The Campus Alberta Quality Council requires a research component for all Course-based Master's programs, and states that this requirement can be satisfied in a variety of ways, for example, by "one or more research courses in the program," or a capstone course that focuses "on the integration and application of the knowledge acquired." The programs may also "culminate in a comprehensive examination involving an examination committee."1 The Faculty of Graduate Studies operates in accordance with CAQC guidelines, and requires that the nature of the research component and the form of any comprehensive examination must be identified in program regulations that are approved by the Faculty of Graduate Studies Academic Program Committee.
1All quotations are from the CAQC handbook: Quality Assessment and Assurance (http://www.caqc.gov.ab.ca/caqc-handbook.aspx).