Business - Finance
Overview
Launch your career in banking, investing, financial planning, or insurance with Lambton College’s Business – Finance diploma. Gain the knowledge, skills, and industry prep you need to succeed in Canada’s financial services sector.
If you’re interested in a career that blends people skills with financial expertise, Lambton College’s Business – Finance diploma is your pathway to success. This two-year program equips you with the knowledge and practical skills needed for today’s fast-paced financial services industry. You’ll study core business areas like accounting, marketing, and professional communication while building specialized expertise in banking, investing, insurance, and financial planning.
The program is designed with your future in mind, integrating sustainability, ethics, and Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) principles so you graduate as a well-rounded, socially responsible professional. Finance-focused courses will help you prepare for industry licensing exams and designations such as the Canadian Securities Course (CSC), Life Licensing Qualification Program (LLQP), and Certified Financial Planner (CFP).
When you graduate, you’ll be ready to step into rewarding careers as a financial advisor, investment or credit analyst, insurance agent, or personal banker, or continue your studies in advanced business and finance programs
Admission Requirements
- O.S.S.D. or equivalent
Mature Student Assessment is available for this program. For more information, please contact counselling@lambtoncollege.ca. Review the Mature Student Admission process.
Academic admission requirements can be obtained through Academic Upgrading and the Pre-Programs at Lambton College.
Costs
- Fees will be determined in Spring 2026.
Scholarships Available
There are 19 scholarships available for this program, with a total value of $33,904!
Technology Requirements
In order to keep pace with the requirements of each and every course in your program, Lambton College requires that each student have access to a laptop while studying at our college.
Courses
Business Mathematics I
This is a course in the mathematical concepts needed for success in the modern business world. We will study percentages, ratios and proportions, exponents; algebraic manipulation and solution of equations and equation systems; plotting, graphing and reading descriptive charts; deriving and presenting descriptive statistics.
Critical Thinking & Writing
This writing course challenges students to explore diverse opinions and articulate their own perspectives clearly and persuasively. Through critical reading, students will develop skills in synthesis, analysis, comparison, and response, striving for clarity and diplomatic expression of their opinions based on factual evidence. Students will practice various rhetorical strategies of persuasion and hone their writing to ensure precision and accuracy in their messages. This course lays the foundation for a subsequent research-writing course, equipping students with essential skills for academic success.
Human Resource Management
Effective Human Resources Management (HRM) is critical to the success of organizations today. This course will provide an overview of the key concepts of HR management and will include some history and theory of the HR function and important terminology. It will introduce students to the core competencies of effective HR practitioners and allow for self-assessment against these competencies. We will be discussing core HR practice areas such as Strategic Planning, HR Planning, HR Administration, Talent Management, Training, Learning and Development, Performance Assessment, Total Rewards (including Compensation and Benefits) Employee and Labour Relations and Health and Safety in the workplace. In addition, the course looks at the legal environment for effective HR management, and the role of HRM in mergers and acquisitions and organizational change management.
Marketing Fundamentals
This introductory marketing course provides students with a comprehensive overview of the principles, concepts, and practices of marketing. Marketing plays a critical role in today's business landscape, helping organizations effectively connect with their target audiences, create value, and drive business success. This course explores the fundamental theories and techniques of marketing while also emphasizing the role of sustainability in creating long-term value for businesses, society, and the environment. Students are introduced to various marketing components, including consumer and business buying behaviour, customer segmentation, marketing research, product development, pricing, distribution, and integrated marketing communications.
Microeconomics
This course provides an understanding of how society chooses what goods and services to produce through an examination of the laws of supply and demand as well as how and for whom they are produced, by examining the behaviour of firms, market structures and the distribution of income.
Accounting Theory and Practice I
This course is an introduction to the theory of accounting and the standard methods of record-keeping. Accounting principles and concepts are emphasized in the preparation of financial statements for both service and merchandising organizations. Topics include preparing and posting journal entries, adjusting and closing accounts, introductory financial statements, bank reconciliation and basic payroll transactions.
Workplace Communication Applications and Analysis
In today's management and administration workplace, having strong computer skills is essential. This course provides students with resources and guidance to develop skills in Microsoft Office applications, focusing on three key areas: Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. While learning about these programs, students develop skills in time management, accountability, and their ability to follow direction.
Job Search and Success
This course provides student with skills and knowledge to help support their career search and succeed in the workplace. Students align their personal skill set and goals to guide them on their career paths. They will learn how to effectively conduct a job search, build a professional and well-tailored resume and cover letter, and develop and practice interview techniques. Students will also develop their personal brand to help support effective career networking and aid in their job search. Teamwork and collaboration in the workplace are also discussed. Self-reflection is used to inspire insight and support their professional career journey.
