[Introduction] Public Relations (PR) is a very popular subject. With the development of media culture and communication methods, PR-related work has become a popular, vital position in major companies. So, which schools offer related majors in Canada? What professional skills are taught in this major? What are the employment prospects and salaries? How do netizens and UtoCanada view this major? Let's take a look!

Introduction

Introduction to the Canadian Public Relations major

The major of public relations is a highly useful discipline on ensuring that a company is well-represented in public and how it communicates with organizations or individuals. These strategies can be applied to individuals and any organization (such as a person in the entertainment industry or a political candidate). In this major, you will learn how to properly deliver a message and achieve the effect you want. At the same time, you will also acquire technical and management skills, such as writing and editing, concept creation, media relations, and conflict resolution.
Professionally, roles in the PR industry include management of distributed information, relationship building, management of public image, event planning, and implementing service management. It also includes highlighting the success of the organization, reducing the impact of failure, announcing changes, and so on. This is similar to the traditional idea of building personal relationships. In a marketing sense, public relations is the only tool used by companies to build public trust.在市场营销学体系中，公关关系是企业机构唯一一项用来建立公众信任度的工具。
As the division of labour in society increases, the prominence of public relations professionals is growing. Many colleges and universities have established public relations departments to train public relations talents in different fields. The public relations industry is closely tied with the mass media. With the popularization of multimedia applications, both companies and public organizations have begun to use multiple social platforms for communication purposes. The rapid transmission of information on the Internet has greatly increased the risk of public relations crises. Because of this, it is crucial to have professionals handle public affairs.

Course Content

What knowledge and skills do students learn in the Canadian public relations major?

Canadian public relations institutions reward one-year certificates, two-year advanced college diplomas, four-year undergraduate degrees, and one-year graduate certificates.
The public relations major is a unique blend of business and communication skills. From a business perspective, emphasis is placed on time management, resource management, and organization. From a communications perspective, subjects will include writing and editing, concept creation, media relations, and conflict resolution. Students will learn to handle all public relations outlets including the media, stakeholders, government officials, and more. The courses of the PR major are highly practical, the compulsory courses focus on basic theories, and the elective courses cultivate comprehensive abilities. The courses are employment-oriented and designed to cultivate students' professional skills.
Compared with universities, Canadian colleges will provide students with cooperative paid internships after the first two semesters, giving students the opportunity to apply the knowledge they have learned in the classroom and the chance to gain practical experience before graduation.

Employment Prospects

Employment prospects of Canadian public relations graduates

Under the title of Public Relations Specialist or Public Relations Manager, roles in the PR industry include writing, researching, media relations, event planning, and marketing communications. A career in public relations can take you many places – you may choose to specialize in corporate public relations or work with not-for-profit organizations, across nearly any industry. You can also choose to work with a company as a full-time employee, or operate as a contracted employee or consultant.
PR graduates have a wide range of employment opportunities, such as in public relations companies, corporate marketing or public relations departments, government and news media departments. The content of the work involves the operation of social media, crisis management, the planning, preparation and organization of offline public relations activities, and effect feedback. The average starting salary for public relations graduates is in the low- to mid-$30,000 range, but can rise quickly with experience. For contract positions where wages are calculated hourly, wages can range from $15 for entry-level employees to $45 per hour or more for highly skilled, highly experienced positions.

Job Description

》Job description of a public relations manager

According to the PayScale description,，
The public relations manager is a position sought after by various companies in many industries, which range from hotels to food manufacturing. Most companies are seeking an applicant with a bachelor's degree in public relations, communications, or a similar discipline. The ideal applicant should have at least five years of experience, in addition to having a few years of relevant experience. The public relations manager will not be doing an extensive amount of traveling, but there is the possibility that some companies will include minor traveling for training or event attendance.
The public relations manager will be primarily responsible for maintaining and improving the public eye's view of the organization. They will formulate and execute a variety of campaigns and programs to boost awareness about their employer. The public relations manager will train internal staff, work with other departments to ensure the content is accurate, and measure the success of various campaigns to determine their efficiency. They may be required to manage social media for the company, as well as represent the company in front of various media groups.
The public relations manager will closely work with managers, creative writers, artists, and other resources to ensure that a positive opinion of the company is maintained. The public relations manager reports to department heads and/or executives.
In a nutshell, the responsibilities of a public relations manager include: creating and releasing publications for the press; coordinating initiatives with marketing, community and production; planning special events, conferences and parties; creating postcasts, blogs and representing the company; outreaching to press, and so on.

Income

》Public relations graduate salary: the decisive factors & income

According to PayScale statisticsthe average annual salary of a public relations manager is $64,461, the lower-end salary is at $42,000, and the higher-end can reach up to $91,000 or more.

Summary: UtoCanada's views on the PR major

Students who are unfamiliar with this field may think that PR is a very easy subject. In fact, the field of study is very wide. In addition to requiring stronglanguage skills(English and another language), a strongaesthetic sense, computer and software proficiency (such as Photoshop, Premiere, Illustrator, etc.) is also a must. In order to gain success in the PR field you need to have excellent image and text processing capabilities. At the same time, strong psychological qualities and adaptability are also necessary. When studying at school, focus on building your network and constantly enriching your knowledge (such as taking more courses in history, art, etc.) to prepare for your future career.
If you have the above qualifications and are willing to make a big splash in the public relations industry, then this major is for you!

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