Centennial College

Hospitality Management Offers Various Opportunities for Practical Practice

When you attend a program that will see you working in a very hands-on profession, such as Hospitality Management (Restaurant and Catering), you want to make sure your training reflects the practical nature of the field. At Centennial College’s Hospitality Management program, students benefit not only from courses that boast real life lessons but also from a campus filled with facilities to assist in their education and the standout program feature — two field placements. The first field placement enables learners to better understand the dynamics of the kitchen manager position, increase their knowledge of industry practices and provides a competitive advantage of experience in the job market. The second Hospitality Management field placement is a 15-week, 240-hour course that provides students with a continued learning experience, this time in the restaurant and catering manager positions. Among the Hospitality Management program’s industry partners are: Cara, Darden Restaurants, Red Lobster, Prime Restaurants, Shoeless Joe’s, The Keg, SIR Corp., cruise lines and hotels.

As previously mentioned, students of Hospitality Management may use the facilities at Progress Campus to their advantage. These facilities include a hospitality management centre and real restaurant called Horizons. This “living lab” allows students to interact with real customers, run the kitchen, carry out menu management and more.

In addition to these hands-on aspects, the Hospitality Management Program’s courses put an emphasis on skills that are essential to this segment of the industry: menu management and design, kitchen management, beverage knowledge and bartending. These skills are taught through a combination of theory and practical training that includes business practices in accounting, purchasing, human resources, supervision and cost control.

As a result of the two-year Hospitality Management program, students obtain an Ontario College Diploma as well as certifications that include the Smart Serve program and the National Sanitation Training certificate.

Hospitality Management applicants are required to have completed at minimum an Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD) or equivalent, or have mature student status (19 years or older). In addition, they must have finished the English Grade 12 C or U or equivalent, or skills assessment.

Although students are fully prepared for the field after their graduation from the hospitality management program, those who wish to pursue further education are assisted in doing so by the Hospitality Management’s partnerships. These partnerships that allow students to apply academic credit towards further study include: Athabasca University, International Hotel Management Institute (Switzerland), Vancouver Island University, University of New Brunswick and Royal Roads University (B.C.).

The Canadian Tourism Human Resource Council anticipates that the food and beverage services sector will grow to employ 1.95-million people by 2015. It has also reported that 68 per cent of employees within this sector are young Canadians.