At Cambrian College in Sudbury, Canada, HD in Graphic Design is offered as a higher diploma in Applied Design programme. The programme runs for 6 semesters, delivered on campus. Teaching is in English. Tuition for international students is CAD 19,228 per year (CAD 4,186 per year for local students).
At a glance
Degree:Higher Diploma
Field:Applied Design
Duration: 6 semesters
Delivery: On Campus
Language: English
Local tuition: CAD 4,186 / year
International tuition: CAD 19,228 / year
Information for the 2027/28 academic year · Last reviewed September 2026 ·
Program details
Overview
Combine creativity with strategy and design your best life Cambrian challenges you to ramp up your creative talents with real-world projects and gain the graphic design skills to go pro. Our curriculum covers all aspects of a compelling career as a professional visual designer, delivered by experienced faculty who are practicing graphic designers. Take your work from concept sketch to strategic design by learning to manipulate space, type, images, motion, code, production equipment, and colour. Career-focused, with attention to both traditional methods and new technology, you’ll sharpen your concept development skills with strategic and critical thinking. You’ll refine ideas in branding, advertising, environmental design, print and page production, website development, and more, all with your personal flair. You’ll graduate with a professional-grade portfolio prized by potential employers and freelance clients.
Requirements
Admission Requirements: Cambrian's Graphic Design page requires, for graduates of the current Ontario curriculum, a 30-credit Ontario Secondary School Diploma or equivalent, or mature-student standing, with grade 12 English at (C) or (U); grade 11 or 12 visual-arts or media-arts credits and familiarity with Adobe Creative Cloud are recommended but not required, and no portfolio is asked for admission. The page states the programme is currently not available to international students, so Cambrian's international English-score table does not apply here; domestic applicants satisfy the language condition through the grade 12 English course itself. Applicants short of the academic prerequisite can use the college's free, self-paced Academic Upgrading before enrolling.
Application Details
Start Date:Intakes Cambrian lists for this program on its own page, read 6 September 2026: September 2026 (Schedule A fall term: Day 1 orientation 8 September 2026, classes from 9 September 2026, term ends 18 December 2026). Term dates come from Cambrian's published 2026-27 Academic Schedule A, which most programs follow and which is built from 14-week blocks with September, January and May starts. Not every program admits in every term, and the intakes above are the ones this program's page lists for the 2026-27 year; check the program page before applying, because an intake already under way may be closed.
Application Deadline:DOMESTIC APPLICANTS (Canadian citizens and permanent residents). Cambrian publishes no deadline that belongs to this program alone; what follows is the college-wide Ontario colleges cycle plus Cambrian's own term cut-offs, and it applies to every full-time program. Apply at ontariocolleges.ca. Applications received there by 1 February are given equal consideration - they are assessed together, and Ontario residents are preferred where a program is oversubscribed. After 1 February applications are handled first-come, first-served for as long as seats remain, and your file is judged on what has reached the Admissions Office by the transcript submission deadline. For entry in Fall 2027 the provincial cycle runs as follows: the ontariocolleges.ca application opened on 26 September 2026, colleges may issue offers from 1 November 2026, the equal consideration date is 1 February 2027, an offer must be accepted by 1 May 2027, and tuition deposits fall in June 2027 on each college's own date.
COLLEGE-WIDE LAST DAY TO APPLY. Separately from the equal consideration date, Cambrian's 2026-27 Academic Schedule A sets a hard last day to apply for admission on Day 3 of each term - for this program's intakes that is 10 September 2026 for the fall 2026 start. To begin, all transcripts and documents must already be with the College and you must be ready to pay the deposit and start classes by Day 5 (14 September 2026, 15 January 2027 or 14 May 2027). The schedule prints this as an all-programs date and does not distinguish domestic from international applicants. The non-refundable deposit is due 15 June 2026 for the september start.
INTERNATIONAL APPLICANTS. Do not use the domestic ontariocolleges.ca form: apply on the OCAS international service (Cambrian's college code is CAMB, up to three program choices), or have an authorised agent file for you in Cambrian's own application portal. The 1 February equal consideration date is part of the domestic Ontario colleges cycle and Cambrian publishes no closing date of its own for international applicants; files are assessed individually as they arrive. Cambrian does say that some programs fill faster than others and advises acting early, and that the letter of acceptance carries an expiry date past which no student may enrol. Once the offer is accepted and fees are paid you need an Ontario Provincial Attestation Letter (PAL) before you can apply for a study permit, so leave time for that step.
