How difficult is it to find a good chef school?
Here are my experiences shopping for a good, affordable Toronto chef school that provided practical skills for the people who are looking to learn how to cook!
The first one I would recommend if you're looking to learn just baking is the George Brown Baking programs (http://www.georgebrown.ca/Marketing/FTCal/chefschool/) They have part time options available, classes run on weekends as well as after business hours on weekdays. If you're a professional looking to gain a bit of knowledge on how to bake delicious cookies, cakes and other yummy pastries. These classes would be good. Now, I haven't personally taken any. The Chef is considering in enrolling in some next year, when she does, I will be posting more details and give you our feedbacks.
Another fairly large Chef school we found is called "Culinary Arts and Chef Training School - Liaison College". This school is located in downtown Toronto. (a couple blocks away from the Osgoode subway station) There are two programs available at this college: Beginners and Advanced. Both programs are about 3 months long. To take the initial one, I do not think there are any requirements but you need to purchase you own supplies. The tuition for the basic beginners is about $7000 Canadian dollars. The classes are divided into half theory and half hands-on. Check out their website at http://www.liaisoncollege.com/ There are many different sessions run throughout different times of the year. One of the best part of their programs is probably the flexibility they offer by providing so many sessions. If you miss the October program, you can enroll in a November one instead of having to wait for another semester or another year.
Best of luck in your search for a good chef school! I will keep adding more when I found out more information about new ones.
Currently, I'm on the look out for a good Chinese chef school that would teach you how to bake Chinese pastries. If you know of any, please let me know.