Advanced Certificate in Culinary Arts

at Northern Lights College - Dawson Creek Campus Canada

The Aircraft Maintenance Technician program trains students to troubleshoot  and perform aircraft inspections, including airframe structures, engines and aircraft systems. They learn to disassemble and remove defective parts, assemble and install replacement parts, interpret technical manuals, drawings and blueprints, test aircraft systems, record problems, take actions to rectify the issues and maintain an accurate statement of the maintenance history.

The Applied Business Technology program prepares students to work in offices in business, government, and industry. The demand for administrative assistants in government, municipal offices, accounting firms, oil and gas, legal, and health care is growing, and employers actively seek our graduates. Students are trained in current software packages and administrative procedures in order to be prepared for employment upon graduation.

This program teaches current office skills in word processing, keyboarding, spreadsheets, automated accounting and bookkeeping. Business communications and office procedures courses enable students to develop the soft skills necessary for success in today’s offices. Students utilize current Microsoft Office software in the program.

While most students complete the Administrative Assistant specialization, two alternative streams, Financial Assistant and Office Assistant, enable students to exit early. Each stream includes a one- or two-week practicum placement to give students the opportunity to apply their new skills in an office environment.

Study as part of a cohort or choose a less intense schedule
Students can enrol in and complete the 39-week Administrative Assistant program as part of a group that starts together in September and finishes together in June. In this cohort environment, all courses are delivered in a face-to-face format.  Cohort students may also opt to exit after 23 weeks as an Office Assistant or after 29 weeks as a Financial Assistant.

NLC's Associate of Arts Degree (Health Studies) prepares students for entry into health-related degree programs, with an emphasis on the University of Northern British Columbia's Northern Baccalaureate Nursing Program. The two-year Associate Degree (Health Studies) provides broad coverage across the Arts and Sciences while introducing students to nursing as a career and meeting UNBC's core prerequisite requirements in the social sciences, English, Indigenous studies, human anatomy and physiology, microbiology, psychology, and statistics.

The Associate of Arts Degree – AHCOTE (AAA) is awarded to students who complete two years of planned coursework at Northern Lights College. The AAA prepares students for entry into the Alaska Highway Consortium on Teacher Education (AHCOTE), the teacher-training program offered at NLC. Credits may also be applied toward a degree.

The AAA is offered as part of the University Arts and Sciences program, which provides university-level learning opportunities that reflect the intellectual and creative modes of inquiry practiced in the Arts and Sciences.

Cosmetologists provide personal care services that include caring for people’s hair, skin and nails. Professionals employed in the cosmetology industry include hairstylists, barbers and estheticians. This diploma program takes students through the Esthetics group of skin and nail treatments, and Hairstylist training. The Hairstylist and Esthetics programs are each approximately 32 weeks in length and are combined with a professional portfolio at the end which to make up the 2-year diploma in Cosmetology. 

Hairstylist and Esthetics both begin every September. Once a student completes one of the programs, they can proceed to the next in the second year (the order is not important). 
Both programs have large practical components where students will spend time working in the NLC salons. Students will have theory, salon operations training and hands-on salon client days where they practice the skills they are learning in class. 

Esthetics includes training in facials, body massage, body treatments, aromatherapy, makeup artistry, waxing and tinting.
Hairstylist training covers the Industry Training Authority (ITA) certified apprenticeship programming including haircuts, styling, shampoo and scalp treatments, as well as chemically treating hair using colour and permanent wave solutions. 

Throughout both these two programs, students will be working on their professional portfolio and at end they will produce a capstone project which will combine the two disciplines into a final project.

The Advanced Certificate in Culinary Arts is a 1-year program designed to encompass ITA Levels 1 and 2 of Professional Cook training, with a 30-hour Capstone course at the end. 

Students will perform all phases of kitchen activities including the preparation and presentation of vegetables, soups, sauces, meat, fish and poultry; cold kitchen items; desserts, baking, pastry; basic menu planning/costing as well as knowledge of safety, sanitation and food storage. 

