The MSW: Critical Leadership in Social Services and Communities curriculum has two main components:

1. Required courses that provide foundational knowledge of the critical analysis of social work practice, and the critical analysis of policy; and required courses that provide analyses and conceptual frameworks about changing conditions in social services and communities, and about leadership.
2. A leadership-focused practicum – a practical experience of leadership with personalized feedback and mentorship that prepares students for leadership roles in social and community services.

Required Courses

• SOCWORK 700 / Epistemology and Social Work Practice
• SOCWORK 701 / Social Policy: Critical Frameworks
• SOCWORK 741 / Changing Social Services, Changing Communities: Focus on Leadership
• SOCWORK 742 / Organizational and Social Change: Theories, Practices and Possibilities
• SOCWORK 743 / Critical Approaches to Evidence and Evaluation in Social Services and Communities
• SOCWORK 750 / Leadership Seminar
• SOCWORK 751 / Leadership Practicum

And one of:

• SOCWORK 740 / Changing Social Service Organizations: Implications for Workers & Service Users
• SOCWORK 721 / Changing Communities: Tensions and Possibilities for Citizenship and Social Justice
• SOCSCI 708 / Critical Approaches to Community Based Research

OR

A graduate-level course linked with the student’s program of study offered by Social Work OR by another department or academic unit (provided that permission has been obtained from those departments or academic units, and School of Social Work’s Graduate Chair).

Practicum

Each student will have a leadership practicum (SOCWORK 751) in a social service agency or community organization. Students will take on a leadership project – for example, lead the development of a new policy, move a service initiative forward, or explore and provide recommendations about how a community need might be better met. An MSW-prepared social worker will provide field instruction. Students’ experiences, observations and actions in the field setting will become topics for reflection in the accompanying seminar (SOCWORK 750) with theory and concepts from coursework brought to bear on specific aspects of their leadership practice. The practicum will be 450 hours long (this number of hours is required for accreditation by the Canadian Association for Social Work Education).

It is important to get a theoretical grounding in leadership before the practicum begins. Students may negotiate their placement and begin orientating to the organization but the placement activities (observation and project work) should not formally begin until the student has successfully completed SOCWORK 741.

Additional Information

Part-time students must follow the “Part-Time Pacing in the MSW Critical Leadership program” document as courses must be taken in a specific sequence over three years. In exceptional circumstances, full-time or part-time students returning from leave of absence may apply for a one-term “no course available” leave of absence by completing a Petition for Special Consideration form. Please contact Social Work Graduate Administrative Assistant for more details.

MSW students who transfer in from other accredited Schools of Social Work would be assessed for transfer credit on an individual basis. Students entering either stream of the MSW program who have successfully completed the Community-Engaged Research and Evaluation or the Critical Leadership in Social Services and Communities graduate diploma may receive three units of advanced credit if approved by the School of Social Work’s Graduate Chair.

Please review all the information below before applying to the MSW Critical Leadership in Social Services & Communities.

Eligibility

To be eligible for admission to the MSW: Critical Leadership in Social Services and Communities stream, applicants are required to hold a  BSW degree from an accredited social work program. In addition, admission requirements are:

• Half course in introductory social research methods;
• B+ standing in senior-level social work courses;
• The equivalent of an accumulated three years of experience working in social services or communities/community services.

Applications should demonstrate the capacity to: Rationalize experience and its link to leadership; Contextualize the experience to lead in a critical and complex way.

Applicants should have the equivalent of an accumulated three years (minimum 5000 hrs. at time of application) of experience to be accepted into the program. This experience needs to be demonstrated to inform their leadership activities and to support analysis of organizational and systemic processes that inform leadership, and may in some contexts limit/shape the nature of leadership practice. The point of this experience level is not to meet a technical requirement, but rather to ensure that students have particular kinds of experience and have the capacity to process their knowledge in a critical way in the classroom and placement setting.

Application Materials

In order for your application to be considered complete, it must include the following items:

• Online Application Form and Fee
• Statement of Interest (applicant uploads pdf directly)
• Resumé (applicant uploads pdf directly)
• Work Experience Template using the template below (applicant uploads pdf directly)
• Referee Reports (referees complete online report directly using e-referencing system – due by January 5th at 11:59pm)
• Transcripts (applicant uploads unofficial transcript directly). Original transcripts must be sent directly from issuing institution*.
• English proficiency requirements, if applicable (applicant uploads unofficial copy directly). Original documents must be sent directly from issuing institution*.

Transcripts and English Proficiency documents must be sent directly from issuing institution(s) to:

Darlene Savoy, Director’s/Graduate Administrative Assistant 
School of Social Work, McMaster University
1280 Main Street West, Kenneth Taylor Hall, Room 322
Hamilton ON L8S 4M4
dsavoy@mcmaster.ca

Timelines for Application

Review of applications will be considered until all positions have been filled. Applicants will upload an unofficial copy of their transcript(s) and English Language Proficiency (if applicable) by the deadline date so that we may expedite the assessment of their qualifications. The deadline for MSW (Critical Leadership) applications is December 14th (11:59pm). The admissions system will remain open until all positions have been filled. Offers of admission and financial support are normally sent out from early March to late July.

Application Form & Fee

The portal for September 2025 admissions is now open! Application forms must be completed online. Please read this webpage thoroughly before proceeding to the How to Apply instructions on the School of Graduate Studies website.

