Kelowna is moving to establish itself as a centre for AI-driven drone and aerospace development after the City of Kelowna and Okanagan College signed memorandums of understanding with FireSwarm Solutions, a Squamish-based drone technology company.
The agreements, announced at the Union of BC Municipalities convention in Vancouver, commit the parties to ongoing collaboration aimed at expanding FireSwarm’s operations in the Interior while building out local infrastructure and training capacity for the uncrewed systems industry.
New Training Hangar Underway at YLW
As part of the plan, Okanagan College is developing programs to train aircraft maintenance engineers in drone-specific technologies and structures. Okanagan College president Dr. Neil Fassina said the partnership with FireSwarm will help ensure aircraft maintenance engineers and other aerospace professionals are prepared for an industry increasingly shaped by uncrewed systems, artificial intelligence and advanced manufacturing, adding that a new training facility at Kelowna International Airport (YLW) will give the college the space needed to turn that opportunity into workforce-ready training.
Construction is currently underway on a new training hangar at YLW, which will provide purpose-built instructional space at the airport. The capital construction costs are being funded by the BPL Legacy Association together with Okanagan College. The funding is expected to allow the college to plan new programming in areas such as avionics, uncrewed aerial systems technologies and manufacturing, supporting what officials describe as Kelowna’s growing aerospace sector.
From Wildfire Testing to Broader Applications
The partnership builds on earlier collaboration between FireSwarm and the Kelowna Fire Department. In 2025, the two groups conducted an integrated training exercise on Knox Mountain to demonstrate FireSwarm’s automated drone-swarm platform and its potential use in wildfire suppression. That exercise was observed by representatives from Transport Canada, the BC Wildfire Service and other agencies, and served as an initial step toward FireSwarm’s formal partnership with the City of Kelowna.
With the addition of YLW and Okanagan College to the arrangement, the partners say the region is now positioned to demonstrate how technologies and systems originally developed for emergency response can also serve broader civilian, sovereign and dual-use purposes.
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