Because the term "human services" covers such a broad range of practical applications in the workforce, there are many variations in how it's interpreted at each school for degree offerings. A great number of schools do not offer degrees in human services, but instead offers it in the form of programs for social work, social sciences, human ecology, criminal justice, law, public health and human resources. This is because, theoretically, human services can be categorized as any field driven by assisting or servicing people through direct human relations and infrastructures. However, some schools that do not offer undergraduate programs in human services, do provide graduate degrees in human services.
Some of the Canadian colleges that offer programs specifically in human services include Grant MacEwan University in Alberta, Georgian College in Barrie-Ontario, Rocky Mountain College in Calgary, North Island College in Vancouver Island-British Columbia and Vancouver Island University in Nanaimo.
Grant MacEwan University offers a Bachelor of Applied Human Service Administration that emphasizes the management of various human service organizations such as social service agencies and child or emergency care facilities. Georgian College provides a Bachelor of Human Services in police studies that focuses on the nature and function of law enforcement. Rocky Mountain College offers a Bachelor of Arts in human services with a choice in specializations that include youth and child care or applied behavior science (formerly counseling psychology). North Island College offers a human services professional certificates and a one-year diploma.
Vancouver Island University does not offer degrees in human services, but has a specific human services program that gives numerous options. The program provides a Bachelor of Arts in child and youth care; two-year diplomas in child and youth care, child and youth care first nations, disability studies, early childhood education and care, horticultural therapy and social services; and a 180-hour professional certificate in school and community support worker.
Schools that offer programs with direct or closely related concentrations in human services include Athabasca University in Athabasca, Univeristy of Alberta in Alberta, Queens University in Kingston-Ontario and Univeristy of Manitoba in Winnipeg-Manitoba.
Athabasca University provides a Bachelor of Professional Arts with a concentration in human services. The Univeristy of Alberta offers a Bachelor of Design with a concentration in social science; and graduate degrees in human ecology in the research areas of aging and children, youth and families. Queens University provides a bachelor's degree in social sciences with numerous concentration options such as sociology, health studies, gender studies and psychology. The Univeristy of Manitoba offers undergraduate degrees in human ecology, labor studies and social work; and graduate degrees in social work.
Even if a school does not offer programs or specialized concentrations in human services, most do offer courses that pertain to aspects of human services in varying degrees.