Project Management

Build the skills and knowledge to successfully manage complex projects in any sector with UCN’s flexible Project Management Certificate Program—or choose individual courses that fit your needs. This customizable training path is designed for both emerging and experienced project managers, offering practical, applied learning that’s tailored to today’s workplace challenges.

Project Management

Credential: Certificate

Location: Online

Duration: 10 days

Program Admission Contact: Tim Gibson - tgibson@ucn.ca

Learning Outcomes

Project Management Foundations: Grasp the essential principles, tools, and practices that set projects up for success.
Planning & Scheduling: Build skills to create realistic timelines, allocate resources, and keep work moving forward.
Budget Awareness: Learn practical ways to manage costs and make sound financial decisions throughout a project.
Collaboration & Communication: Enhance teamwork, stakeholder engagement, and conflict resolution.
Problem Solving & Adaptability: Gain confidence in anticipating risks, addressing challenges, and adapting to change.
Practical Application: Reinforce learning through hands-on exercises and real-world scenarios.

Who Should Attend

Project leaders and team members ready to boost their impact.
Professionals in any field who want practical, adaptable PM skills.
For staff tangential to projects seeking a clearer understanding of project management principles.

Courses & Costs (Click on Courses for Scheduling)

Flexible Project Management Training Designed for You. Starting with Project Management Essentials, then choose the learning path that fits your needs. Complete 10 days of training to earn your Project Management Certificate. Alternatively, take our Project Management Essentials course and then pick and choose any other modules to develop targeted skills – no certificate commitment needed. Assessment options and recognition of prior learning are also available. View course pathway graphic.

Courses are delivered in a variety of formats and schedules to suit working professionals, including half-day and evening offerings. Click on a course name to view all upcoming offerings and choose the schedule that best fits your availability.

Project Management Essentials - Mandatory (Must Be Taken First)

Cost per seat - $1420

This course must be taken first and is required for all students to take.

All course times are listed in Central Standard Time (CST)

Project Management Essentials

This 3-day fundamental course offers an accessible, hands-on journey through the entire project lifecycle, from initiation to closing, with a special emphasis on initiation and planning. Participants work in project teams to practice project management tools and face realistic challenges encountered on projects. This course provides two diverse case studies, ensuring a relevant learning experience for participants from all backgrounds. Real-life stories from various industries are used to illustrate key concepts and best practices, and the instructor encourages participants to share their experiences. This approach ensures that discussions are both realistic and relevant.

Project Management Essentials aligns with the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) and introduces tools and terminology without overwhelming participants with jargon. The course focuses on developing practical skills that can be applied immediately to enhance project success. It is engaging, fast-paced, interactive, and tailored to meet the unique needs of each audience. This course is accredited by the Project Management Association of Canada (PMAC) as meeting their standards for quality. After completing this course, participants are eligible to write the Certified Project Coordinator (CPC) exam from PMAC.

Learning Objectives

Participants will gain practical skills to:

Use the terminology and processes of modern project management
Prepare a complete and accurate project plan for your project
Facilitate team discussions to learn from the PM experiences of others
Practice PM skills using templates
Value the benefits of a consistent PM methodology

Schedule

Start Date	Schedule
Sep 17, 2025	Sep 17-19 & 24-26 (7:30-11:00am)
Oct 28, 2025	T+Th evenings (5:30-7:30pm) Oct 28, 30 & Nov 4–27
Nov 10, 2025	Mon & Wed evenings (5:00-7:00pm) Nov 10–26
Feb 04, 2026	Jan 28–30 + Feb 4–6 (7:30-11:00am)
Feb 24, 2026	Tue & Thu evenings (5:30–7:30pm) Feb 24–Apr 2
May 05, 2026	May 5–7 & 12–14 (7:30–11:00am)

Contact Tim Gibson to register or learn more.

One Day Mandatory

Cost per seat - $575

Each student must complete all of the following courses in order to meet program requirements.

All course times are listed in Central Standard Time (CST)

Communications & Stakeholder Management

This course is designed to provide participants with an understanding of the complexity of managing stakeholders and project communications. We will cover the processes, tools and techniques of Project Communications Management and Project Stakeholder Management as presented in the Project Management Institute’s (PMI®) A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge®. Participants will learn through application to a case study and hands-on exercises.

Learning Objectives

At the end of this course, participants will be able to:

- Use the terminology and processes of stakeholder and communications management
- Prepare a project or program communications management plan
- Use the tools of stakeholder analysis
- Learn tools and develop strategies for managing and monitoring stakeholder engagement
- Learn tools and develop strategies for managing and project communications
- Articulate the benefits of a proactive approach to project communication and stakeholder management

Schedule

Start Date	Schedule
Oct 08, 2025	Oct 8–9 (7:30–11:00am)
Feb 19, 2026	Feb 19–20 (7:30–11:00am)
May 28, 2026	May 28–29 (7:30–11:00am)

Contact Tim Gibson to register or learn more.

