Ray Bucknell’s culinary journey began with a dream of owning a motorcycle. As a teenager in Armstrong, BC, he took a job at a local grocery store where he discovered butchery and quickly fell in love with the time-honoured trade. By his final year of high school, he was enrolled in a butchery apprenticeship program, earning credits toward his diploma while sharpening his skills.
Over nearly 30 years, Ray has worked in local butcher shops and with high-end wholesale suppliers from Vancouver to Australia. More recently, he travelled to Mongolia as an advisor, helping establish industry standards for a major meat-processing plant.
Teaching was a natural next step for someone driven to share his knowledge and experience. Ray began as an apprenticeship instructor at Thompson Rivers University in British Columbia and now teaches at SAIT in the Butcher Chef and Charcuterie diploma program and the Professional Butchery certificate program.
For Ray, the most rewarding part of teaching is sharing his passion for the industry and helping students build confidence in their craft. He values the positive, hands-on learning environment at SAIT, where skilled colleagues and motivated students come together to practice the art of butchery and grow every day.
Oki, Âba wathtech, Danit'ada, Tawnshi, Hello.
SAIT is located on the traditional territories of the Niitsitapi (Blackfoot) and the people of Treaty 7 which includes the Siksika, the Piikani, the Kainai, the Tsuut’ina and the Îyârhe Nakoda of Bearspaw, Chiniki and Goodstoney.
We are situated in an area the Blackfoot tribes traditionally called Moh’kinsstis, where the Bow River meets the Elbow River. We now call it the city of Calgary, which is also home to the Métis Nation of Alberta.