From a fresh start to fifteen years in business: Kalen Gaetz and Mr. Rooter Plumbing of Kamloops

He bought his own franchise at 26. Fifteen years on, the Kamloops plumbing owner is still building careers, and a reputation, one service call at a time.

By the West Coast News Business Desk

Downtown Kamloops and the Thompson River valley seen from the hillside on a spring day — Downtown Kamloops and the Thompson valley.

Every Kamloops homeowner knows the moment: a water heater gives out on a January morning, or a basement drain starts to gurgle. For fifteen years, the call that follows has often gone to Mr. Rooter Plumbing of Kamloops, and very often the person who answers it is the owner himself, Kalen Gaetz.

ARQS OFFERIs your business AI-ready?Get a focused AI Readiness Audit with practical next steps.$99 one-timeStart the audit →

Gaetz has owned and run the Kamloops franchise since January 2011. He bought it at 26, a journeyman plumber who could have hung out a shingle under his own name. He chose the franchise route instead. "I was a journeyman plumber, so I could have started my own business, with my own name," he has said. "But I decided to buy into the Mr. Rooter franchise because I believe in their values and systems."

A fresh start

His road to ownership did not run in a straight line, and Gaetz has never hidden that. After finishing high school in Squamish in 2002, he rode his motorcycle to Calgary looking for a fresh start. Work was temporary and money was thin, and for a time he was homeless. As a day labourer he kept passing a Mr. Rooter office. One day he walked in and left a resume, expecting little.

That resume became a job, and the job became a trade. After a year in Calgary he moved back to British Columbia, worked construction and earned his journeyman plumber ticket, then joined the Mr. Rooter franchise in Kelowna. From there it was a short drive, and a big step, to owning the Kamloops territory.

"My favorite part of owning a Mr. Rooter is that I'm in a unique position to give people careers they can be proud of."
Kalen Gaetz

Building a business, and a team

Fifteen years in, the business covers far more than drains. The Kamloops team handles residential and commercial plumbing, sewer camera inspection, HydroScrub® jetting, trenchless sewer line repair and pipe lining, water heaters including tankless models, septic systems, water softeners and filtration, gas lines and bathroom and kitchen renovations. Emergency service runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with no overtime charges for nights, weekends or holidays, and the work is backed by the Neighbourly Done Right Promise®.

The service map has grown with it: Kamloops, Merritt, Salmon Arm, Sun Peaks, Savona, Nakusp, Invermere and points between. Gaetz added the credentials to match: a Class B gas fitter ticket and ASTTBC Registered Onsite Wastewater Practitioner training as a septic installer and planner.

Customers notice the owner on the tools. Online reviews name Gaetz himself coming out to look at a collapsed sewer line, keep a family updated through a major dig, or diagnose a leak the same afternoon. In 2018 the Kamloops Chamber of Commerce listed him among the nominees for Business Person of the Year at its Business Excellence Awards.

Paying it forward

Gaetz talks about success mostly in terms of other people. "I feel fortunate as a business owner that I have the ability to help people who want to help themselves," he has said. He has backed that up by recommending others for franchise ownership; people he referred have gone on to run a Rainbow International Restoration franchise in Kamloops and a Mr. Rooter in Lethbridge, Alberta.

Why he made our list

West Coast News' 2026 BC Entrepreneurs to Watch series profiles owners who build lasting businesses in BC's towns and cities. Kalen Gaetz fits the brief: a tradesperson who turned a second chance into fifteen years of ownership, a growing crew and a habit of opening doors for the next person.

Mr. Rooter Plumbing of Kamloops · Owner: Kalen Gaetz · Since: 2011 · Phone: (778) 470-5520 · mrrooter.ca/kamloops

Find more Kamloops businesses on Townline Kamloops and in the Townline business directory. Own a BC business? List it on Townline or ask about a Featured listing.

Readers following this story can find more from our network at ARQS, TOWNLINE, Jason's Place and Ackerman — and this week we also recommend Crypto Challenge and ARQS Store.