Develop professional skills for artisanal bread and pastry production including foundational baking, gluten-free, savoury, and international products.
What you will learn
- Health, sanitation, and safety
- Use of bakery equipment including scales, mixers, proofers, and ovens
- Knife skills
- Theoretical baking principles and processes
- Ingredients and methodology
- Biscuits and muffins
- Pie dough and straight dough
- Aeration and emulsification
- Cookies, pies, tarts
- Croissant, Danish, and puff dough lamination
- Cakes, cookies, sponges
- Buttercreams, glazes, ganaches
- Dessert plating and presentation
- Composition, use of colours and textures
- Pastries, slices, and squares
- Quickbreads and loaf cakes
- Deep-fat frying
- Yeast doughnuts, cake doughnuts, French crullers
- Fermentation, leavening, gluten development
- Wild yeast, sourdough starters, biga, poolish
- Hearth baking
- Grains and flours
- Shaping and molding
- Mixing and portioning
- Gluten-free baking and ingredients
- Meat and vegetable pies
- Sausage rolls, Cornish pasties, calzones
- Asian buns and tarts
- Pita breads and flatbreads
- Sandwiches
- Consistency and accuracy
- Environmental conditions
- Daily production planning
- Standard math functions
- Retail bakeshop management
- Professional etiquette and personal hygiene
- Troubleshooting and problem solving
- Ingredient and equipment suppliers
- Merchandising, inventory, and cost control
- Waste management
- Catering
- Effective communication
What to expect
- Eleven months of full-time study over four terms:
- Introduction to Baking
- Applied Baking
- Artisan Baking
- Capstone
- Classes Monday to Friday 7 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. (subject to change)
- Purchase of textbooks and baking tools (available at the VCC Bookstore)
- Purchase of closed-top, non-slip footwear
- A fully operational kitchen and bakeshop environment
- Direct instruction
- Interactive instruction
- Demonstrations
- Problem-solving
- Cooperative learning
- Active participation
- Self-directed learning
- Three weeks of industry work experience
- Capstone project
- Opportunity to take exams for ITA Level 1 certification
Admission requirements
Program-specific
- Successful completion of Grade 10 or higher (note that this program is Canadian Language Benchmarked at Listening, Speaking, Reading 7 and Writing 6); TOEFL: 68; or IELTS: Overall 5.5, with no band less than 5.0
- Apprenticeship and Workplace Math 10 or equivalent
- BC Foodsafe Certificate Level 1
For students applying to the Combined Skills with ESL support program, the admission requirements are:
- Successful completion of Grade 10 or equivalent in country of origin
- Successful completion of a Math course at the Grade 10 or equivalent level
- ELSK 0515 and ELSK 0520 each with a grade of ‘S’ or equivalent (Canadian Language Benchmarks of Listening 5, Speaking 5, Reading 5 and Writing 5)
or - English Language Proficiency demonstrated by one of the following:
- BC Foodsafe Certificate Level 1
General
- Seats are offered to applicants who have met all admission requirements, on a first-qualified, first-served basis.
- International applicants must be 17 years of age or older or a graduate of a secondary school. (Some exceptions may apply.)
- Applicants must submit official transcripts and educational documents as required by their course or program.
- All VCC applicants are required to function successfully in an English-speaking classroom. English requirements vary by program. For details, visit VCC International - English Requirements.
Recommended Characteristics
It is recommended that applicants have successfully completed English 10 and Science 10 (for those who are not applying for the Combined Skills with ESL support program).
It is strongly recommended that applicants consider the daily tasks associated with working in a professional bakery. These include the following physical and mental characteristics:
- Physical condition and stamina to meet the demands of the baking industry
- Good hand-eye coordination
- Ability to multi-task, with strong and efficient organizational skills
- Artistic ability is an asset
It is also recommended that students bring a digital camera for capturing images of their work. As part of the program involves online learning, a familiarity with computers and basic keyboarding skills are recommended.
Courses
*Program general hours
Classes are generally run on Monday to Friday, from 7:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The work experience at the end of the program is scheduled by the employer. Class times are subject to change.
Prior learning assessment and recognition
Prior learning assessment and recognition is not available for this program.
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| BAKG 1142 | Basic Principles | 1 |
| BAKG 1143 | Basic Methodology | 6 |
| BAKG 1144 | Budgeting and Cost Control | 1 |
| BAKG 1145 | Retail Operations | 4 |
| BAKG 1242 | Professionalism & Organization | 1 |
| BAKG 1243 | Fermentation | 3 |
| BAKG 1244 | Lamination | 2 |
| BAKG 1247 | Frying | 1 |
| BAKG 1245 | Aeration & Emulsification | 2 |
| BAKG 1246 | Design and Decoration | 3 |
| BAKG 1341 | Artisan Breads | 6 |
| BAKG 1342 | Artisan pastries | 3 |
| BAKG 1343 | Gluten Free Baking | 1 |
| BAKG 1344 | Savoury Baking & Flatbreads | 2 |
| BAKG 1345 | Catering & Special Orders | 4 |
| BAKG 1346 | Capstone Project | 1 |
| BAKG 1230 | Work Experience | 3 |
| Total Credits | 44 | |
For the Combined Skills with ESL support program, the additional courses are:
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| BAKG 1141 | English Intro to Baking | 4 |
| BAKG 1241 | English - Applied Baking | 4 |
| Total Credits | 8 | |
Combined Skills Program Total: 52
* This information is intended as a guideline only. Program and course details are subject to change with the approval of VCC's Board of Governors.
Fees and other costs
*Tuition Deposit: $15,800 ($5,000 non-refundable)
Tuition deposits are payable usually within two weeks after a Letter of Offer is issued.
| Fee description | Fee Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Application fee | 145 | |
| Tuition Tuition | 25971 |
Tuition Breakdown
5721 - Term 1
5721 - Term 2
7628 - Term 3
1907 - Term 4
|
| Student union | 256 | |
| College initiative | 130 | |
| Materials | 0 | not including textbooks |
| Campus resource | 260 | |
| Laundry | 0 | |
| Tools (deposit) | 0 | |
| Coverall (deposit) | 0 | |
| Uniform (deposit) | 0 | |
| Medical & Dental | 275 | |
| U-PASS | 487 | |
| Graduation | 40 | |
| Program-specific extra fees | 262 | |
| Total |
* Fees are approximate and subject to change with the approval of VCC's Board of Governors. Students are required to pay any applicable fee increases. Application and assessment fees are non-refundable.
Fees listed are for international students. For domestic programs, visit vcc.ca.
Any refunds are issued according to VCC's international refund policy.
Apply now
MONTH/TERM APPLICATION
OPEN DATE APPLICATION STATUS*
STATUS INFORMATION
- Apply Now: Qualified applicants may receive offers of admission if seats are available, or placed on waitlists if seats are full.
- Closed: Applications are not accepted.
- For details about application availability based on study permit status and recommendations if the application status is closed, visit the Availability Status page.
This is a stand-alone program with no options to combine specialties. Students wishing to study both artisan baking and pastry specialties should apply to the 2-year Baking and Pastry Dual Certificates program.
For more information and tips, see Apply page