Communications for Business
This course provides students with the skills required for professional, written, and oral communications essential to business success and subsequent courses. Students will develop database and internet research skills; prepare professional written business communication; and create, practice and deliver professional oral presentations. Students will research and document borrowed information in a business report and will demonstrate critical reading and thinking skills.
Macroeconomics
This course provides an understanding of the role of economics in business decision-making through the study of the methodology of economics, the components of the Canadian economy, cycles in the economy, macroeconomic goals, the measuring of economic performance, and government intervention in the economy as the government attempts to manage the economy.
Introduction to Sustainable Development
This course introduces the concept of sustainable development to a broad audience. Students are presented with the factors that affect the environmental, economic and social sustainability of our communities. The course investigates the development of human populations and how their need for resources (e.g. energy, food, water) has compromised the natural ecosystems. Social and economic factors are explored in the context of social equality and sustainability in the local and global economy. The effects of individual lifestyle changes on the sustainability of communities are also examined.
Business Mathematics II
This course applies mathematical principles to problems of finance and probability. We will study simple and compound interest, annuities, bonds, project evaluation, laws of probability, and probability distributions.
Personal Financial Planning
This course builds awareness and expectations for the roles and responsibilities of both financial advisors and financial planners. It advances students' understanding of the integrative nature of the financial and economic landscape, including the roles of the government, the Bank of Canada, and Canadian banks. Students also explore basic personal financial planning principles. Upon completion, students understand the responsibilities and realities of advising in the financial services sector. Taking a holistic approach, students explore key financial planning topics including the financial planning process, personal financial statements and budgeting, family lifecycle, opportunity cost and the time value of money, tax-sheltered investing, personal credit, retirement, and estate planning.
Investment Conduct Compliance
This course provides students with an understanding of the Canadian securities industry regulations. Procedures surrounding participant registration, account opening, sales and trading and placing orders will be discussed. The appropriate ethical guidelines and corporate responsibility when dealing with client accounts, transactions and products will be highlighted.
General Education Elective
Business Statistics
This course is designed to provide students with an understanding of statistics. It includes regression analysis, probabilities and distributions, sampling, statistical estimation, and hypotheses testing.
Investments I
This course teaches students about the securities industry and its regulatory environment as well as the impact of financial markets on investments. The features and pricing of fixed income securities, equity securities, and derivatives will be compared and contrasted. Students will also gain an understanding of the corporate financing process and learn how to analyze corporate financial statements.
Insurance Planning
This course introduces students to the various types and characteristics of life and disability insurance, as well as the use of annuities and segregated funds in the formation of long term investments. The roles and responsibilities of the insurance agent surrounding policies, underwriting and claims will be discussed. The importance of ethical considerations and protecting the clients' interests will be emphasized throughout the course. Students will also be familiarized with basic tax principles surrounding life insurance.
Real Estate Secured Lending
Helping clients make the most important purchase of their lives brings with it significant responsibility but also can create a strong sense of accomplishment and pride. This course enables students to have a clear understanding of real estate secured lending whether they are planning on a career as a financial advisor, financial planner, mortgage specialist, or mortgage agent. The course provides comprehensive knowledge about real estate secured credit, standard and complex mortgage products, and how to match the right product to a client's needs. It prepares students to conduct client interviews, answer challenging client questions with confidence and have the knowledge necessary to conduct credit assessments and evaluate applications effectively. The course will also cover the core values of the mortgage industry and the importance of integrity and ethics.
Financial Analysis & Bdgt.
This course is an introduction to the essentials of financial management with a view for wealth maximization of a business enterprise. Topics covered in this course include the following: analysis of financial performance, cost-volume-profit analysis, financing alternatives and costs, management of working capital, budgeting, and capital investment decisions.
Retirement and Estate Planning
Both retirement planning and estate planning work hand in hand and are critical elements of a financial planner's practice. Canadians, particularly baby boomers, will be retiring in vast numbers in the coming decade. An advisor's role in helping clients plan for retirement is key to ensuring clients not only have sufficient money to fund their retirement years, but also to ensure clients achieve their desired retirement lifestyle. This course helps advisors to focus on opportunities to minimize the impact of taxation on the client. It addresses considerations such as desired lifestyle, family issues, health concerns, and emotional issues, all with the aim of helping clients both envision and achieve their future retirement goals. A key part of an advisor's fiduciary duty is also to educate clients on the importance of estate planning and guide them through the estate planning process. This course will assist students to understand the impact of family situations and personal values on estate planning, how to approach the topic of mortality and prepare clients optimally for it, as well as the legal and tax principles of intergenerational wealth transfer, and ensuring effective wealth distribution to heirs after clients' own retirement needs are met. It will include analysis of will preparation, what happens when clients die intestate, executor responsibilities, the importance of involving tax and legal experts where appropriate, and overall, how to help support clients to face estate planning issues pragmatically.
