland Lake - KLProgram CodeB288Tuition$2,720.56 Ancillary Fees$863.50 Total$3,584.06
StudentDomesticYear1CampusKirkland Lake - KLProgram CodeB288WTuition$2,720.56 Ancillary Fees$807.99 Total$3,528.55
StudentDomesticYear1CampusHaileybury - HLProgram CodeB289Tuition$2,720.56 Ancillary Fees$930.50 Total$3,651.06
StudentDomesticYear1CampusHaileybury - HLProgram CodeB289WTuition$2,720.56 Ancillary Fees$874.99 Total$3,595.55
StudentDomesticYear1CampusDistanceProgram CodeB291Tuition$2,720.56 Ancillary Fees$735.50 Total$3,456.06
StudentDomesticYear1CampusDistanceProgram CodeB291STuition$1,360.28 Ancillary Fees$453.00 Total$1,813.28
StudentDomesticYear1CampusDistanceProgram CodeB291WTuition$2,720.56 Ancillary Fees$679.99 Total$3,400.55
StudentDomesticYear1CampusDistance - CKProgram CodeB292Tuition$2,720.56 Ancillary Fees$735.50 Total$3,456.06
StudentDomesticYear1CampusDistance - CKProgram CodeB292WTuition$2,720.56 Ancillary Fees$679.99 Total$3,400.55
StudentDomesticYear1CampusMoosonee - JBProgram CodeB294Tuition$2,720.56 Ancillary Fees$548.00 Total$3,268.56
StudentDomesticYear1CampusMoosonee - JBProgram CodeB294WTuition$2,720.56 Ancillary Fees$548.00 Total$3,268.56
StudentInternationalYear1CampusTimmins - PCProgram CodeB287Tuition$14,382.00 Ancillary Fees$1,422.58 Total$15,804.58
StudentInternationalYear1CampusTimmins - PCProgram CodeB287WTuition$14,382.00 Ancillary Fees$1,422.58 Total$15,804.58
StudentInternationalYear1CampusKirkland Lake - KLProgram CodeB288Tuition$14,382.00 Ancillary Fees$1,386.58 Total$15,768.58
StudentInternationalYear1CampusKirkland Lake - KLProgram CodeB288WTuition$14,382.00 Ancillary Fees$1,386.58 Total$15,768.58
StudentInternationalYear1CampusHaileybury - HLProgram CodeB289Tuition$14,382.00 Ancillary Fees$1,453.58 Total$15,835.58
StudentInternationalYear1CampusHaileybury - HLProgram CodeB289WTuition$14,382.00 Ancillary Fees$1,453.58 Total$15,835.58
StudentInternationalYear1CampusTimmins - PCProgram CodeB290Tuition$14,382.00 Ancillary Fees$1,422.58 Total$15,804.58
StudentInternationalYear1CampusMoosonee - JBProgram CodeB294Tuition$14,382.00 Ancillary Fees$1,353.58 Total$15,735.58
StudentInternationalYear1CampusMoosonee - JBProgram CodeB294WTuition$14,382.00 Ancillary Fees$1,353.58 Total$15,735.58
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