Program Overview

Program Overview

The Master of Arts in Recreation and Leisure Studies is a graduate program that combines theory and practice to deepen understanding of both the positive and negative aspects of leisure. This program is designed to enhance quality of life for individuals, families, and communities.

Study Options

• Coursework option (online): This option allows students to address a wide range of practical issues related to leisure, recreation, well-being, and quality of life. It is a flexible, interdisciplinary, course-based curriculum that can be completed full- or part-time and does not require a thesis.
• Thesis option (on-campus): In this option, students learn to conduct high-quality independent scholarly research through coursework and a thesis completed under the supervision of a faculty member. This option prepares students for further study at the PhD level or any professional career related to leisure.

Research Project Opportunities

• Gender Intelligence Lab: This lab conducts and translates academic expertise in gender studies, equity, technology, and transformative social change. It serves as an incubator and amplifier of research, advocacy, and applied knowledge that interrogates how gender shapes – and is shaped by – systems of power, representation, and resistance.
• Risk, Injury, Sport, & Equity (RISE) Youth Sport Lab: This lab studies the ways in which athletes feel safe and included in sport, recreation, and leisure environments and how they experience injury and risk within these spaces. Ongoing funded projects explore sport-related concussion reporting for youth girls, safe sport practices in community sport organizations, stories of belonging for Black girls and women in hockey, and concussion communication and management efforts.

Program Details

• Department/School: Recreation and Leisure Studies
• Faculty: Faculty of Health
• Admit term(s): Fall (September - December)
• Delivery mode: On-campus (thesis option), Online (coursework option)
• Program type: Master's, Research
• Length of program: 24 months (full-time; thesis option), 12 months (full-time; coursework option)
• Registration option(s): Full-time, Part-time
• Study option(s): Thesis, Coursework

Application Deadlines

• February 1 (for admission in September)
• Note: Applications submitted after this date will be considered on a rolling basis until all available spots are filled.

Admission Requirements

• A four-year honours bachelor's degree (or equivalent) in Recreation and Leisure Studies or related field with at least a 75% standing.
• Competency in written expression, including evidence of ability to conceptualize, organize ideas, and reason.

Degree Requirements

• Review the degree requirements on the Graduate Studies Academic Calendar, including the courses that you can anticipate taking as part of completing the degree.
• Check out Waterloo's institutional thesis repository - UWspace to see recent submissions from the department of Recreation and Leisure Studies graduate students.

Application Materials

• Resume/Curriculum vitae: Indicating past academic and professional experience.
• Statement of interest: A statement of maximum 500 words explaining your interest in and fit for the program you’re applying to.
• Program-specific questions (PSQ): These are questions specific to the program you’re applying to.
• Transcript(s):
• Writing sample: Applicants must submit at least one substantial example of their work completed during the last two years of academic study.
• References: Two academic references are required for the thesis option. Academic and professional references are accepted for the coursework option.
• Proof of English language proficiency, if applicable: TOEFL 100 (writing 26, speaking 26), IELTS 7.5 (writing 7.0, speaking 7.0)

Tuition and Fees

• Visit the graduate program tuition page on the Finance website to determine the tuition and incidental fees per term for your program.
• Review living costs and housing.
• Review the funding graduate school resources for graduate students.