THUNDER BAY — Thunder Bay restaurant operators are expressing dismay over the decision by Confederation College to indefinitely suspend its culinary management program.
"For us, it is a loss of a vital resource," said Bianca Garofalo, who owns Bight, El Tres and Giorg. "In recent years there's been a really good pool of future employees that have come out of the program."
In an interview Wednesday, Garofalo said local restaurateurs have been having group conversations about the situation, and "everyone is really concerned about what that impact is going to look like on the workforce."
Confederation announced the suspension of the program and 10 others last week, due in part to a decline in international student enrolment caused by a federal cap on study permits.
Garofalo said students come to Thunder Bay from other countries specifically to take the training, and receive placements in local restaurants while they're studying.
"When they graduate, a lot of them decide to stay. In recent years, it's been a really good pool of future employees that have come out of the program."
She noted this has become particularly important since the COVID-19 pandemic, when a lot of workers left the food service industry.
"There's been an increasing labour shortage...We have a thriving culinary scene in Thunder Bay, but it has been extremely difficult to fill."
In a statement to Newswatch, Confederation said it values the program's longstanding contribution to the Thunder Bay region, but a comprehensive review showed it is no longer financially sustainable.
The college indicated it plans to explore more cost-effective program models that may enable it to offer culinary opportunities at some point in the future.
Garofalo said she hopes the college sets up a stakeholder round table to discuss possible alternatives, "and maybe creatively figure out if there is a way to restructure the program to be still as successful as possible because otherwise, anyone interested in culinary management is now going to have to basically go to southern Ontario."
Program's suspension left RFDA food service manager 'in shock'
The suspension of the program will also have other impacts in the community.
Culinary management students have contributed significantly to the Regional Food Distribution Association, for which they produced 12,000 meals last year using food donated to the RFDA.
"I was in shock" after hearing the news, said Tanner Harris, food service manager for the association.
"We were looking at doubling the number of prepared meals over the next couple of years, so that would really feed a lot of people in the region."
Harris, who happens to be a graduate of the culinary management program, said the college's partnership with the RFDA, which started last year, has demonstrated its value.
"We worked together on a plan to start up the batch cooking class (cooking in bulk) within the culinary program. The food is donated to us, like high-protein items such as beef, chicken, turkey, even non-meat items like chickpeas and legumes. We send them to the college and they prepare a nice, healthy home-cooked meal, and those go to food banks within our network and to our feeding programs in Thunder Bay. So they're really going to miss out."
Students currently enrolled in the program will be able to complete their studies, and Confederation has stated its partnership with the RFDA will continue through the upcoming academic year.
Local stakeholders representing a range of interests are supporting a petition in opposition to to the college's decision to suspend the culinary management program.
The group includes students, alumni, educators, employers, and Indigenous leaders.
"This program is not only a vital educational offering for aspiring chefs and hospitality professionals, but also a critical resource that sustains multiple sectors of our local economy and broader Northern Ontario industries," the petition states.
It notes the absence of a local training program for culinary professionals will not only impact the work of the RFDA, but could affect food service at hospitals, long-term care facilities, and canteens and camps operated by the resource sector.
The petitioners are also concerned about the impact on secondary school students enrolled in the specialist high skills major program in hospitality and tourism, saying the suspension of the college program severs an established pipeline for students to pursue their ambitions to become culinary professionals.
Several other Ontario colleges, including Loyalist, Centennial, St. Lawrence and St. Clair, have also suspended their culinary programs.
