The Advanced Certificate in Culinary Arts is an approximately 45-week program designed to encompass SkilledTradesBC Levels 1 and 2 of Professional Cook training, with a 30-hour Capstone course at the end.

Students will perform all phases of kitchen activities including the preparation and presentation of vegetables, soups, sauces, meat, fish and poultry; cold kitchen items; desserts, baking, pastry; basic menu planning/costing as well as knowledge of safety, sanitation and food storage. Students will also gain valuable knowledge of customer service which will enable them to become leaders in their field. Level 1 starts in a fully supervised environment, performing basic cooking and food preparation tasks, while the Level 2 environment allows students a partially independent role in performing the same variety of tasks.

At the end of each level there is a SkilledTradesBC Certificate of Qualification (C of Q) exam. Upon successful completion of Professional Cook 1 Certificate of Qualification exam, students will receive 600 hours of work-based training. The remaining 400 of the required 1000 hours can be obtained through employment in any external agency providing food services while taking the Advanced Certificate program. Upon successful completion of Professional Cook 2 certificate of qualification exam, students will receive an additional 240 hours of accredited hours.

Students will only be eligible to write their C of Q for Professional Cook 2 at the completion of their full 1000 work-based training hours required of level 1. A total of 2000 work-based hours are required for the 2 levels.

The Capstone project (30 hours) is designed to demonstrate, and be evaluated as, a culmination of all things learned throughout the two levels. Activities will include a dining event demonstrating each individual’s skill at menu planning, dining setup, dining service, preparing quality food, delivery timing, and dining cleanup.