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Advance Your Design Career with the Master of Digital Media

MDM helps designers expand their creative practice, strengthen collaboration and leadership skills, and accelerate into impactful roles at studios, startups, and global companies.

Designer working on UX

96%

Employed within 1-year

84%

Work in mid-level, senior, or executive roles

25%

Won or nominated for an industry award

18%

Launched their own start up

Why Designers Choose the Master of Digital Media

Hands-On, Project-Based Learning - Over 50% of the program is dedicated to real client projects. You’ll collaborate with multidisciplinary teams, applying agile workflows, prototyping, and design thinking to create solutions that matter.

Accelerate Your Career - 96% of grads are employed within a year, many moving into mid- to senior-level positions. Alumni are shaping products and experiences at companies like EA, Lululemon, SAP, Microsoft, and award-winning creative studios.

Graduate with Industry-Tested Experience - Work on solutions for tech companies, startups, and civic organizations. You’ll leave the program with proven experience that demonstrates not just your design expertise, but your leadership, problem-solving, and product development abilities.

Learn from the Best - Join a close-knit cohort guided by award-winning faculty in UX, games, product design, animation, and storytelling. Build the cross-disciplinary fluency to speak the language of business, strategy, and technology.

Earn a Degree from Four Leading Institutions - Graduate with a master’s degree jointly granted by the University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University, Emily Carr University of Art + Design, and BCIT.

Alumni Success

MDM alumni are driving the future of the creative technology industry. They have used the program to springboard into leadership roles in multiple industries across the globe. From Fortune 500, to start ups, to community-based organizations, our alumni are applying the skills they learned to reshape the world.

Joseph Coombes

Joseph Coombes, Design Lead and Senior UX Engineer

Joseph turned his versatile background in design, storytelling, and web development into a leadership role by mastering interdisciplinary collaboration and building confidence in complex projects through the MDM. His MDM industry project with Accenture yielded a mixed‑reality app and a Vancouver UX Award, directly accelerating his path to leadership roles—first at IBM and now as a Senior UX Engineer and Design Lead at AI‑game innovator Inworld AI.

Renee Chen, Senior Product Designer

From award-winning VR projects to a Senior Product Designer role at a Silicon Valley company, Renee’s MDM journey shows how real-world industry projects can launch a designer’s career. The program gave her hands-on experience, a powerful network, and the confidence to lead in the fast-moving world of product design.

Renee Chen Headshot

 

Our alumni are driving innovations at:

See how our alumni have found success after the MDM.

Learn about our alumni

Work On Industry Projects

From AI-powered games and VR worlds to motion design for social impact—MDM students collaborate in diverse teams to produce work that stands out in the creative industry. Over 50% of the curriculum focuses on client-based projects. In the MDM, you'll get to:

  • Pitch and prototype original concepts.

  • Design immersive experiences and interactive media.

  • Work directly with industry partners to bring ideas to life.

Screengrab of trailer cheerleader
Shape the Future of AI-Driven Storytelling in Games
Screenshot of Monsterheart Game
Bring Storytelling to Life in a Digital Game Adaptation
VR view inside a helicopter
Develop an award-winning VR experience

Experience Life Beyond the Classroom

As a student, you will gain access to a host of fun student activities, field trips, industry tours, networking events, guest speakers, and more. Check out what our students have been up to.

Grid of MDM students at events
CDM Campus

Live and Work on Campus

Live at CDM’s campus in fully furnished apartments with access to public transit, a fitness facility, bike lockup, local cafes, employers and more. This is an opportunity to expand your learning experience and connect with your peers. Student jobs are also available.

View student apartments

Ready For Your Next Step?

Start Your Application

MDM Offers

The creative problem-solving, communication, collaboration, and leadership skills employers value.

See our alumni's career paths

Real-world project experience, making the transition into your career more seamless. Over 50% of the curriculum consists of working on real-world client projects. In a multidisciplinary team, you’ll collaborate with industry to develop prototypes or applications from concept to deliverable.

Check out our industry projects

A strong professional network and career mentorship from faculty and staff members with decades of industry experience.

Get to know our faculty

A dedicated 4-month term of career exploration, giving you the tools and to discover where your passions lie, all while doing it in a supportive environment. You will be pursuing a variety of career outcomes including work integrated learning, job seeking.

Explore what this term offers

An optional startup path to pitch, develop, and grow your own venture. Form a team within your cohort and together you will pitch your idea in front of an industry panel, giving you a competitive, real-world experience. Successful teams will have the opportunity to dive into developing their own venture, complete with access to funding, technology accelerators, and mentorship and guidance from industry experts, alumni, and faculty.

Discover our startup pathway

Academic Calendar

This hands-on master’s program starts with creative foundations, then moves into real-world client projects and optional venture projects—helping you build practical, industry-ready skills.

In your final semester, you’ll get dedicated support to explore careers, refine your portfolio, and prepare for job opportunities.

Along the way, you’ll grow your professional network, join industry tours, and participate in workshops designed to help you thrive in the creative technology industry.

Spring Term

Jan-Apr

Projects IIClient Project and Venture Pitch Option12 Credits

Projects IIClient Project and Venture Pitch Option12 Credits

Summer Term

May-Aug

Projects IIIClient or Venture Project12 Credits

Projects IIIClient or Venture Project12 Credits

Fall Term

Sept-Dec

InternshipSupported Career Exploration6 Credits

InternshipSupported Career Exploration6 Credits
  • Industry focused
  • Theory and foundation focused
  • Career specialization

What You'll learn

Collaboration

Learn to thrive in multidisciplinary teams—understand strengths, give and receive feedback, and build a high-performance culture.

Problem Solving

Use design methods and rapid prototyping to tackle challenges, streamline workflows, and deliver real-world solutions.

Critical Thinking

Adopt a growth mindset, validate ideas with data, and evaluate processes objectively to make smarter decisions.

Leading and Managing

Gain tools to manage stakeholders, align goals with strategy, and create inclusive, empowered teams.

Communication

Craft compelling stories and present ideas clearly to inspire audiences and drive results.

Ideating and Innovating

Apply agile processes to push creative boundaries and design digital media solutions for a global marketplace.

three people looking at a computer while sitting at a desk

Tuition and Fees

Curious about program costs? See the full breakdown of MDM tuition and fees.

Designer at desk looking at screen

Funding

Interested in funding options? See what scholarships and financial aid are available.

students sitting and talking in the lobby

Questions?

Looking for more information? Find answers to the most frequently asked questions

Register for our Next Webinar

Meet our admissions team to ask questions, learn how to submit a strong application, and get important scholarship, housing, and application information.

Ready to take the next step?

Start your journey towards landing your dream career.

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