Project Schedule and Cost Management

This course will review roles and responsibilities, estimating, how to be a good steward of project resources and how to adapt project scheduling and budgeting efforts to uncertainty with concepts such as rolling-wave planning and agile delivery.

This course is also sometimes known as “Tracking and Forecasting Progress: Budgets, Baselines and Timelines”, “Managing Variances: Cost and Schedule Management Best Practices” and "Project Schedule and Cost Control".

Learning Objectives

Participants will gain practical skills to:
Understand the roles and responsibilities of the project manager and other subject matter experts such as schedulers, financial experts, and others
Prepare a project budget and schedule
Use fundamental scheduling techniques such as calculating critical path and float
Use cost-benefit analysis, earned value and velocity for project decisions and to understand project health
Appreciate the importance of a sophisticated and nuanced understanding of project objectives

Schedule

Start Date	Schedule
Nov 06, 2025	Nov 6–7 (7:30–11:00am)
Apr 16, 2026	Apr 16–17 (7:30–11:00am)
Jun 24, 2026	Jun 24–25 (7:30–11:00am)

Contact Tim Gibson to register or learn more.

Managing Project Risk

We live in a world of change and uncertainty. Now, more than ever, the success of a project is dependent on the ability to identify, qualify, quantify, and manage threats and opportunities. Sometimes, organizations view potential undesirable outcomes as something that should not be discussed to avoid negativity or because they do not appreciate the importance of risk management. Other organizations value risk management but they lack the skills and knowledge to be effective in this crucial area of competence.

This course looks at risk identification, qualitative and quantitative techniques to identify the likelihood of a risk occurring and the impact if it does. A variety of risk response strategies are discussed and practiced during workshop exercises. Upon course completion, participants will be more confident in their ability to manage uncertainty.

Learning Objectives

Participants will gain practical skills to:

Apply a common framework of risk management
Value the importance of including risk management in project planning and execution
Facilitate team discussions to identify project risks and opportunities and formulate risk responses
Analyze risks and select response strategies appropriate to priorities and an organization’s risk tolerances
Use expected monetary value to assess the reasonableness of risk response strategies

Schedule

Start Date	Schedule
Oct 06, 2025	Oct 6–7 (1:30pm–5:00pm)
Oct 23, 2025	Oct 23–24 (7:30–11:00am)
Mar 05, 2026	Mar 5–6 (7:30–11:00am)
Jun 10, 2026	Jun 10–11 (7:30–11:00am)

Contact Tim Gibson to register or learn more.

Leading Project-Driven Change

What distinguishes projects from business-as-usual operations is that projects introduce change; therefore, change is a fundamental goal of every project. Yet, many people resist change for various reasons. This resistance, if not accounted for in project delivery strategies, can lead to significant risks jeopardizing the attainment of project objectives.

Through a combination of lectures and individual and group activities based on real-world case studies, this course introduces project managers to the fundamentals of change management practice, helping them to understand the risks introduced by change resistance and how to reduce or eliminate those risks. By incorporating the techniques revealed in this course into their toolkits, project managers will be better able to deal with stakeholders, reduce project delays, increase efficiencies, and reduce the risk of not meeting a project’s business case objectives.

Learning Objectives

At the end of this course, participants will be able to:

Identify barriers to change including stakeholder reactions
Choose appropriate strategies to address specific change resistance points
Prepare better stakeholder management plans
Prepare better project communications plans to build commitment
Prepare more comprehensive risk management plans
Improve the chances of meeting project objectives

Schedule

Start Date	Schedule
Nov 13, 2025	Nov 13–14 (7:30–11:00am)
Mar 31, 2026	Mar 31 + Apr 1 (7:30–11:00am)
Jun 03, 2026	Jun 3–4 (7:30–11:00am)

Contact Tim Gibson to register or learn more.

Introduction to Agile Project Management

Many organizations are now introducing agile delivery techniques into the workplace with the goal of delivering faster, with greater efficiency. To achieve these benefits, agile methods encourage a closer collaboration between the project business stakeholders and the project delivery team, they encourage the lowering of barriers (functional silos) between roles, and they promote communications techniques that foster a culture of openness and transparency. This level of change may create resistance for some people who have difficulty adapting. One of the best ways of overcoming such resistance is through education.

