Future Graduate Students in the Dept. of Food, Agricultural & Resource Economics
Graduate programs in Food, Agricultural & Resource Economics
The Department of Food, Agricultural and Resource Economics offers both course-based and research-based graduate programs for recent graduates or those looking to advance their career.
Where are FARE graduates working now?
Pursuing a master’s or doctoral degree at OAC and FARE is a decision to pursue a highly sought-after degree that will help you Improve Life and your career. A recent study illustrates the diverse career opportunities available to OAC and FARE's master and PhD program graduates.
Discover our graduate programs
Master of Food, Agricultural and Resource Economics (MFARE)
This course-based master’s program provides advanced learning and includes professional development opportunities and internships.
MSc and PhD in Food, Agricultural and Resource Economics (research-based)
Expand your expertise by working alongside our expert faculty to conduct world-class research. These research-based degrees require both course work and a thesis.
Frequently Asked Questions
Graduate students in the department are treated as colleagues. We recognize that you are placing your trust in us to deliver a superior learning experience - a learning experience that will largely determine the path of your career and your ability to make a difference in the world. We want your path to be filled with challenging and rewarding opportunities. The department is extremely collegial and faculty welcome student interaction in and out of the classroom. Students receive significant one-on-one attention and many students publish with their faculty.
Many of our graduate students are employed as Graduate Research or Teaching Assistants and many compete successfully for University scholarships.
MFARE students may receive funding, but it is not guaranteed. You must have your own funding to pursue this option.
M.Sc. students funded upwards of $22,000 per year.
Ph.D. students funded upwards of $30,000 per year
Our students apply their rigorous training and research experience in a number of rewarding ways. Many of our graduates have taken positions at the Ontario Ministry of Agricultural, Food, and Rural Affairs, Health Canada, and Forestry Canada. Others have joined private firms or opened highly successful consulting businesses. Many have pursued their Ph.D. at top-tier departments, including Guelph, and now are highly successful professors.
Students enrolled in research-based programs (MSc and PhD) have the opportunity to conduct research alongside our world-class faculty.
Faculty undertake research on a wide array of timely and relevant issues, including:
Consumer perceptions regarding food safety and new food products;
Biofuels and the foods versus fuel debate;
Impacts of regional and global trade agreements;
Effects of legal institutions on resource use and the environment.
The objective of the MFARE program is:
• To provide an alternative pathway to graduate education related to the economics of food, agriculture, and natural resources.
• To provide a program with an emphasis on skills acquisition and development of industry specific expertise.
Through expanded course work requirements, students develop a breadth of exposure to empirical methods and analytical approaches to undertaking policy analysis and research, and enhanced communication skills.
The objectives of both the MSc and PhD programs are to develop students with the following capabilities:
• A fundamental understanding of economic principles and their application to agricultural, resource, rural and related issues.
• An appropriate level of problem identification and conceptualization skills to focus on realistic and relevant research problems.
• A capability to integrate theory, technical information and appropriate methods in effectively analyzing and solving agricultural, resource and rural-related problems.
• An appropriate level of communication skills to effectively disseminate research and technical information, including the practical implications of research analyses.
The main difference between the MSc and PhD programs is the greater depth in thesis research for the PhD degree and the greater depth and breadth from a larger array of courses. The MSc is an apprenticeship in research and at the completion of their program students must demonstrate an ability to conduct independent research. Students completing the PhD should also be contributing to the literature in their fields of specialization.
A special feature of the Department is its close links to the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA), Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), Health Canada, Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, Forestry Canada and with producer organizations. These linkages have enabled researchers to define pertinent economic problems facing the agrifood and natural resource sectors. In addition, students working on research problems can acquire an appreciation of the policy environment within which these organizations exist. In addition, these groups tend hire a number of our graduates upon completion of their studies.
The Department also has strong links internationally. Graduate students in the Department are drawn from North America, Europe, Latin America, Africa and Asia. The multicultural nature of the graduate student body enriches the experience of both students and faculty in the Department.
The strength of both the MSc and PhD programs in agricultural economics is demonstrated by the ability of graduates from these programs to make effective contributions in a wide variety of situations that require applied economic and management analysis. Several graduates from the MSc program, who have gone to doctoral programs at other major universities in North America and Europe, have commented that our training provided them with a competitive edge compared to other graduate students, particularly in their strength of economic analysis and practical application of their training.
I have close to ten years of experience working in agriculture through government institutions, NGOs and even U.N. agencies. I'm really interested in gaining theoretical and practical skills to be a strong agricultural economist.
I enjoy seeing the whole picture, asking the bigger questions, and getting involved with multiple areas instead of specialization. Specialization is undeniably valuable, but so is a better understanding of the bigger puzzle that we are looking at and how everything is interconnected.
About the Department of Food, Agricultural & Resource Economics
The Department of Food, Agricultural and Resource Economics (FARE) is a research-intensive department dedicated to advancing agricultural economics, agribusiness, food economics, and resource economics. With a focus on impactful research and evidence-based policy, FARE integrates applied research into its undergraduate and graduate programs, preparing future leaders in the agri-food and resource sectors.