Food Service Worker
Overview
Prepare yourself to be a member of a food service team in commercial, institutional, or long-term care facilities. Work completely online and complete your certificate in one year.
Ontario College Certificate program provides students with the knowledge and skills required to be an effective member of a food service team in a commercial, institutional, or long-term care facility.
The program covers food preparation, service, nutrition and sanitation practices, customer service, communications, and business skills. This program includes a field placement in an institutional food service operation. Students are required to have a valid Food Handling certificate.
Admission Requirements
O.S.S.D. or equivalent with:
- Grade 12 English C or U
Applications for this program are not accepted through ontariocolleges.ca.
Mature Student Assessment for this program is available in the subject of English for the purpose of demonstrating proficiency in this required admission subject. For all other admission requirements, applicants must complete the required course(s) as listed above. For more information, please contact counselling@lambtoncollege.ca. Review the Mature Student Admission process.
Academic admission requirements can be obtained through Academic Upgrading and the Pre-Programs at Lambton College.
Costs
- Year 1 $4,395.51
Please Note: These fees apply to the 2024-2025 academic year and are subject to change. Fees do not include books (unless specifically noted), supplies or living costs.
Scholarships Available
There are 9 scholarships available for this program, with a total value of $1,000!
Technology Requirements
In order to keep pace with the requirements of each and every course in your program, Lambton College requires that each student have access to a laptop while studying at our college.
Courses
Role of the Food Service Worker
This course focuses on the food service worker's role in health care food service with an emphasis on requirements under the Long-Term Care Homes Act. Various food production, delivery and service systems will be introduced and departmental operations such as purchasing, receiving, storage and inventory will be discussed. Quality management and costs controls will also be addressed.
Communication & Customer Service
This course focuses on the communication skills required by the food service worker. General principles of human communication such as verbal interaction and listening are explored. Students will learn effective communication skills with patients, residents, co-workers and supervisors. Students will also have the opportunity to develop writing skills and presentation skills with a major emphasis on documenting and charting food intake measuring techniques, communication of therapeutic diets and nutrition support required for treatment.
Introduction to Nutrition
This course introduces students to the basic principles of human nutrition and the role of nutrition in the health care environment. Nutrient composition of foods and current nutrition recommendations for carbohydrate, fat, protein, vitamins, minerals and water will be discussed. An introduction to digestion, absorption and transport of nutrients will be provided. Energy balanced and body composition and special considerations for nutrition throughout the lifecycle will also be explored.
General Education Elective
Sanitation & Safety
This course focuses on preventing food-borne illness within the health care environment. Safe food handling practices and regulations and acts governing food service are emphasized. Quality improvement and risk management programs such as HACCP are also discussed. Safe working environments for the FSW are explored including fire safety, managing safety hazards, prevention of common injuries, and an introduction to first aid.
Quantity Food Preparation
This course focuses on the cooking principles and methods for preparing food in large quantities. Students will be introduced to control systems used in quantity food production including menu planning, standardized recipes, portion control, forecasting, scheduling and service. Various food types will be examined including sandwiches, salads, desserts, beverages, soups, meat, poultry, fish, eggs, milk, and cheese. Texture modified and special menu items will also be explored. This course emphasizes the importance of quality improvement and customer satisfaction in quantity food production.
Nutrition in Health Care
This course focuses on the basic principles of diet therapy. Several therapeutic diets are discussed, as well as tube feedings and commercial preparations.
Online Placement Preparation
Field Placement
The placement will provide the student with the opportunity to practice the skills and knowledge learned from the Food Service Worker courses. This field placement requires 80 hours of work experience within an institutional health-care focused food service environment in the preparation and serving of all daily meals. The student's supervisor/mentor must complete a formal assessment sheet based on specific course outcomes. The student is required to successfully demonstrate the required skills. Upon completion, the assessment sheet is to be signed by the student and supervisor and submitted to Lambton College. Students must contact Online Education (onlineplacement@lambtoncollege.ca) at least 6 months in advance of their desired placement start date.
Graduation Requirements
All theory and general education courses must be completed prior to beginning FSWP-1073 Food Service Worker Field Placement. Students are required to arrange their own field placement opportunity.
Students are advised that SCI-1103 Nutrition is not an eligible General Education Elective for this program.
Have Questions?
If you have any questions about our online programs, the courses offered, the registration process, or any other Online Education related questions, reach out to us.
Contact
Online Education
Program Information
After Graduation
Employment Opportunities
Graduates of this program may seek employment in long-term care facilities as dietary aides in institutional food service facilities.
Placement
Finding Placements
Students are required to arrange their own field placement opportunity.
Students must contact onlineplacement@lambtoncollege.ca at least six months in advance of their desired placement start date.
Passport to Placement Clearance
Students heading out on placement are required to complete the Passport to Placement clearance process before heading into a facility. Students considering this program should be aware that there are field and clinical placement requirements. Placement facilities may require students to have proof of certain vaccinations and police record checks.
Once you've applied, you can log in to mylambton.ca and view the program-specific Field & Clinical Placement Requirements. If you need information about these requirements before applying, please contact onlineplacement@lambtoncollege.ca.
How to Register for Placement
The Food Service Worker clinical placement consists of 80 hours and is usuallly completed over a two week period. Registration is valid for a set period of time, and placement hours must be completed within the provided time frame.
It is advised that students work out a schedule with their placement provider that is beneficial to both the student and clinical provider.
The following steps must be completed before students begin the process of finding a field placement:
- Students must receive a passing grade in all prerequisite courses or be registered in the final term of courses before registering for field placement - please be aware that instructors have three weeks from the end of the term to post final grades.
- Contact the Online Placement department at onlineplacement@lambtoncollege.ca to begin the placement process six months prior to the desired placement start. Students will be required to meet specific requirements to be eligible to participate in placement.
More Information
Prepare for Success
Variations due to Section
Remember to review the important dates associated with this program - some deadlines may be different depending on how your program is delivered and what section you're enrolled in.
Technology Requirements
It is recommended that students purchase a laptop with a Windows operating system.
Internet Speed Requirements
For best performance for students learning remotely, an internet connection with a minimum of 40 Mbps download and 10 Mbps upload speed is recommended in order to effectively use video conferencing and remote lecture delivery software as well as, other online resources remotely. Due to the large area over which students may be dispersed, we are unable to recommend a specific provider, so you will need to inquire around your area to find one that best suits your needs.
Minimum Laptop Requirements
In order to access the internet and virtually-delivered software and courseware, student laptops should include the following at a minimum. By meeting the following specifications, students will be equipped to access software and courseware on their laptop through the internet:
- Intel i5 8th Gen Processor or equivalent
- 16 GB of RAM (with a minimum of 8 GB)
- 100 GB HDD or more
- HD Graphics
- Webcam with a microphone
- Wireless 802.11n/ac 5ghz capable
- Windows Operating System (Windows 11)
Software
To ensure students are getting the most our of their classroom experience, some software will be required.
Lambton College has made this software easily accessible online. Students can leverage our Microsoft Office 365 software packages and services. In addition, much of the software you require for your courses will be available on demand for use on any device - on or off campus.