This workshop aims to introduce stakeholders and project team members to the agile way of working using the common Scrum framework. Unlike typical Scrum-based training, however, the course expands the framework to include an overview of agile requirements management techniques and agile estimating and planning techniques that are used to set reasonable stakeholder expectations at the start of an agile project.

Learning Objectives

To provide project stakeholders and project team members with a basic understanding of how agile projects are structured, including an introduction to the common Scrum framework, and how disciplined approaches to agile can be used to set (and manage) realistic stakeholder expectations.

Schedule

Start Date	Schedule
Oct 20, 2025	Oct 20–21 (1:30–5:00pm)
Dec 09, 2025	Dec 9–10 (7:30–11:00am)
May 21, 2026	May 21–22 (7:30–11:00am)

Contact Tim Gibson to register or learn more.

One Day Electives

Cost per seat - $575

Choose any two of the following electives to meet the requirements of the program.

All course times are listed in Central Standard Time (CST)

Defining & Managing Project Requirements

This one-day program focuses on the requirements management process. Using an exercise taken from a real-life project, participants will learn how to define the problem, assess its business impact, and identify and manage stakeholders’ expectations. Participants will use elicitation tools and techniques to discover the underlying requirements that contribute to solutions that produce desired outcomes. Through the use of techniques for clarifying expected deliverables and discovering overlooked requirements, participants will be better prepared to work on projects characterized by uncertainty and high levels of change. The course will cover requirements verification, traceability and change management techniques for both predictive and agile project environments. Participants will discover different ways to present requirements to stakeholders to maximize comprehension and encourage feedback.

Learning Objectives

By working on a prepared case study, participants will gain practical skills to:

Utilize an enterprise requirements management framework and processes
Identify impacted stakeholders and discover and define their real problems
Realize and uncover real requirements using various methods and tools
Create appropriate questions to ask in surveys, interviews, job shadowing, and JAD sessions
Discover functional requirements that deliver business value
Document requirements clearly using standard formats, including user stories and use cases
Analyze, verify, and validate requirements
Refine, manage, and control changes to requirements
Use a hierarchical solution selection process to build a foundation for future requirements
Conduct financial analysis of proposed solution(s) to maximize benefits realization
Prioritize, select and present the best requirements solutions to problems/opportunities

Transfer a practical requirements management methodology back to the workplace

Schedule

Start Date	Schedule
Oct 16, 2025	Oct 16–17 (7:30–11:00am)

Contact Tim Gibson to register or learn more.

Procurement & Contract Mgmt

Offered in Thompson and The Pas
Students can apply and enroll at any time.
Students work through course materials independently but supported by an instructor.
Traditional course schedule is not applicable.
Referral to/enrolment in this stream: collaborative with academic advisors and enrolment services. This pathway is well-suited for individuals seeking an alternative route to their academic goals, offering a flexible approach to success.

Schedule

Start Date	Schedule
Nov 20, 2025	Nov 20–21 (7:30–11:00am)
Mar 24, 2026	Mar 24–25 (7:30–11:00am)

Contact Tim Gibson to register or learn more.

Project Closeout Best Practices

As project managers, we tend to keep our eyes focused on the finish line. For us, it is all about on-time completion. Once the deliverables have been handed over to our project sponsor or client, we relax -- the project is over. But is it really?

Project closeout always presents challenges: from getting final approvals, to performing administrative and contract closure, to capturing lessons learned, and more. At the rapid pace of business today, efficient project closure is a must and may even give you a competitive edge. This 1-day workshop introduces project managers to the best practices for getting final signoffs and closing out projects. Project managers will come away with a structured closeout framework and some templates that can be used to complete an orderly project closeout.

Learning Objectives

Participants will gain practical skills to:

Use a structured approach to get final sign-off and closing out a project
Describe the barriers to project closeout including both scope and lifecycle barriers
Describe how to overcome closeout activities including financial, administrative, and legal closure (and more!)
Use lessons learned to drive continuous improvement

Schedule

Start Date	Schedule
Dec 01, 2025	Dec 1–2 (7:30–11:00am)
Mar 11, 2026	Mar 11–12 (7:30–11:00am)

Contact Tim Gibson to register or learn more.

Intro to AI in Project Management

Discover how Artificial Intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing project management practices by understanding practical strategies for integrating AI solutions into your projects.

In this hands-on workshop, attendees will explore real-world case studies, engage in interactive group exercises, and gain valuable insights. Whether you are new to technology or a seasoned professional, this workshop offers a unique opportunity to demystify AI concepts, discover cutting-edge tools and technologies, and unlock new possibilities for optimizing resource allocation, scheduling, risk management, and more.

Learning Objectives

At the end of this course, participants will be able to: