You’re the Chef (YTC) is a food literacy cooking program that is designed to help youth develop the skills and confidence necessary to prepare tasty and nutritious recipes.  Students learn basic food preparation, food handling and kitchen safety skills in a comfortable and supportive learning environment.

Bring YTC to Your School

We provide YTC Leader Training for school staff and/or volunteers, using a train-the-trainer model.

School staff or volunteers receive who participate in the training receive orientation to the YTC program, access to the YTC resources, and support from a public health nurse to help them lead the YTC program in their school.

Training is available upon request and can be offered in-person or virtually.

Here’s how it works:

We work with your school to recruit school staff and/or volunteers to become trained as YTC Leaders. 

The role of the YTC Leader is to plan and coordinate the YTC food skills program for students at your school.  

YTC works best when offered:

• To students ages 10 and up
• Over 4- 6 weeks, 
• 1-2 hours per week,
• no more than 16 participants.

A variety of topics are covered in the program, including food safety, recipe preparation and basic nutrition concepts. 

Student Health Benefits  

You’re The Chef (YTC) program will benefit your students by:

Providing opportunities for student leadership

• YTC provides students with opportunities to improve their leadership skills by working through recipes using positive communication, co-operation, and compromise
• Students develop food literacy, food skills and healthy eating habits. 
• Students develop confidence in preparing nutritious and safe food.
• Students practice safe food-handling and basic kitchen safety

Increasing students’ sense of belonging and inclusion

• A student’s sense of social well-being and self-esteem can be enhanced and enriched when in an environment that encourages positive interactions through co-operation, communication and working together
• A positive school climate exists when all members of the school community feel safe, included and accepted and actively promote positive behaviours and interactions. Offering YTC is fun and beneficial program for students to build relationships with their peers and feel connected to school

Resources Required

Schools will need to identify at least one staff or volunteer to facilitate the YTC program.

We provide access to facilitator training and downloadable resources to support implementation of the YTC program, including: 

• YTC downloadable tools and resources, including Leader’s Handbook, Participant Handbook, recipes, and more. 
• Access to these resources is provided once YTC Leader Training is complete.

In addition, schools will need to ensure they have access to:

• A clean area with tables, sinks and power outlets.
• Cooking equipment such as an electric skillet, blender, cutting boards, measuring cups, bowls, and utensils. A list of suggested equipment will be provided during Leader Training.
• Funds to purchase ingredients for recipes (approximately $30 to $60 each week for 4 to 6 weeks). Recipes, cost breakdown and selection criteria for using your own recipes are provided during Leader Training.

Contact Us

For more information or to access services, contact your local school health nurse. You can also contact the health unit at 705-721-7520 or 1-877-721-7520 or by submitting the Request for Service Form.

Updated: August 19, 2025