TORONTO — Centennial College has become one of the first colleges/universities in Canada to receive Tourism HR Canada’s SMART accreditation — and the only one to have two programs recognized for demonstrating tourism-related programming that exceeds industry standards.
Centennial College’s Hospitality – Hotel Operations Management two-year diploma program and its Hospitality and Tourism Administration three-year advanced diploma program have been honoured with the organization’s SMART + Premium status, indicating that the programs exceed basic tourism industry standards.
“There is a well-documented skills shortage in the Canadian tourism industry. Tourism HR Canada is an innovative leader in providing informed labour market data critical to understand the workforce needs of the expansive tourism industry,” says Joe Baker, dean of Centennial’s School of Hospitality, Tourism and Culinary Arts. “To be accredited by this organization is to demonstrate to the country and the world that Centennial College is preparing our graduates for flourishing careers in any of the sectors of this industry — locally and abroad.”
The SMART Accreditation Program aims to provide an opportunity for post-secondary public or private institutions and corporate training providers to demonstrate that their programming meets or exceeds industry standards, but also provides benchmarks that tourism educators can use to assist them in continually improving their programs.
