Do you love baking pastries and bread and making divine desserts? Shape your passion with VIU’s Professional Baking and Pastry Arts program for a rewarding, hands-on career that can take you around the world. Learn advanced baking and dessert making, as well as sugar and chocolate artistry techniques.

This internationally recognized program provides students with hands-on, real-world experiences providing baked goods and pastries to the university community, including making cakes to order. Students of VIU’s baking school also learn on the department’s wood-fired brick oven.

Graduates of our pastry art school have found work in bakeries – including opening their own – and a range of high-end restaurants, world-class hotels and resorts. Educational grants are available to students wanting to train in these in-demand industries.

The Professional Baking and Pastry Arts Certificate Program
The Culinary Institute of Vancouver Island (CIVI) at VIU provides students with a Certificate in Professional Baking and Pastry Arts, giving them a leading edge for advancement and progression in the baking and pastry profession. This full-time program provides students with knowledge and experience in the science and production of bakery items baked in both commercial ovens and our wood burning brick oven. Emphasis is placed on traditional and artisan baking methods as applied to modern Canadian and international trends. The pastry arts component of the program also provides the fundamental skills needed in pastry training from cake decorating, including wedding and special occasion cakes, to desserts, chocolate and sugar work. Baking and pastry arts students are ready for employment in patisserie shops, hotels, retail and wholesale bakeries, supermarkets, restaurants, caterers, camps and other food–related businesses.

The program takes place from late August to June, Monday to Friday, in our bakery at VIU's Nanaimo campus. Yeast baking classes run from 6 am to noon, Monday to Friday. Pastry classes run from 10 am to 4 pm Monday to Friday. Students alternate between the yeast baking and pastry courses, switching between the courses every few weeks. Both programs operate under conditions similar to an actual bakery, with deadlines, retail and wholesale customers. A typical day consists of one hour of theory, with the remainder being devoted to practical, hands-on training. Time is scheduled for competitions, shows and off campus visits. Guest bakers, chefs and business owners are often scheduled to partake in the students' learning schedules. Our wood fired brick oven is unique to our facility providing students with training in traditional hearth oven baking. Good attendance is mandatory.

The year is divided into several terms, during which time students increase their levels of competency in ten areas: (1) ovens; (2) breads and buns; (3) sweetened/unsweetened yeasted and croissants; (4) quick breads and cookies; (5) cake baking, finishing and decorating; (6) puff pastries and pies; (7) bakery management; (8) chocolate and sugar work; (9) wood-fired oven and gluten free baking; and (10) fancy pastries. Seasonal, festive and ethnic baking are also covered. Students who complete the program will embark on a ten-week paid co-operative work term that is arranged through the Centre for Experiential Learning at VIU.

Upon successful completion of the program and the co-op work term, students receive the Vancouver Island University Certificate in Professional Baking and Pastry Arts as well as credit for their first year Baker Apprentice technical training and 1200 work experience hours to apply towards obtaining their Red Seal.

Upon successful completion of the program, Culinary Institute of Vancouver Island baking and pastry arts students are ready for employment in the professional baking and pastry industry — patisserie shops, hotels, retail and wholesale bakeries, supermarkets, restaurants, caterers, camps and other bakery related franchises hire our graduates both in Canada and internationally. The Interprovincial Standards Red Seal Program has information about careers and industry standards in baking and pastry.

Work Placement Opportunities
Apprenticeship Information
Graduates of this program may receive credit towards the technical portion of the first year of the Baker Apprenticeship program. In order to complete the apprenticeship and become a journeyperson, graduates would return to VIU for 4 weeks per year in each of the next two years.

The Baker Apprenticeship program consists of 3 years of on-the job experience combined with in-school technical training in order to become eligible to write the Interprovincial (Red Seal) examination for journeyperson-certification.

For more information on apprenticeship training, please visit the ITA BC website, contact the Industry Training Centre at 1-866-660-6011. Visit VIU's Trades and Applied Technology Apprenticeship page for more information and schedules.