Okanagan College (OC) students earned multiple medals across trades and technology disciplines at the 2026 Skills Canada BC Provincial Trades and Technology Competition,
The 32nd annual competition took place on April 15 at the Tradex in Abbotsford. Approximately 500 of the province’s top secondary and post-secondary students who had previously earned gold medals at regional competitions across BC participated in this stage of Skills Canada competition.
Leading OC’s results were three gold medalists. Emily Frick claimed top honours in Car Painting. Vladyslav Usach earned gold in Collision Repair and Jaxson Provencher added a third gold for OC in Refrigeration.
OC also celebrated three silver medals and a bronze. Olivier Gravel earned silver in the Heavy Duty Mechanic category Kewin Sommerfeld took silver in Automotive and In the technology stream, Mitchel Poole earned silver.
Connor Hamilton also earned bronze in IT Network Systems Administration.
Gold medalists at the Provincial competition advance to represent BC at the 2026 Skills Canada National Competition in Toronto, Ontario, on May 28 and 29, 2026.
“These results speak to the exceptional talent, commitment and professionalism of our Trades students, as well as the dedication of the instructors and coaches who support them every step of the way,” said Dean of Trades and Apprenticeship at Okanagan College and Skills Canada BC board member, Caitlin Hartigan. “Competing at this level takes skill, confidence and resilience, and our students demonstrated all three. We are incredibly proud of every competitor who represented Okanagan College and showcased the strength of skilled trades education.”
