City of Kelowna says 2025 was an ‘incredible’ year with $150M in projects, blockbuster events

The City of Kelowna says 2025 was an “incredible” year of major infrastructure projects and high-profile events.

In a year-end round up, the city said that more than 130 projects were identified at the start of the year worth $150 million, which was 50% more than the 2024 investments in infrastructure.

“Numerous new parks, kilometres of new or revamped roadways, ramped-up operational programs and high-visibility national events made 2025 a year of action and advancement,” the city said in a statement.

“The City and Council set a big goal of investing in infrastructure projects to build community, connection, and to contribute to the local economy.”

One of the city’s largest investments is the redevelopment of the Parkinson Recreation Centre.

Construction on what has been dubbed a “legacy project” started in March as part of the Building a Stronger Kelowna (BSK) initiative. It is on schedule to be completed in 2027.

Other projects under the program include activity centres in Rutland, the Mission and Glenmore.

The BSK program also includes work on the sports field in Rutland and advancing shared facilities with community partners like Okanagan College and the Okanagan Regional Library, the city said.

Last year was also a major year for park projects, improvements and upgrades.

In 2025, the city broke ground on the Tennis Canada Dome at Mission Recreation Park. Construction paused in mid-December and will resume in March with an opening date of early October 2026.

In May, the city celebrated the opening of DeHart Park. The next month, the revamped Waterfront Park Stage reopened followed by three new inclusive play structures at Strathcona Beach Park.

June also saw new artwork crafted by local syilx artists installed at the Knox Mountain Park first look out.

In October, the city marked the grand opening of a new dog run in City Park in addition to a new first-of-its-kind park in Dilworth Mountain.

Last year saw several high-end events happen including the Canadian Country Music Awards Week in September, which generated $11.7 million.

The Brier Men’s Curling Championship, which was held from Feb. 28 to Mar. 9, drew more than 89,000 spectators and had an economic impact of $15.2 million in support of local businesses, restaurants, and hotels.

Fresh off the 2025 Montana’s Brier, Kelowna was selected to host an Olympic qualification event in December.

This year will see even more big events.

The city is set to host the Memorial Cup in May followed by a pair of BC Lions games in June and July.

Besides events and sports, Kelowna was granted the status of being Canada's first UNESCO City of Gastronomy.

Outside of exciting events and major developments, the city also highlighted a few maintenance and upgrade projects that happened in 2025.

That includes the opening of the Bertram Multi-use Overpass in June, the completion of the first phase of the Frost Road extension, the construction of the roundabout at Chute Lake Road, a new roundabout at Valley and Kane Roads, the pavement resurfacing of 20 kilometres of roads and the completion of 660 metres of new sidewalks.

Functional design work was also completed for the Clement Avenue multi-modal extension corridor.

The city highlighted a few more notable accomplishments from 2025, including:

• Passenger growth in 2025 at Kelowna International Airport hit more than 2.3 million passengers 

• YLW also increased air service frequency and destinations, including new and expanded transborder and regional destinations

• Received funding for 37 new public electric vehicle chargers 

• Contributed $1.65 million from parking revenues to reduce taxation demand

“During a time of national and international questions about the how to navigate the challenges of 2025, the City of Kelowna boldly invested in the community’s future and wellbeing with these strategic investments,” the city said.