Students will also gain valuable knowledge of customer service which will enable them to become leaders in their field. Level 1 starts in a fully supervised environment, performing basic cooking and food preparation tasks, while the Level 2 environment allows students a partially independent role in performing the same variety of tasks. 

At the end of each course level there is an ITA Certificate of Qualification (C of Q) exam. Upon completion of Professional Cook 1, students will receive 600 hours of work-based training. The remaining 400 of the required 1000 hours can be obtained through employment in any external agency providing food services while taking the Advanced Certificate program. Upon successful completion of Professional Cook 2, students will receive an additional 240 hours of work-based hours. 

Students will only be eligible to write their C of Q for Professional Cook 2 at the completion of their full 1000 work-based training hours.

The Capstone project (30 hours) is designed to demonstrate and be evaluated as a culmination of all things learned throughout the two levels. Activities will include a dining event demonstrating each individual's skill at menu planning, dining setup, dining service, preparing quality food, delivery timing, and dining cleanup.
Successful completion of both levels of Professional Cook studies and exams will result in an ITA Level 2 Professional Cook qualification. With the additional completion of the Capstone project, NLC will award an Advanced Certificate of Culinary Arts. 

The field of business provides many exciting careers and opportunities in such areas as finance, accounting, entrepreneurship, information technology, general management, marketing, and logistics. Northern Lights College's Business Management Program prepares students for positions of responsibility in the business community and for further educational opportunities by promoting conceptual and technical skill development in business.

The Business Management Program at Northern Lights College offers a wide variety of first and second-year courses for students interested in working towards a Business Diploma, or transferring to university or professional designation programs elsewhere.

The Business Management diploma is a two year program with two streams, allowing students to earn a general business management credential or to specialize in accounting. 

The University Arts and Sciences Program at Northern Lights College serves individuals and communities by providing university-level learning opportunities that reflect the intellectual and creative modes of inquiry practiced in the Arts and Sciences. A variety of first- and second-year courses enable learners to pursue numerous credential and career options, and to engage in personal enrichment.

The Associate of Science Degree enables students to select a variety of courses in the field of science. This provincially recognized credential is designed to provide a well-rounded educational experience that prepares students for work, citizenship, and further study.

For students intending to pursue further studies, the Associate of Science Degree comprises the first two years (60 credits) of a four year degree program (120 credits). All 60 credits comprising the Associate Degree receive full block-transfer at universities throughout British Columbia. Accordingly, the Associate of Science Degree enables Northern Lights College students to complete half of a degree program while remaining in their home community.

The Business Management program promotes conceptual and technical skill development in business through a one-year Certificate program, a two-year Diploma program, and a Post-Degree Diploma program.

The Post-Degree Diploma program is available to both international and domestic students. For international students who already hold a three-year degree in commerce or business administration, the Post-Degree Diploma is an effective bridge to further North American business studies or to pursue employment in North America.

International and domestic candidates with three- or four-year degrees in fields beyond commerce and business management (such as computing, engineering, health, etc.) would also benefit from the program. For such students, the Post-Degree Diploma is a capstone program that augments existing technical skills and education in other fields.

The Post-Degree Diploma alone does not meet the typical educa­tion requirements for a Master’s Degree program (or MBA) in Canada. Students planning to study at a Master’s level in Canada should ensure that their prior education (a three or four-year degree) meets the educational requirements for their intended program.

The Pre-Education Certificate comprises the first year of an Associate of Arts Degree designed for prospective teachers and is a first step toward enrolment in the Alaska Highway Consortium on Teacher Education (AHCOTE), Northern Lights College's teacher training program.

A Pre-Education Certificate is awarded to students who complete one year of planned coursework at Northern Lights College. Credits earned may also be applied to an undergraduate degree with other post secondary institutions.

The Pre-Education Certificate is offered as part of the University Arts and Sciences program, which provides university-level learning opportunities that reflect the intellectual and creative modes of inquiry practiced in the Arts and Sciences