CIPH Names Norm Bajwa National Chair as 2026 Conference Wraps in New Brunswick

ST. ANDREWS, New Brunswick — The Canadian Institute of Plumbing and Heating, known as CIPH, closed its 2026 annual business conference June 16 by naming Norm Bajwa of Bartle & Gibson as the association's National Chair for the 2026-27 term, following three days of meetings held under the theme "Rising Tide."

The conference, held June 14 to 16 at the Algonquin Resort in St. Andrews, brought together manufacturers, wholesalers, manufacturers' agents and other members of CIPH's plumbing, heating, hydronics, industrial pipe and waterworks distribution network for educational sessions, networking and the association's annual general meeting business.

CIPH National Chair and Award Winners

Bajwa's appointment as National Chair was confirmed during the conference's annual general meeting, transitioning leadership of the association for the coming term. CIPH also recognized Barbara O'Reilly of Rheem Canada with its Honourary Life Member Award, one of the organization's highest individual honors, during the event.

The Canadian Hydronics Council, a CIPH-affiliated body, separately named Dan Kirkpatrick — recently retired from Uponor, now part of GF Building Flow Solutions — as the recipient of its Award of Merit, the council's top honor. CIPH also presented its Women of Distinction Award during the conference, with Julie Storey receiving the recognition from the previous year's winner, Nicole Miller.

Conference Theme and Sessions

CIPH built this year's program around the Rising Tide theme, a reference to the Bay of Fundy's record tidal range near the conference's coastal New Brunswick venue, framing the event's discussion of diversity, collaboration and entrepreneurial growth within the plumbing and heating distribution channel. The closing keynote was delivered by Tareq Hadhad, a Syrian refugee to Canada who, with his family, founded the chocolate company Peace By Chocolate in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. Hadhad described his family's resettlement experience and outlined what he called a "return on kindness" framework for evaluating business success, distinct from a conventional return-on-investment measure.

Industry Context

CIPH represents manufacturers, wholesalers and manufacturers' agents operating in Canada's plumbing, heating, hydronics, industrial pipe and valve, and waterworks distribution sectors. The association's annual conference functions as its primary national gathering for association governance, member networking and recognition of individual contributions to the channel, distinct from the technical and product-focused conferences run by manufacturer-specific or cross-border HVACR groups.

CIPH's conference also operates differently than larger cross-border trade events such as the AHR Expo or ASHRAE's annual conference, which draw thousands of attendees around product exhibitions and technical programming. CIPH's annual gathering is smaller and more association-governance-focused, built around member networking, the organization's annual general meeting business and recognition of individuals who have contributed to the Canadian plumbing and heating distribution channel over the course of their careers.

The leadership transition comes as Canadian HVAC and plumbing distributors navigate many of the same supply chain, labor and refrigerant-transition pressures facing their U.S. counterparts, alongside Canada-specific developments such as the federal government's electrification strategy and provincial heat pump incentive programs that have reshaped demand patterns for distributors in the channel over the past several years.

CIPH's Next National Chair Term

CIPH said its 2027 Annual Business Conference will be held in Victoria, British Columbia, from June 12 to 15, 2027, moving the event to the country's Pacific coast after this year's Atlantic Canada venue. Bajwa's term as National Chair will run through the 2027 conference, when the association is expected to name his successor as part of its standard annual leadership rotation.

CIPH did not disclose attendance figures for this year's conference or details of the association's current membership count as part of its conference wrap-up, though the organization has historically drawn manufacturer, wholesaler and manufacturers'-agent representatives from across Canada's plumbing, heating and hydronics distribution sector to its annual gathering.

CIPH also did not name committee chairs or board members beyond Bajwa's appointment as National Chair as part of the conference's public reporting, leaving the full composition of the association's leadership for the 2026-27 term to be confirmed through CIPH's regular member communications in the weeks following the conference.

As National Chair, Bajwa now leads an association whose membership spans manufacturers, wholesalers and independent manufacturers' agents across a national distribution network that supplies plumbing, heating and hydronics contractors throughout Canada. His one-year term places him at the head of the organization during a period in which the federal government's broader electrification agenda is expected to generate continued discussion within CIPH's membership about heat pump adoption, contractor training capacity and how Canadian distributors should position their product lines for the transition away from fossil-fuel heating equipment.