Baking association aims to rise students

The Baking Association of Canada (BAC) has created an endowment to help the next generation of bakers.

The $100,000 endowment will go to Centennial College's school of hospitality, tourism and culinary arts in Toronto. It will provide annual awards that students can apply for, with money going to their tuition. BAC is especially keen to help students who can't afford the cost of tuition.

The hospitality program at Centennial College started in 2011. The endowment will give Centennial the ability to grow the program, ultimately serving the employment needs of the commercial baking sector, according to officials at the college.

“We see a sustainable workforce for our graduates of commercial baking,” says Joe Baker, dean of the school of hospitality, tourism and culinary arts. “The commercial baking sector is in constant need of hiring qualified staff.”

Students enrolled in hospitality programs tend to look for jobs in restaurants and hotels. They often know little about careers in commercial baking. That could soon change.

In September, Centennial will open a 350,000-sq.-ft. facility for its hospitality school that will include a commercial baking lab that simulates an industrial food facility.

Centennial invested in equipment typically found in big baking facilities such as rotating ovens, dough dividers, a food manufacturing line and an 80-quart mixer.

“We tried to purchase pieces of equipment that students will then go on to see in commercial baking facilities,” says Baker. “The fact that our students will be familiar with much of the equipment they will see in commercial baking is why we built that lab.”