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CANADIAN INDUSTRY ONLINE - AUG/SEPT 2013
L
I A I SON COLLEGE
,
A
private
career college, was founded in
1996
by Susanne Mikler and Rudy
Florio. The goal: to provide training
solely in the culinary arts.
The College has been cultivating
culinary success stories ever since. “We
started the College here in Ontario
because at the time, there was a huge
focus on IT,” Mikler recalls. “While IT
was critical to economic development
in the mid-90s, it was obvious that not
everyone would want a job in this new
IT field: we wanted to get back to the
basics, skilled trades. We looked to the
opposite of high-tech—we turned to
cooking.”
Now, Liaison’s grads work in
some of the most prestigious restau-
rants in Canada, and are the most
highly skilled chefs available to the
restaurant and entertainment indus-
tries.
“
We’re a boutique trainer,” Mikler
adds. “The need has always been there
for food industry training as the indus-
try continues to grow in Canada and
North America—as well as interna-
tionally. We have the right training to
match that need.”
CREATING OPPORTUNITIES
For most Liaison students, culi-
nary training is the start of a second
career. Students that enrol are often
looking for career transition, and then
find a place in food arts as personal
chefs, entrepreneurship, and cater-
ing—even food trucks.
The goal of the College, not un-
like any Canadian career college, is to
find homes for graduates. “Looking
at the job and employment trends, we
need to find a home for our graduates.
We provide intensive training but then
we also follow-through and help our
grads find employment opportuni-
ties,” Mikler says. The age bracket var-
ies for Liaison College, but the student
population is definitely a more mature
crowd.
The Liaison chef training pro-
grams are designed by experts in the
field, which means the best possible
outcomes for students. Liaison pro-
grams are monitored and updated
with the assistance and guidance of the
College’s advisory board. “We have a
professional advisory board that helps
us with programming. We want to
keep up with what’s going on with the
food industry, and this is not neces-
sarily always trendy funky things but
what’s available for ingredients in food
production,” Mikler explains. “One of
these trends is going local, which con-
tributes to less of a carbon footprint:
going out and foraging to find ingre-
dients in your backyard.” The College
tries to stay at the front of innovation,
adding value for students who want
something more from their education.
The bar is set high for Liaison.
