B.C. Drone Hub
Kelowna and partners team up to establish a new B.C. drone innovation hub.
Anonymous
Kelowna, Kelowna International Airport and Okanagan College have partnered with B.C.-based FireSwarm Solutions to establish a regional hub for AI-enabled drone and aerospace innovation. Memorandums of understanding with the city and college will support FireSwarm’s expanded Interior operations, workforce development and potential economic growth. Okanagan College is developing training programs for aircraft maintenance engineers and other aerospace professionals, while a new instructional hangar under construction at YLW is expected to support work in avionics, uncrewed aerial systems and advanced manufacturing. FireSwarm’s autonomous drone-swarm technology, designed for wildfire suppression and emergency response, was demonstrated with the Kelowna Fire Department during a 2025 training exercise at Knox Mountain observed by provincial and federal agencies.
Key Points
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FireSwarm Solutions is a British Columbia company based in Squamish, and the partnership announcements were made at the 2026 Union of British Columbia Municipalities convention in Vancouver.
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Okanagan College President Neil Fassina said the partnership is intended to prepare aircraft maintenance engineers and other aerospace professionals for an industry increasingly shaped by uncrewed systems, artificial intelligence and advanced manufacturing.
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The new instructional hangar at YLW is being funded by the BPL Legacy Association and Okanagan College, creating purpose-built space for programs in avionics, uncrewed aerial-systems technologies and manufacturing.
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Mayor Tom Dyas described YLW as Canada’s largest municipally owned and operated airport and said the partnership could advance wildfire-resilience solutions, create high-quality jobs and attract innovation and investment to Kelowna.
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The partners envision applications extending beyond firefighting: the systems developed for emergency response could serve civilian, sovereign and dual-use purposes, broadening the initiative’s potential aerospace and defence relevance.
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