Overview
Learn to prepare food for hotels, restaurants and other establishments.
If you like a challenge, are passionate about food and enjoy working in a fast-paced environment, you will enjoy a career as a Cook. Their major responsibilities are nutrition, food costs and sanitation.
Depending on the establishment, you may be involved in studying menus to estimate food requirements and obtain the necessary food from storage or suppliers, washing, peeling and cutting vegetables, cleaning and cutting meats, fish and poultry and cleaning kitchen equipment and cooking utensils.
You may also be involved in preparing, seasoning and cooking such foods as soups, salads, meats, fish, gravies, vegetables, desserts, sauces and casseroles, carving meats, preparing portions on a plate and add gravies, sauces and garnish to servings or baking pastries.
Throughout your career, you may also prepare buffets (for example, platters, and showpieces), prepare special diets and oversee menu planning, regulate stock control and supervise kitchen staff.
While specific duties vary depending on the type of establishment, it will be your responsibility to prepare meals that are both appealing and nutritious.
Is this the right fit for me?
Cooks love to share their passion for food, have a knack for creativity, are self-motivated, and enjoy working collaboratively with others. This line of work is most fulfilling for those who enjoy working in fast-paced environments and who like challenges.
To thrive in this career, it is important to have the following traits:
- have good basic mathematics skills
- have a genuine interest in preparing food and working with people
- be in good health and able to stand for long periods of time
- have a keen sense of taste and smell
- be ready to work as a member of a team or independently
- be willing to maintain the high standard of cleanliness necessary in any food establishment
- be creative
- a commitment to safe work habits
Credentials
Upon successfully completing the required working hours and apprenticeship education periods, graduates will be awarded journeyperson status by Alberta’s Apprenticeship and Industry Training.
This is a Red Seal Endorsed trade – a recognizable standard that allows tradespeople to work across Canada.
Career opportunities
Start your career by finding an employer who is willing to indenture you as an apprentice or gain experience with our cooking diploma program. Cooks are employed in hotels, clubs, restaurants, catering firms, cafeterias, institutions, homes, high-class specialty food outlets and isolated bases and camps. Cooks work under pressure and the work volume can be considerable. Shift work and having to work weekends and holidays is common.
After becoming a journeyperson, you may advance to supervisory positions or take on new apprentices. You can become sous-chefs, chefs, executive chefs, banquet managers, food service administrators and coordinators, general managers or food editors. You can also achieve Certified Chef de Cuisine (C.C.C.), a highly respected level of certification. There are good prospects for travel both within Canada and abroad. Some journeypersons go on to run their own businesses – we can help you build your business with our Blue Seal business certificate.
2023/24 intakes
Registration for the 2023/24 academic year opened May 10, 2023.
| Period | Start date | End date |
|---|---|---|
| 2 (WATS delivery*) | Sept. 11, 2023 | June 21, 2024 |
| 3 | Oct. 23, 2023 | Dec. 15, 2023 |
| 1 (WATS delivery*) | Oct. 23, 2023 | June 21, 2024 |
| 2 | Jan. 8, 2024 | March 1, 2024 |
Cooking up community connection with Derek Dale
As he hangs up his chef's hat with the Calgary Stampede, Chef Derek Dale reflects on his 36-year career and what is next. PLUS: A go-to paella recipe from Chef Dale.
Admission requirements
To enter an apprenticeship, you must have the educational qualifications required or recommended education for the trade to which you apply.
Entrance requirements are monitored and set by Alberta Apprenticeship and Industry Training.
Minimum requirements
Successful completion of the following courses:
- English 10-2
- Math 10-3
OR
A pass mark in all five Canadian General Educational Development (GED) tests
OR
Alberta Apprenticeship and Industry Training Entrance Exam
Recommended path
Apprentices with an Alberta High School Diploma that includes the following courses:
- English 30-2
- Math 30-3
- Physics 20 OR Chemistry 20 OR Science 20
- Related career and technology studies (CTS) courses
*Weekly Apprenticeship Training System (WATS), formerly known as 'day release', offers training in shorter segments over an extended period of time to allow the apprentice to stay employed on a full-time basis.
How to register
Registration for apprenticeship education is run through Alberta Apprenticeship and Industry Training. Learn how you can register for your next intake.
Apprenticeship and Industry Training Client Services
1.800.248.4823
tradesecrets.alberta.ca
Suite 200 Willow Park Centre
10325 Bonaventure DR. SE
Calgary, AB
After you register
Email is the primary source of communication after you have registered for your intake. Please ensure your personal email account is managed appropriately to receive our emails, files and communications. We recommend you add the sait.ca domain to your safe senders' list or you risk missing critical email messages.
Training
The term of apprenticeship for a cook is three years (three 12-month periods), including a minimum of 1560 hours of on-the-job training and eight weeks of apprenticeship education at SAIT each year.
You will start by learning safety, kitchen orientation and trade mathematics. You will then learn butcher shop practices, introduction to cooking proteins, introduction to saucier, introduction to cold kitchen, introduction to bakeshop as well as breakfast, beverages and dairy products.
You will then learn management controls and nutritional components, cooking proteins, saucier, entremetier, cold kitchen and bakeshop.
You will then learn management skills, preparing and cooking proteins, entremetier, saucier, liquor products, garde manger and patisserie.
The Wats program
The Wats training program is designed to be delivered in shorter segments spread out over an extended period. This approach allows the apprentice to remain employed full-time while pursuing their training.
Year two of the program begins with a one-day-per-week class delivery then switches to Tuesday only class.
Apprenticeship education performance
To be successful in apprenticeship education, an apprentice must pass each section of the course and pass the AIT exam. The passing grade for each section in the course is a 65%. A passing mark on each provincial exam and the interprovincial qualification (or Red Seal Exam) is 70%.
Costs 2023/24
Tuition and fees*
The following costs are effective as of July 1, 2023.
| Period | Number of weeks | Tuition fees | SAIT fees | Saitsa fees | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 | $1,056 | $322 | $72 | $1,450 |
| 2 | 8 | $1,056 | $322 | $72 | $1,450 |
| 3 | 8 | $1,056 | $322 | $72 | $1,450 |
Fees breakdown
| Fees | Cost per period |
|---|---|
| Lab and materials fee | $90 |
| Student support fee | $52.75 |
| Student technology fee | $52.75 |
| Campus recreation fee | $51.50 |
| Laundry fee | $75 |
| Total | $322 |
Saitsa fee per week: $9
Learn more about what your fees are for
Books and supplies*
- Books or modules along with other items for class average out to $600 per period.
- It is recommended that you do not purchase books or modules ahead of time as they might be outdated by the time you attend classes and they cannot be returned to the bookstore.
- Personal protective equipment will be required for the program, which may be an additional cost to apprentices.
*Tuition, fees, books and supply costs are subject to change.
