October 23, 2026
DAKOTA PRICE WAS BORN AND RAISED to work an excavator.
With both parents being heavy equipment operators, it’s not surprising that she excelled in her program put on by the IUOE Local 115 and the Squamish Nation.
“Both my parents have their Class 1,” she said. “My mom, she’s a truck driver. She does all the trucks — low-beds, rock trucks, all that. And then my dad runs all the equipment, like excavators, graders, pretty much anything in that area.”
But she didn’t immediately go into school to operate heavy machinery.
“I started out labouring for a couple years before I went to school… I was on pipelines for a couple years. That was where my parents were, so I got my first job up there. I started off flagging, and I asked my foreman if I was able to switch over to labouring,” she said.
Then an opportunity came in the form of an online post for the Squamish-IUOE program, which operates out of the Squamish Nation’s Nexw7áýstwaý Training and Trades Centre in North Vancouver.
Price, who is Nisga’a and Haida, was born and mostly raised in Vancouver, but her family moved back up north when she was 11 years old.
The training also presented an opportunity for Price to see Vancouver again — and to branch out on her own after working alongside her parents.
And Price excelled from the moment she stepped into the program, according to instructor Alec Slater.
It wasn’t just Slater saying that — he said he heard similar comments from other teachers.
“One of my instructors… commented on her dedication and note-taking and her engagement when he worked with her on those days, I wasn’t there,” he said.
“So right away from the beginning, we could tell that she was a good candidate to succeed. And her skills spoke for themselves.”
Dakota Price, heavy equipment operator, IUOE Local 115.
The appreciation goes both ways as well — Price also sang praises of the staff at the training centre.
“It genuinely seemed like they cared about our success. They were always available to answer questions, help us improve and encourage us whenever we face challenges,” she said. “They created an environment where you can build confidence and learn at your own pace, while also being pushed to do your best.”
After finishing the program, Price went on to work at B&B Contracting, an IUOE signatory company, which isn’t always the path students take after finishing.
And for Price, that has come with opportunities — namely, she’s been able to get into an excavator quickly after starting up with the company.
“They trusted us when we said she was a good candidate to go work for them,” Slater said, “so they took a chance on her.”
Given those chances, Price said she’s happy to stick with B&B for now. But while Price moved to Vancouver in part to branch out on her own, the goal is to eventually make her way back to working alongside her parents.
“Seeing them work together I think was kind of mind altering, to see how that works out and well they did,” she said.
And she said her parents are also looking forward to adding her to their crew.
“That’s definitely still their end-goal,” she said. “They’re still waiting for me to do that switch.”
By Dustin Godfrey