Centre for Food, Wine and Tourism
The Okanagan is a remarkable region, known for its unmatched natural beauty and bountiful agricultural, its world-class wine and local produce. A four-season playground attracting visitors from around the globe.
At the heart of the Okanagan are the people who call it home. Those who have nurtured the land and whose tenacity has shaped unique experiences. The Syilx Okanagan people. The farmers, producers, and vintners. The talented chefs, restaurateurs, hoteliers, and hospitality professionals. The entrepreneurs, innovators, and researchers.
This collective excellence has earned Kelowna the distinction of becoming Canada’s first UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy, placing our region on the world stage and underscoring the importance of investing in a Centre that will sustain and elevate this momentum
Combined — the land, the history, the produce, the people — make the Okanagan extraordinary.
However, the Okanagan is facing challenges which need bold solutions. Skill shortages, climate change, resource scarcity.
Together, we can address these challenges and take the Okanagan beyond extraordinary.
BC’s tourism and hospitality industry faces a critical workforce challenge. The Okanagan is especially vulnerable, with a 15.8% unemployment rate in the sector — the highest in BC; 25,000 vacancies and job openings predicted by 2035, equating to $0.6 billion in losses.
2025 saw a bumper harvest, but fortunes can be fickle. In recent years, seasonal labour challenges, housing shortages, and the devastating impact of extreme weather and climate change — from freezing temperatures to extreme heat and wildfire smoke — have impacted crops, businesses, and our local tourism economy.
We need bold solutions through targeted investment in skills and innovation to create a stronger, future-ready region.
With your help, in 2027, Okanagan College’s $61 million Centre for Food, Wine and Tourism will open its doors.
It will be Canada’s first purpose-built facility integrating food, beverage, and tourism education, serving the Okanagan and beyond.
Featuring state-of-the-art kitchens, tasting and demo labs, event spaces and a restaurant, the Centre will be a living lab, inspiring the next generation. A space where industry leaders convene. A place for community to gather.
At its heart, five pillars will define the new Centre’s approach:
- Experiential learning: Real guest, vineyard, kitchen, and tourism micro-stages for students to test, fail, iterate, and gain hands-on experience. Students will launch pop-up dinners, host wine-tour circuits, and lead immersive hospitality events. They will expand their horizons, participating in national and international competitions.
- Sustainability: Protecting our region’s valuable resources and focusing on local, sustainable solutions will be at the heart of the curricula and applied research projects.
- Co-creation with industry: Our partners are not just advisors; they are active collaborators — opening up land, vineyard plots, event venues, setting R&D challenges, providing market feedback, and apprenticeship pathways. We will invite in experts and chefs in residence to share their talents and teach specialist skills, elevating the student experience.
- Honouring place and reconciliation: Indigenous knowledge, food systems, hospitality, and stewardship of the land will inform our approach. We will embed Indigenous-led curriculum, land-based learning, and collaborative custodianship.
- Adaptive and experimental: Labs, quick prototyping, feedback loops, responsive curriculum, and ongoing innovation. Our program will be agile, and our learning environments will evolve in response to shifts in industry and climate.
Addressing skills gaps and driving innovative solutions will reap rewards:
- Revenue Gains: filling the predicted 25,000 vacancies by 2035 could drive $3.5-4B in tourism revenue.
- Investing in tourism and hospitality education delivers a return of $2.5 for every $1 invested through productivity, revenue and tax contributions.
- Tourism Multiplier: investing in tourism has a multiple effect, which could create ~20,000 additional jobs across related and aligned sectors.
And beyond economics, we will build dreams. Our students will craft unique experiences, as they learn and grow.
Anticipate up to 750 students per year across culinary and pastry arts, beverage programming, events, tourism and hospitality management. From early career professionals to experts and enthusiasts.
Envision our alumni opening regenerative wineries, farm-to-visitor inns, seasonal kitchens, and low-impact, sustainable tourism experiences.
Imagine the Centre hosting summer intensives and bootcamps, research residencies, and co-lab projects, attracting interest from beyond the region.
Visitors will taste wine grown under climate-smart viticulture, dining on food sourced from regenerative orchards next door, seasonal cuisine which is quintessentially Okanagan.
Join Us
Where we learn matters: With $55 million secured, our initial focus is to raise $6 million to complete and equip the $61 million Centre, creating an inspiring venue, attracting talent to teach, learn and collaborate.
What we learn matters: A further $4M will support curriculum innovation and learning opportunities.
- $2 million to evolve our culinary, beverage, and hospitality curriculum, combining leading-edge practice around the globe with Okanagan flair, and establishing the OC Chef and Expert in Residence program.
- $2 million directly to students, expanding access through bursaries and scholarships, creating a competition fund to expose students to the best in the world, and building residences with industry partners.
With naming recognition opportunities available in the stunning new facility – in its kitchen, labs, dining and events spaces - students, industry and community will recognize your support.
We invite visionary leaders like you — entrepreneurs, investors, hospitality pioneers, and community champions to join us. Together, we can foster talent, build dreams, and innovate to take the Okanagan to the next level.
Let’s shape the Okanagan’s future. Together.
For more information:
Helen Jackman
Helen joined Okanagan College as Director Advancement and Executive Director of the Okanagan College Foundation in 2019. She has over 25 years of experience in non-profit management and leadership, fundraising and partnership development gained in roles in the U.K. and Canada.
Helen has a BA in English Literature and Language from the University of Leeds, an MA from Birmingham City University, and executive education from London Business School. Prior to joining Okanagan College, Helen was Executive Director UWSIBC, Executive Director Programs National Endowment for Science Technology and the Arts, and Chief Executive of the Macular Society.
When she’s not working with donors who are passionate about education, she’s hiking, skiing or watching her son play soccer.