Culinary program suspension foils Indigenous high school students' plans in Thunder Bay

Sarah Law · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 11, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

Obie McKay says helium was looking guardant to improving his baking skills done Confederation College's culinary absorption program.

But aft being accepted into the programme for September 2025, the Grade 12 pupil has learned that it's 1 of 11 world programs astatine the assemblage that person been suspended, which means autumn admissions astatine the Thunder Bay, Ont., schoolhouse person been cancelled.

McKay, who is from Wapekeka First Nation, attends Dennis Franklin Cromarty (DFC), an all-Indigenous precocious schoolhouse successful Thunder Bay. Students determination to the northwestern Ontario metropolis from distant First Nations that don't person their ain secondary schools, and enactment with big families portion completing their precocious schoolhouse education.

Students tin person a dual precocious school-college recognition done the culinary arts people astatine DFC, which has historically encouraged pathways into the culinary absorption programme astatine Confederation College.

"It fills up precise rapidly due to the fact that there's a constricted magnitude of students we tin connection it to," said Tara Beachum, culinary arts teacher astatine DFC. "Students truly bask it. It's precise hands-on and galore of them similar to proceed connected into culinary aft they decorativeness precocious school."

Confederation College says the crushed down the programme suspensions is declining home enrolment and fiscal constraints that person travel from a nonaccomplishment of planetary students, resulting from national caps connected survey permits granted.

Community members — galore from the city's nutrient manufacture — person rallied astir the culinary absorption programme since the announcement was made successful precocious March. This includes much than 2,100 signatures connected an online petition aimed astatine keeping the programme open.

With precocious schoolhouse graduation conscionable implicit a period away, McKay says helium needs to measure his options present that helium won't beryllium going to the assemblage this fall. His location assemblage is conscionable nether 600 kilometres northbound of the city.

He said helium whitethorn look into jumping consecutive into the workforce and getting a occupation astatine a section bakery, oregon see different programme entirely.

"I larn beauteous rapidly with my hands," McKay said. "But I bash privation [the program] would travel back."

College to big municipality hallway meeting

A spokesperson for Confederation College told CBC News successful an email connected Thursday that the schoolhouse is "aware of the community's concerns regarding the suspension of the culinary absorption program."

"As portion of our committedness to transparency and assemblage engagement, Confederation College volition beryllium hosting a assemblage municipality hallway to stock much accusation astir the determination and to perceive to feedback," said communications advisor Scott Hobbs.

The gathering is scheduled for Monday from 5 p.m. until 6 p.m. successful the Shuniah building's Dibaajimogamig lecture theatre.

WATCH | Confederation College suspends 11 programs:

Stephen Crowe, a Grade 12 pupil astatine DFC who is taking the culinary arts people there, says it would beryllium overmuch easier to spell to Confederation College than moving further southbound for post-secondary. He is from Sandy Lake First Nation, a distant assemblage much than 600 kilometres northwest of Thunder Bay.

"It's much accessible alternatively of going to a antithetic larger city, which would person immoderate implications, particularly astir rent, food, supports and worldly similar that," Crowe said. 

"It would person been a batch much easier for maine to … instrumentality the culinary people present successful town."

DFC students already marque a batch of sacrifices to travel to Thunder Bay for precocious school, said Beachum.

"They're each students from the north, truthful nary substance what, they're gonna person to spell distant for post-secondary," she said.

"However, having had the acquisition being present astatine DFC, Thunder Bay is familiar, truthful it's a truly casual segue for them to proceed connected into post-secondary to spell to the assemblage present successful Thunder Bay."

Provincial ministry responds to concerns

CBC News contacted Ontario's Ministry of Colleges, Universities, Research Excellence and Security for remark connected the fiscal pressures Confederation College is facing. The ministry was besides asked however it volition assistance code labour gaps successful sectors wherever assemblage programs are being suspended.

"Our authorities is squarely focused connected connecting students to rewarding careers that code the province's existent and aboriginal labour marketplace needs," said Dayna Smockum, the ministry's manager of communications, successful an email to CBC News connected Thursday.

"Our post-secondary sector, including Confederation College, is going done a rebalancing close present owed to the national government's changes to planetary pupil permitting and immoderate hard decisions are being made by our institutions to guarantee their semipermanent occurrence and sustainability."

Smockum said the state is spending much than $500 cardinal to enactment colleges and universities successful providing STEM and skilled trades programs to conscionable labour needs.

"While decisions related to programme offerings prevarication solely with the institution, we person been and volition proceed to enactment with the assemblage to guarantee they tin support providing Ontario students with the acquisition and skills they request for good-paying, in-demand jobs and careers," said Smockum.

Back astatine DFC, Beachum said she hopes the culinary absorption programme comes back, truthful her students person much inducement to research vocation paths successful the industry.

"I've spoken to them astir different options than conscionable being a cook successful a restaurant. There's things similar going to mining camps and doing culinary successful that way. Some person adjacent considered starting up their ain businesses successful culinary and bringing that backmost to the reserves with them," Beachum said.

"There's a multitude of options that they tin subdivision retired into."