Elevate your local knowledge

Sign up for the iNFOnews newsletter today!

Select Region

Selecting your primary region ensures you get the stories that matter to you first.

Okanagan College

State-of-the-art amphitheatre proposed for Vernon’s Okanagan College

VERNON - A large outdoor amphitheatre is being proposed for the Vernon campus of Okanagan College. The Okanagan Summer Festival Society proposed the amphitheatre, which would accommodate up to 5,500 people, at a Greater Vernon Advisory Council meeting Thursday, Dec. 10.    “We see the opportunity to develop a significant addition to the cultural infrastructure...

Animation diploma in the works at Okanagan College

KELOWNA - Responding to the demands of industry, Okanagan College could soon be offering a diploma in 2D animation. Artistic skills are in high demand in the Okanagan and around the world, and the two-year diploma will prepare would-be animators for careers as character designers, storyboard artists, background painters and animators, according to a proposal...

Student apartment proposed for Rutland raises concerns about parking, not parties

KELOWNA - Concerns from city councillors about a student housing complex proposed for the Rutland town centre are focused not on the party potential of the 72 college students who might live there, but on potential parking problems. The 4.5-storey 23-unit apartment building proposed for Dundas Road and Highway 33 would provide students housing in...

ELECTION 2015: No advance polls for Kelowna’s UBCO and Okanagan College

KELOWNA - There is nothing underhanded about the lack of advance polls on the Okanagan College and UBCO campuses during a recent pilot project aimed at post-secondary schools, at least according to an Elections Canada spokesperson. Dorothy Sitek, a spokeperson for Elections Canada, says a pilot project from Oct. 5 to 8 put advance polls...

More than 30,000 Kelowna students find their seats this week

CENTRAL OKANAGAN - Thousands of students found their way to new classrooms this week as school resumed at all levels. UBC Okanagan says some 8,400 students began classes this week, while several thousand more started at Okanagan College and another 22,000 started grade school in the Central Okanagan School District. In a press release, UBCO says...

Scotch and fine spirits society takes off in Kelowna

KELOWNA - Born of shared interest and gap in the market, the Kelowna Scotch and Fine Spirits Society held its inaugural meeting this week at a local restaurant. “They have a group on the Westside but there’s nothing over here,” Claude Hurtubise says. “The club format is the perfect venue. People may be reluctant to...

Campapalooza campacacancelled

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – A first-of-its kind event that gives parents a chance to get a taste of all the different summer camp options in one place has been cancelled. Campapalooza was to be held at Okanagan College May 30, but according to their website has been 'postponed until April 2016.' The event would have brought together...

Local students given $50k to learn coding skills

KELOWNA – Students looking to learn more about computer coding in the hopes of entering the quickly growing technology sector got a boost from the provincial government today. Okanagan College will be getting part of a $250,000 funding grant from the provincial government to help develop computer coding-related skills for the growing sector. Premier Christy...

Don’t throw it away, bring it to the Repair Cafe

KELOWNA - Have you ever had a toaster oven or an old clock radio stop working for no apparent reason? Maybe you threw it in the landfill because everyone told you it’s cheaper to buy a new one and you've felt guilty ever since. There's a new way to avoid this guilt, and save a...

Okanagan College tuition going up

OKANAGAN - Tuition fees are going up two per cent with Okanagan College’s board of governors approval of a $94.95 million operating budget. Okanagan College Board of Governors Chair Tom Styffe says the board initially faced "a seven digit issue, created by a number of pressures,” according to a media release. He says administration and...

Lumby students dominate college spaghetti bridge contest

KELOWNA - It came down to a battle between three friends from Lumby at Okanagan College’s 32nd annual Spaghetti Bridge Contest held at the Kelowna campus today. Grade seven student Adrian Schartner from Lumby placed first with his bridge weighing 982.6 grams and supporting 275.6 kilograms before spectacularly collapsing in front of cheering friends, peers,...

High demand for welding classes at Okanagan College

PENTICTON - In spite of falling oil prices, the demand for welders remains high - and Okanagan College in Penticton is helping to answer that need. South Okanagan-Similkameen Regional Dean Donna Lomas said the college has heard from employers from throughout the South Okanagan and beyond about the need for welders, so the college has...

Former Dragon to speak at Okanagan College

KELOWNA - A famous Canadian entrepreneur, well-known for his former role as the deal-breaker on CBC's Dragons' Den is lecturing at Okanagan College Tuesday, Jan. 27. The free lecture takes place at the Kelowna campus' Centre For Learning at 2 p.m. and is open to staff, students and the general public. W. Brett Wilson is...

New award in memory of Okanagan College professor

PENTICTON - A respected Okanagan College professor will be remembered through an annual award. Professor Tom Santosham died when his car slid into a lake near his Penticton home on Oct. 31, 2014, and shortly after his family decided to create an annual award in support of business students at Okanagan College’s Kelowna campus, where...

Okanagan College gets $500,000 Christmas present

KELOWNA – One of the Okanagan’s most successful companies has decided to give Okanagan College an early Christmas present in the form of a $500,000 donation for the Kelowna campus trades training complex. Kelowna Flightcraft CEO and chairperson Barry Lapointe has handed over a cheque to the Bright Horizons Building for Skills fundraising campaign which...

Soccer playing robots take over Okanagan College

KELOWNA – Students from across the province were in Kelowna Friday for an annual competition that teaches them about teamwork, competition and robotics. The RoboCup is a robotics championships where teams of students between grades seven and 11 build and program small robots to complete complex tasks. This year the challenges were soccer, and search...

B.C. Wine Awards to take advantage of new Penticton college centre in 2015

PENTICTON - The recently opened B.C. Wine Information Society Sensory Centre at Okanagan College's Penticton campus will host the Okanagan Wine Festivals Society's professional judging segment of the 2015 B.C. Wine Awards.  “Each year, the Fall Wine Festival brings some of the continent’s best palates to the south Okanagan to judge the entries for the...

Wine sensory lab officially open at Okanagan College

PENTICTON - Wine and viticulture courses at the Okanagan College are about to get a sensory overload with the official opening of the B.C. Wine Information Society Sensory Centre. The Centre is having its grand opening today thanks to a $300,000 donation form the B.C. Wine Information Society that made construction of the facility possible....

Art show stripped from college walls goes up at local gallery

VERNON - A controversial art show pulled from the gallery at Okanagan College in Vernon has a new space to continue the conversation. Local artist Ryan Robson’s evocative female portraits, which were deemed too disturbing for the walls of the college, will be displayed at Gallery Vertigo until the end of the month. The paintings...

Water stewards re-gift cash prize

KELOWNA – Protecting our water is job number one for the Okanagan Water Stewardship Council and the group wants to make sure students share that goal. The council won a national Excellence in Water Stewardship award from the Council of the Federation. Instead of pocketing the $1,000 in cash that came with the trophy, the...