General Education Elective
Ethical Leadership & Critical Decision Making
This interdisciplinary course combines insights from the field of business with social psychology and applied ethics to challenge students with an introspective look at some of today's most important ethical dilemmas. Students in PHL-1253 learn that the ethical standards employed by businesses and corporations ultimately concern the quality of human behaviours in those organizations. Human behaviour evolves from many influences: our past relationships, the ways we think and feel, how we respond to pressures in various social contexts, and how we deliberate in our daily thoughts and actions. Each of these influences is intimately involved with the quality of our ethical decision making.
Customer Relationship Management
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) enables companies to manage relationships with customers and prospects, tracking, analyzing, and interpreting data to create a competitive advantage. This course examines the principles of CRM in making customer interactions more personalized, efficient, and effective. Students explore how CRM improves customer retention, drives sales growth, and helps teams better collaborate. Students analyze what information is most critical and how to efficiently analyze data gathered to identify the best fit. Emphasis is placed on assessing customer needs, customer centricity and improving the advisor's ability to effectively manage the customer relationship. Understanding human behaviour and bias in finance, investor psychology and advisors' response to it is also explored. The course is designed to assist students to develop their personal brand and strengthen their presentation, communication, and negotiation skills through role-playing, video assessment, and applied learning exercises. Both traditional and digital prospecting methods are explored, along with the application of effective discovery, proposal creation, and problem-resolution strategies, all in support of creating a customer relationship built on trust. Topics include goal setting, planning, time management, sales analytics, key performance indicator analysis, and customer relationship building.
Investments II
This course builds upon concepts introduced in Investments I and provides students with a deeper understanding of portfolio management and the many different types of investment funds and products available. Investment analysis tools and techniques are explored, and students will appreciate the impact of taxation on investment returns. Students will also learn about key aspects when working with retail and institutional clients.
Personal Income Tax
An understanding of personal income taxation is an important element to successful financial management. This course introduces the student to income tax principles as they relate to the individual taxpayer in Canada. In this course, the students explore and examine the overall structure and administration of the personal income tax system. Students obtain an understanding of the tax principles necessary for the computation of various sources of income and applicable deductions, as well as tax credits and taxes payable for several individual circumstances.
Personal Financial Planning Capstone
This course provides an opportunity for students to synthesize key program outcomes, combining theory with practice culminating in the preparation of a financial plan that reflects the holistic nature of a professional role in the Canadian financial services industry. Students follow the financial planning process covering areas in financial management, investment planning, insurance and risk management, tax planning as well as retirement planning and estate planning.
General Education Elective
Contact
School of Business and Sustainability Leadership
Room B2-106
Program Information
After Graduation
Employment Opportunities
Graduates of this program are well-prepared to enter the workforce with strong critical thinking, analytical, and evaluative skills. These abilities enable them to contribute as socially responsible business professionals in a variety of entry-level roles within the Canadian financial services industry. Career opportunities may include positions such as personal banker, customer service associate, financial advisor or planner, insurance agent or broker, financial planning support associate, investment advisor, or financial or credit analyst. Graduates may also choose to pursue further studies in business or finance-related fields to advance their career prospects.More Information
Technology Requirements
It is recommended that you use a Windows laptop for your coursework. While other devices like MacBooks or Chromebooks might work for some tasks, they may not support all the software required for your program. If you're unsure, check with your professors before buying.
Internet Speed Requirements
To get the best experience while learning online, we recommend having an internet connection with at least 40 Mbps download speed and 10 Mbps upload speed. This will help you use video calls, attend online lectures, and access other learning tools smoothly.
Because students live in many different areas, we can't suggest a specific internet provider. You'll need to check with local companies to find one that works best for you.
Laptop Requirements
In order to access the internet and virtually-delivered software and courseware, student laptops should include the following at a minimum. By meeting the following specifications, students will be equipped to access software and courseware on their laptop through the internet:
- Intel i5 8th Gen Processor or equivalent
- 8GB of RAM
- 100 GB HDD or more
- Webcam with a microphone
- Wi-Fi capable (802.11n/ac 5GHz)
- Windows 11 operating system
Mobile Device
Students will require a mobile device (smartphone) for:
- Accessing your digital student ID
- Using campus applications and services
Software
To ensure students are getting the most our of their classroom experience, some software will be required.
Lambton College has made this software easily accessible online. Students can leverage our Microsoft Office 365 software packages and services. In addition, much of the software you require for your courses will be available on demand for use on any device - on or off campus.