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<\/p>\nStudents will receive hands-on training to help launch careers as bakers through a partnership between a food services company and the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board (DPCDSB).<\/p>\n
Puratos Canada has opened the program at Father Michael Goetz Catholic Secondary School, where it hopes to create the next generation of bakers in an industry where there is a short supply of trained professionals. The students will earn high school credits through the course.<\/p>\n
The location of the school near Puratos\u2019 Mississauga facility will enable students to engage directly with industry professionals through guest speakers, program support, and mentorship. Puratos believes the connection will transform learning from classroom-based instruction into a launchpad for careers, where students build skills, confidence, and industry connections side-by-side with professionals.<\/p>\n
Puratos is an international group which offers a full range of innovative food ingredients and services for the bakery, patisserie and chocolate sectors. It services artisans, retailers, industrial and foodservice companies in over 100 countries around the world. Its headquarters are located in Belgium, where the company was founded in 1919. Its Mississauga location is on Slate Drive.<\/p>\n
Through the program, students will gain practical skills and work-ready experience, while the baking industry benefits from a trained, job-ready talent pipeline. The school also supports Puratos\u2019 global ambition to operate 20 bakery schools by 2030, welcoming approximately 1,000 students annually worldwide. The Father Goetz location is the first Canadian school to take part in the program.<\/p>\n
The program is designed to address ongoing skilled labour shortages in the baking and food manufacturing sectors, youth employment gaps in underserved communities, and the need for inclusive education pathways for neurodivergent students, who are expected to comprise approximately 50 per cent of participants.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThere is a clear shortage of skilled labour in the Canadian baking industry,\u201d said Michael Simone, president of Puratos Canada. \u201cThe positive impact these students can have on the industry and the role we can help play in shaping their careers is tremendous.\u201d<\/p>\n
Puratos says it has already obtained verbal commitments from multiple key customers, who have enthusiastically expressed their support for the program and a desire to leverage the bakery school to help fill their labour pipeline in the future.<\/p>\n
Dr. Marianne Mazzorato, Director of Education at DPCDSB, said the unique program will provide opportunities unlike any other in the school system by allowing students to explore or pursue a career in the foodservice industry.<\/p>\n
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