On the application portal, first review the “Prepare your Application for September 2025” tab before proceeding to the “Application Instructions for September 2025” tab with detailed guide which will lead you though the online application process. Then proceed to the Start Your Application page. Please note the search criteria on application portal for “Filter by Faculty” is “Social Sciences”; then scroll down list of “Programs Open for Application” and click “Apply Now” button beside description “Social Work – Critical Leadership in Social Services and Communities MSW”, then click on “Create an Account” link if you are a first time user OR separate link for returning user. For “Course Type” you may choose “full-time” or “part-time” studies. In the “Upload Documents” section, in addition to your CV & Statement of Interest, please also upload Unofficial Transcript(s) and TOEFL (if applicable).

A non-refundable $150 (CAN) application fee is applied to all applications. The fee can be paid online by valid debit or credit card.

Transcripts

Applicants must provide one official transcript(s) of university academic work completed to date, sent directly from the issuing institution to the School of Social Work (address above). Note: Official transcript will be accepted after the deadline date.

Resumé

Relevant work/practicum experience should be included using this work experience template, which must be uploaded separately from your resumé.

Applicants should have the equivalent of an accumulated three years of experience (minimum 5000 hrs. at time of application) to be accepted into the program. Applicants are not required to have paid experience specifically, but they do need to have substantive experience. For example, two weeks running a community program as a volunteer or paid staff three years in a row would not be considered “substantive”. Placement hours do not count towards the three years – all students apply with placement experience as this is a standardized requirement for completion of a BSW. Student’s placement experience may enhance their statement related to the hoped-for placement or leadership project.

Employment:

Paid work activities which include part-time, full-time, contract and on-call work.

Experience:

Activities that contribute to your knowledge/capacity for MSW study.

Unpaid work activities:

This work can include volunteer work undertaken in form organizations/institutions, informal organizations or within the context of your own personal life, such as caregiving activities or other personal, familial labour and other kinds of social navigation such as such as self-advocacy, accessing services.

Placement and Practicum (service learning, experiential education):

Work activities are undertaken as experiential education activities, such as field education, service learning activities. Student receives educational credit for this kind of work.

Statement of Interest

All applicants must provide a Statement of Interest, maximum of five typed double-spaced pages, expanding on your resumé, covering the following areas:

1. Describe a situation in which you have offered (or tried to offer) leadership?
2. Within this situation what was possible to achieve (and why), and what constraints did you face in attempting to act in a leadership capacity?
3. Discuss how your employment, experience, and practicum have shaped your understanding of leadership and your desire to participate in the MSW in Critical Leadership in Social Services and Communities.

This program requires students to undertake a leadership project within the context of a field placement. Describe your proposed leadership project, and some of the experience[s] you hope to have in the course of completing the project. If you have ideas about a context, sector, setting, or have a mentor with whom you’d like to complete the project, please describe.

The supplementary statement is assessed based on comprehensiveness, clarity of presentation, capacity for critical thinking, and capacity for critical reflection based on experience. The declaration of your career goals and your ability to connect these with the specific focus of this program is important.

Letters of Reference

A complete application includes three confidential letters of recommendation – one academic, and two from work colleagues. Referees will be asked to describe work that you have been involved in that they have direct knowledge of, and to comment on a) your understanding and analysis of the organizational, community or activist contexts in which you work, and b) your potential for justice-oriented leadership in social services or communities. McMaster University uses the Electronic Referencing System. You must enter the email addresses of your referees as part of the online application form. Your referees will receive an email message asking them to complete an eReference immediately after the ‘Send to Recommender’ button is clicked. You may wish to click on this button just before you submit the application. If you need to change your reference or referee email address after submitting your application, you may do so through the Applicant Portal. Referees complete online report directly using e-referencing system – deadline is January 5th at 11:59pm.

English Proficiency Requirements

If applicable, an official copy of your TOEFL score, or other evidence of competency in English is required. A minimum TOEFL score of 580 (or 237 on the computer-based TOEFL test) is needed.

Additional Information

Please complete our Pre-Application form so that we can verify your academic qualifications before you send a full application.

The School of Graduate Studies policy with regard to students with disabilities can be found in section 5.5: McMaster University’s Policy for Academic Accommodation of Students with Disabilities in the School of Graduate Studies Calendar. The full policy and further information may be obtained from the School of Graduate Studies or Student Accessibility Services (905) 525-9140 ext. 28652 or e-mail sas@mcmaster.ca. The complete Academic Accommodation of Student with Disabilities Policy, which includes Roles & Responsibilities, Guidelines and Procedures, Appeals and related legislation can be found here.

Apply for a MSW in Critical Leadership in Social Services & Communities Here

Internal Scholarships and Bursaries

Ontario Student Assistance Program

Application forms and brochures can be obtained from the Student Financial Aid and Scholarships office at McMaster University. Application to OSAP can be made online.

General Bursary & Internal Awards

Students can apply for the General Bursary by going to AwardSpring, which is accessed through the tile on their Mosaic Home page. Award Spring is a new and simpler platform for students to apply for aid and internal awards. With AwardSpring, you can complete one common application that matches you with aid and internal award opportunities you’re eligible for. It also tracks your completion of any additional requirements on a user-friendly dashboard.

The Sidney L. Blum Bursary

Established in 1989 by friends and associates in memory of Sidney L. Blum. To be awarded by the School of Graduate Studies, on the recommendation of the Student Financial Aid and Scholarships Office, to any graduate student in good standing in the Master’s program of the School of Social Work.

External Scholarships

The Canada Graduate Scholarship Master’s program (CGS-M) is only open to applicants who apply to the MSW Critical Analysis (thesis-based) program as it must have a significant research component. For more information, please see NSERC, “Program of Study Eligibility” webpage.

Please consult the School of Graduate Studies Scholarships website for information.