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If you ask Nick Troup what happened during the four and a half years, he spent completing his Master of Public Administration (MPA) in the Faculty of Management, he can sum it up quickly: “three kids, two moves, and three jobs.” 

For Troup, balancing constant change is nothing new. Raised in a military family that relocated every few years, he grew up adapting to new places and routines. After joining the military himself, he earned a business degree from Saint Mary’s University, got married, and built a career that has taken him across Canada. 

“Every course had something that applied to my work” 

In 2021, while serving as a Senior Logistics Officer in Ottawa, Troup decided to continue his education while finding a way to spend more time in Nova Scotia—his wife’s home province and the place he also considers home. And that’s where Dalhousie comes in. He just wasn’t sure which program was right for him. 

He started, he says, by thinking about what was important to him. “Working in the public sphere and figuring out how to use public systems for the common good is what matters to me.” With its curriculum designed to inspire social change and navigate complex public ecosystems, he knew Dal’s MPA was a great fit. And when he discovered he could do the program part-time while raising a young family and working, the deal was clinched.  

In addition to the flexibility of the program, one of the other draws was its practical relevance. “There wasn’t a single course I took that didn’t include something I could immediately apply to my job,” Troup says. “Being able to put what I was learning into practice right away was incredibly satisfying.” 

Developing confidence to pursue doctoral studies 

He was particularly inspired by three professors—Dr. Isabelle Caron, Dr. Bill Foster, and Dr. Jeffrey Roy—who taught him how public policy can be used to stimulate private industry. Troup wrote a paper analyzing how Canada's Critical Mineral Strategy could be used to bolster Canada's supply chains, a topic relevant to his current profession. 

According to Troup, another strength of the program was the opportunity to work with, and learn from, his classmates in group projects. “We all had completely different life paths and perspectives, but we shared the core value of the importance of investing in others and investing in our communities,” he says. “I learned so much from spending time with other people who were not always the same as me.” 

As he graduates from the program, Troup is navigating yet another change: he’s been posted back to Ottawa. There's also another degree in his future—doctoral research on some of the coordination and integration challenges he’s experienced during his career.

Troup says his time at Dal helped develop his confidence to keep growing and learning. “I’m grateful to the MPA program for showing me the depth of my own capacity and resilience,” he says. “It’s helped me realize what I can accomplish.”