Durham College announced today that it has welcomed more than 10,900 full-time post-secondary and apprenticeship students to its Oshawa and Whitby campuses and Pickering Learning Site since classes for the 2013-2014 academic year officially began on September 4, an overall enrolment increase of nine per cent. This includes more than 5,700 new students as well as 346 international students.

“The new academic year is in full swing and Durham College is very pleased to see this significant increase in our enrolment numbers, which are reflective of our commitment to fostering student success through high-quality academic programs designed to meet the needs of today’s employers,” said Judy Robinson, vice-president, Academic.

In addition to increasing the number of students on campus, September also marked other important milestones for the college including the introduction of several new programs and the opening of the Centre for Food (CFF) at the Whitby campus, part of the college’s three-phase Whitby campus expansion project, which began in 2008.

Home to the new Culinary Management and Special Events Planning programs, which started this fall, the 36,000-square-foot CFF is located at the northwest corner of campus. Building on the success of the college’s first two hospitality-focused programs, Culinary Skills and Hospitality Management – Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism, which both launched in September 2010, it is based on the field-to-fork concept, bringing students, farmers and growers together with food science and the preparation and celebration of food.

Accommodating approximately 900 additional students studying in culinary, hospitality, tourism, agricultural and horticultural programs, the CFF also features Bistro ’67, a new, 70-seat, full-service, green-certified teaching and learning restaurant, which offers dishes that include local produce and delicious flavours from the region that are prepared and served by culinary and hospitality program students.

The college also introduced new Advertising and Marketing Communications; Architectural Technician; Architectural Technology; Broadcasting for Contemporary Media; Information Systems Security – Computers and Networking; Occupational Therapist Assistant/Physiotherapist Assistant; Project Management; and Horticulture – Food and Farming programs this September along with Mechanical Techniques – Plumbing and Electrical Techniques, which will begin in January.

For more information on the CFF, please visit www.durhamcollege.ca/CFF and for details on any of the college’s programs, please visit www.durhamcollege.ca/programs.