Town of Aurora offers space for culinary training

Aurora, Ont. – The Town of Aurora in Ontario is bringing culinary training closer to home for its residents through a newly formed partnership.

In a statement, the city announced that it has partnered with the Canadian Food and Wine Institute (CFWI) at Niagara College. The college will offer short-term and part-time training at a renovated armoury located in Town Park in Aurora.

The armoury, says the statement, “will become a vibrant community gathering space and home to a world-class training facility specializing in culinary skill building, commercial brewing and viticulture.”

The armoury will undergo a $4-million restoration and will be open to the public by the end of 2018.

Under the terms of the partnership, the Town of Aurora will own and maintain the armoury and will make the investments required to turn it into a “world-class training facility.” And the CFWI will offer the same signature training programs it offers in Niagara at the armoury in Aurora.

Aurora’s mayor, Geoffrey Dawe, says the partnership is a “perfect match.”

“We’ve been able to take a prestigious school and match it up with an equally prestigious building,” Dawe says in the statement. “This is going to provide the Town with some very special community space while offering state-of-art training opportunities for residents and visitors.”

The CFWI also plans to introduce its Expert Edge Corporate Training facility at the armoury. “Expert Edge delivers one-time training or part-time instruction to industry professionals, enthusiasts and for team-building exercises,” says the statement.

Craig Youdale, the CFWI’s dean, says the college is “excited to share our unique expertise with new audiences.”

He adds in the statement that the Expert Edge training arriving in Aurora “reflects the mandate of the CFWI to develop the food, wine and beer industries not only in Niagara, but across the country.”