History of the Faculty

Over the past 35 years, Lakehead University's Faculty of Business Administration has demonstrated ongoing flexibility and adaptability in providing innovative programming to meet the evolving needs of students, employers, and other business education stakeholders. The Faculty's precursor, the School of Business Administration, was established in 1965 to offer a three-year diploma in Business Administration. In 1967, a four-year Honours Bachelor of Commerce degree was added to the offerings. In response to local and national demand, a one-year Graduate Diploma Program in Business was launched to serve the needs of students with non-business undergraduate degrees.

By the mid-70s, diploma offerings from colleges had reduced the need for a three-year diploma. In 1976, the diploma was replaced with a three-year Bachelor of Administration degree (B. Admin.) and a College Transfer Program was established allowing qualified college graduates with three-year business diplomas to ladder-up to the B. Admin. degree. The Faculty of Business Administration was a pioneer in developing transfer programs in the province of Ontario.

By the mid-1980s, competitive offerings from other universities made it apparent that Lakehead’s one-year graduate Diploma Program in Business had to be either expanded to a two-year MBA or be discontinued. Due to a lack of available resources, the graduate Diploma Program was discontinued in 1990.

During the 1990s, the Honours Bachelor of Commerce program was expanded into six majors (Accounting, Finance, Human Resource Management/Industrial Relations, Management Systems, Marketing and General Management) – further specializations in Business Economics and International Business were added in 1998. During 1994 to 1998 a Cooperative Education Program was established for Finance, Human Resource Management/Industrial Relations, Management Systems, and Marketing majors. In 1998, Program Minors in Accounting, Finance, Human Resource Management/Industrial Relations, and Marketing were made available to students in the third and fourth years of the Honours Bachelor of Commerce Program. The Leadership Program, an executive development program developed for middle and senior level managers, was also introduced in 1998.

During the 2000s the Faculty continued to deliver the Leadership Program and the program has been offered through distance education to communities in Northwestern Ontario and across Canada. The Master of Science in Management (M.Sc.Mgmt.) and the Master of Management (M.Mgmt.) were approved by the Ontario Council on Graduate Studies (OCGS) in June 2002 and the programs were launched in September 2003. The Master of Management was replaced with a Master of Business Administration in February 2009.

During the 2010s, the Faculty pursued accreditation with the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). We received AACSB accreditation in 2015, and re-accreditation in 2021. This achievement puts our Faculty among the ranks of elite business schools that have achieved certification. This globally-recognized hallmark of excellence guarantees a challenging and relevant curriculum delivered by the most highly-qualified faculty. Fewer than 5% of business programs worldwide are AACSB-accredited, and our Faculty is one of them. We have also achieved accreditation from the Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) for our Accounting offerings.