Offered by Vancouver Community College in Vancouver, Canada, Professional Cook 2 Advanced Certificate - Institutional Entry is a certificate in Culinary Arts programme. The programme runs for 16 weeks, delivered on campus. Teaching is in English. Tuition is CAD 1,900 per total for local students.
At a glance
Degree:Certificate
Field:Culinary Arts
Duration: 16 weeks
Delivery: On Campus
Language: English
Local tuition: CAD 1,900 / total
Information for the 2027/28 academic year · Last reviewed September 2026 ·
Program details
Overview
This advanced certificate builds on a Professional Cook 1 credential to prepare graduates for senior roles in commercial kitchens, aligning with SkilledTradesBC standards on the path toward Red Seal certification. Delivered full-time at VCC's Downtown campus over 16 weeks, four days a week from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., with multiple intakes across spring/summer, fall, and winter and a maximum completion window of three years, the programme is organized into six courses totalling 19.5 credits. Instruction, delivered across fully operational industrial kitchens, service outlets, and classrooms, covers kitchen management and cost controls, advanced cookery and advanced baking, restaurant customer service and kitchen operations, and nutrition and dietary alternatives. As part of the programme, students complete SkilledTradesBC practical and theory examinations, positioning them to pursue Red Seal tradesperson certification in professional cooking. It suits experienced cooks who already hold a Professional Cook 1 credential and want to advance into supervisory or specialized kitchen roles, and requires current Food Safe Level 1 and Serving It Right certifications for entry. Because the role involves sustained physical stamina, heat tolerance, and the handling of a wide range of food products under time pressure, it suits candidates already comfortable working in high-volume commercial kitchen environments.
Requirements
Admission Requirements: Entry requires a SkilledTradesBC Professional Cook 1 Certificate of Qualification, or successful completion of VCC's own Professional Cook 1 program, plus a valid Food Safe Level 1 Certificate and a valid Serving It Right Certificate, both kept valid throughout the program. No IELTS, TOEFL, PTE, Duolingo or CAEL score is stated. Applicants who completed VCC's Baking Program or hold Baker Red Seal Certification may receive credit for CULI 2507. General conditions: Canadian citizen or permanent resident, aged 16 or older or a secondary-school graduate, official transcripts and required documents submitted, with seats allocated in order of completed application. Students must disclose any known food allergy and be able to handle seafood, meat, poultry, game and dairy products; those needing accommodation for the SkilledTradesBC theory exam must have an active VCC Disability Services file, though accommodations are not available for the practical cooking exam.
Application Details
Start Date:Starts in February, April, June, August, September, October and November depending on the term. VCC's academic year runs in three terms: Winter (January to April), Spring/Summer (May to August) and Fall (September to December).
Application Deadline:Domestic applicants (Canadian citizens and permanent residents) apply through EducationPlannerBC. VCC publishes this programme's windows term by term on its When to Apply page: Winter 2027 entry (February and April starts) — open 15 July 2026, close 1 December 2026; Spring/Summer 2027 entry (June and August starts) — open 1 June 2026, close 1 February 2027; Fall 2027 entry (August, September, October and November starts) — open 15 March 2027, close 1 August 2027. Seats go to eligible applicants in the order their applications are completed, so the programme can close before the listed end date once it fills. VCC's page for this programme states it is open to Canadian citizens and permanent residents, and points international students to VCC International, which lists separately the programmes and intakes open to them; there the application periods open on 1 February, 1 June and 1 October of the previous year for the Winter, Spring/Summer and Fall terms, with no fixed closing date — a programme accepts applications until roughly three to four months before classes begin, or until its seats are gone.
