September 14, 2026
AS A THIRD-YEAR STEAMFITTING apprentice and third generation member of the United Association of Journeymen & Apprentices of the Plumbing & Pipe Fitting Industry (UA Local 170), Colton Scarbo has worked on a number of big projects across the country.
From projects with BC Hydro, jobs at oil and gas compressor stations, and even the Site C Dam, Scarbo says he is eager to continue forging a career in the industry.
But as a Summerland, B.C. resident, he says it has been challenging to have to move to Vancouver to attend the Piping Industry College for eight-week courses over the last three years. In particular, he says, it’s been tough being away from his two young boys, Jack and Brixton, adding, “It’s expensive coming down [to Vancouver] to go to school.”
For Scarbo, opportunities to further his trades education in the Okanagan have historically been “few and far between.” For this reason, Scarbo says he is excited about the new trades school opening in Kelowna for UA Local 170 members. “I hear they plan to [offer apprenticeship training], which would make it a lot easier and more affordable for me and other members in the Okanagan.”
Getting the new school up and running
While the new school in Kelowna is still in its infancy, Will Schwarz, executive director of Apprenticeship and Training at the UA Piping Industry College of B.C., says that as of this summer, they have hosted a general meeting and several try-a-trade classes at the new facility.
The team also currently offers all levels of apprenticeship training for plumbers, steamfitters, sprinklerfitters, welders, gasfitters, and metal fabricators, and is hoping to expand its offerings in the future.
“We have quite a large portion of our membership that lives in the Okanagan,” says Schwarz. “The last four or five years we’ve been really trying to target the area.”
After keeping an eye out for properties, Schwarz says they found a six-unit commercial property at 9015B Jim Bailey Road that the team plans to convert into a school for members. They spent roughly $5 million on the property and have been hard at work since January getting the place ready for new students.
The school already has several promising funders and partnerships, including support from the Union Training and Innovation Program and federal funding programs. “In the past, we’ve done try-a-trades in the region up in Vernon with the Okanagan Indian Band,” says Schwarz. “We’re a little bit short notice for their involvement on this one, but we’re looking at future partnerships with [them] as well.”
Schwarz adds that the location was strategic, noting that the school was built on the north side of Kelowna, near the airport, where a lot of people will be “coming and going,” for various projects. “This could end up being a training hub of sorts in the future as well.”
‘Filling a really big void’ in Kelowna
Len Wiebe is a UA 170 member who has been in the trades for decades. While he has technically retired, he has far from stopped working.
Now living in the very small town of Kaleden in the Okanagan, Wiebe has worn many hats in the industry. From running his own wrought-iron business to working as a welding instructor at various trade schools and as an occasional substitute teacher at Okanagan College, he is now helping to set up some of the operations at the new UA 170 school.
“[The new Kelowna school] will fill a really big void,” says Wiebe, noting that until recently the main option for trades training in the region has been offered through Okanagan College.
“The Okanagan needs an alternative, and this will provide a good alternative.” He adds that waitlists at the government school can sometimes be up to several years long. “When people have to wait two or three years, they get discouraged or go off to another [line of work],” he says. This can be especially true for those coming out of high school. “If they can get in sooner, we can produce more tradespeople.”
Over the several decades that Wiebe has been in the trades, he says, there have been a lot of fluctuations in the industry.
“When I graduated in 1973, every second guy was going into the trades, so there was a lot of competition,” he said. Nowadays, Wiebe says that while he cautions students may not necessarily “get a job tomorrow,” in general he says that employment prospects are good and “competition is way down.”
He adds that he is optimistic about what the new school could mean for the growing union presence in the region. “Having a presence here, we’ll be able to meet with local people and show them the benefits of working through a union,” he says. Historically, areas like the interior and northern B.C. have been very non-union. “[This school] is really what the Okanagan needs.”
Both Wiebe and Schwarz are hopeful about the number of projects coming down the proverbial, and in some cases, literal pipeline. “The federal government has been really proactive in trying to get our type of work going throughout the country,” says Wiebe, noting the recently announced pipeline between B.C. and Alberta, as well as the Coastal GasLink pipeline project in Kitimat. “There’s a bunch of projects around the country, so the prospects are very good in the next couple of years.”
Even though Schwarz acknowledges that some recent news around the construction sector “hasn’t been great,” he says that UA 170 has been able to maintain shipyard and hospital work around the province. “The future is very bright. Within the next year, we’re going to start seeing things picking up even more.”
In the future, he adds that, as a rapidly growing city, they really want Kelowna to be an anchor foothold for the region. “We want to invest in the area, you know, not just by purchasing property, but also in the community around it.”
Although Scarbo says he is most of the way through his apprenticeship training, his younger brother, who is earlier in his steamfitting training, will benefit from having this new school closer to home. “He’ll be starting his second year [soon], so he might get a better portion of his apprenticeship training through the school.”
As Wiebe can attest, there is so much that can be done in the world of welding and piping. He says that for those who enjoy independence, working with their hands, and opportunities for creative expression, training at the new school could be the right move.
“You don’t have to be the best, you just have to show up and show some initiative and [most employers] will find a spot for you.”
Said Wiebe: “B.C. is a big province, and not all kids want to come to the big city… This school is going to be a breath of fresh air, and I think other unions should follow suit.”
By Maddi Dellplain