Executive recently secured the contract to provide food services for the new RCMP Pacific Regional Training Academy, located on the former Canadian Forces Base in Chilliwack. One of the conditions of the contract was that the successful bidder include a learning environment for the new cooking program, which includes both UCFV students and some advanced-level secondary students from Sardis and Chilliwack. 

RCMP members who come for professional development at the new E Division training headquarters in Chilliwack are staying in hotel-class accommodation and eating hotel-quality meals. 

“The beauty of this partnership is that it brings us to a level beyond the typical cook training program, where the teaching setting is a campus-based cafeteria, with limited menu offerings and sittings,” says Harv McCullough, UCFV director of Trades and Technology. “This is a fantastic opportunity for our students to produce four-star executive-quality meals and gain experience at breakfast, lunch, dinner, and banquet menus.” 

It's understood that the students are there for training, not to be general kitchen help, and they work under the guidance of UCFV instructor Bruce Corbeil.  About two-thirds of the students are from the Chilliwack area, with the remainder from Abbotsford, Mission, and other parts of the Lower Mainland. 

“The RCMP have demonstrated a tremendous commitment to the community by stipulating that there be an educational component to the food services contract,” says McCullough. “And representatives of Executive Hotels and Restaurants, including Peter Lee, Lutz Wolf, and Jerry Hedway have worked hard to incorporate our program into their contract with the RCMP.” 

RCMP members and other federal officers will typically spend a few days a year at the training academy doing professional development. 

McCullough says that professional cooking experience is not necessary for entrance to the 12-month training program. 

"This is entry-level trades training, so we're going to be taking people with very little experience and taking them to the point where they can start working in a professional kitchen." 

McCullough says team players who like cooking, are detail-oriented, and who are looking for a trade that's in demand worldwide, would make good cooking students. 

"It's an excellent trade to have because it offers stability — people will always have to eat — but also the opportunity to travel the world and work in resorts, hotels, and even on trains and cruise ships." 

He says that local employers are delighted to have a full apprenticeship-level cook training program in the Fraser Valley. 

"We've had managers from places like Earl's, the Pantry, the Rhombus, and the Harrison Hot Springs Hotel voicing their support from the start. The human resources director at Harrison said this would be great because locally trained people with ties to the Valley would be more likely to stay for longer periods, and this would help reduce staff turnover." 

Human Resources Development Canada reported openings for more than 1,000 entry-level cooks nationwide in March, as well as around 100 openings for professional chefs. 

The new cooking program is funded by the provincial Industry Training and Apprenticeship Commission. UCFV ran a successful one-year pilot cook training program in 1998/99. 

A new group of students will start next fall. Applicants  require Grade 12 or equivalent and have to write a pretest in math and English. For more information, contact the UCFV Trades and Technology Centre at 604-854-4548 or 792-0025, local 4548.