The Professional Cooking Certificate prepares students for entry‑level culinary careers by developing strong foundational skills in food preparation, kitchen operations, and professional standards. Training takes place in a live‑service environment connected to the Portage College cafeteria and culinary events, giving students real‑time experience with production cooking, teamwork, and customer service.
Students gain core skills in culinary foundations, stocks, soups, and sauces, vegetables and carbohydrates, proteins, fish and seafood, breakfast and dairy, garde manger, baking and pastries, nutrition, foodservice math, and industry safety certifications. The program concludes with a 120‑hour practicum in an industry kitchen.
What You Will Learn
Students develop competencies in:
- Fundamental knife skills, cooking methods, and kitchen tools
- Stocks, soups, sauces, and flavour development
- Vegetable, fruit, and carbohydrate cookery
- Meat, poultry, and seafood fabrication and cookery
- Baking, pastries, and dessert production
- Garde manger skills: salads, appetizers, cold kitchen production
- Breakfast production, dairy processing, and short‑order service
- Culinary math, costing, conversions, and menu planning
- Nutrition and dietary modifications
- Safety, sanitation, WHMIS, First Aid, and fire extinguisher training
- Professionalism, teamwork, and communication
- High‑volume and event‑based foodservice operations
Career Potential
Graduates of the Professional Cooking program are able to work in:
- Hotels, resorts, restaurants, and cafés
- Catering companies and banquet operations
- Hospitals, long‑term care, schools
- Camps, lodges, and industrial kitchens
- Bakeries, specialty food shops, private chef services
Positions may include:
- Line Cook / Prep Cook
- Garde Manger
- Breakfast Cook
- Baker’s Assistant
- Catering Cook
- Commis / Chef de Partie
- Sous Chef (with experience)
- Foodservice Administrator
- Culinary Entrepreneur or Food Creator
Cooks can advance through promotions with the same employer or move to more advanced positions with other employers. Career options include chef, line cook, restaurant cook, banquet manager, general manager and food editor. Yet another level of achievement includes Certified Chef de Cuisine (C.C.C.), a highly respected trade certification with many good prospects for travel within Canada and abroad.
Credentials
Certificate
Admission Requirements
- English Language Arts 10-2 at 60%
- Math 10-3 at 60%
Students who do not meet admission requirements can contact student services regarding opportunities for placement testing. Students will need to submit an application to the program to start the process.
Use this chart to check Provincial high school equivalencies accepted at Portage College. Note: This is just a guide.
Other
- For the purpose of the practicum, you may need a criminal record check
English Language Proficiency Information
Program Start/End Dates
August 31, 2026, to June 26, 2027
Application Deadline
August 15, 2026
Location
Lac La Biche Campus
TBD
Jada Anderson - Success Story
For twenty years Jada wanted to go back to school but always thought she was too old. After surviving an injury, she applied to the Professional Cooking Certificate program and continued onto the Culinary Arts Diploma. As a graduate, she receives the Red Spirit Knife.