Trade students at Okanagan College in Penticton now have the benefit of a state-of-the-art welding facility which opened Monday. 

The $2.2 million, 5,000 square foot project will mean students in the college's welding program no longer need to learn off-campus.

"We train an awful lot of welders as well as other tradespeople, there is a demand here in this community, the community has been asking for this program for many years, and we've been able to satisfy it here and there, now we'll be able to satisfy it in a sustainable, ongoing fashion," said Okanagan College president Jim Hamilton. 

The facility will train roughly 50 welding students per year. At Monday's ribbon cutting ceremony, the first 16 students who will be attending the program were in attendance.

Connor Turner just graduated high school in Penticton, and is thrilled he'll be able to attend classes for his dream career just around the corner from his house.  

"I just learned that we got a new welding shop and was excited about that, all new gear and that, I was maybe more excited than I was before," Turner said.

And it isn't just welding students that will benefit from the space. Hamilton said the area will also be used for Gateway to Trades high school programs, as well as the school's Women in Trades program.