What is the Western Arborist Association?

The Western Arborist Association was originally created as the Western Utility Arborist Association

The Western Utility Arborist Association is incorporated under the Societies Act and is a not-for-profit organization. The major utility companies in British Columbia required that the industry develop a trade-style training program so that tree work being conducted in proximity to their power distribution lines was being done safely by trained workers. The Western Utility Arborist Association was created to handle the development of the Certified Utility Arborist program in 1977.

The WUAA, now re-branded as the Western Arborist Association (WAA), still works closely with utility companies to provide a governing body for the industry, but has now expanded it’s mandate to be inclusive of the entire arboriculture industry in British Columbia.

The WAA works alongside HortEducationBC (HEBC), as the administrative partner, and is responsible for the WUAA/HEBC Falling and Bucking Endorsement for Certified Utility Arborists (CUA) and Certified Arborist Technicians (CAT). This endorsement has been developed in conjunction with WorkSafeBC.

The board of directors of the WAA are a wealth of industry experience, covering all aspects of industry standards from production falling, to utility vegetation management and advanced arboriculture.

With this first hand experience, the board aims to work towards creating quality training and qualifications to improve the safety of those working in the field.