College Boreal’s culinary department is getting themselves a rather large boost.

Goldcorp is donating $30,000 to go towards purchasing specialized kitchen equipment and to help organize future gourmet events known as “Bistro Boreal.” The money will be paid out over the next two years.

As such, the cafeteria in Timmins will now be known as the “Goldcorp Cafeteria.”

Culinary professor Justin Bonney says the new equipment doesn’t necessarily make better food, but they do help provide the necessary training to culinary students so they know how to use the tools when out in the industry.

It’s said the tourism industry faces critical labour shortages over the next few years. And by 2030, it’s anticipated the shortage will reach 137,000 jobs per year.

Food service managers and chefs will also be in the top five when it comes to the greatest demand.

Bonney says Timmins doesn’t really have that food culture right now, so building cooks here is really important.

“(Students) want to go down south, they think, to go to the big restaurants but we need to start here,” he said, “Start building that workforce in our community so we can get stronger cooks and better restaurants and build up more of a culture of food here.”

Boreal President Daniel Giroux adds with a lack of funding increases from the province, having donors like Goldcorp is critical.

Filed under: Local News