DRIVING FOR A CAUSE

Enterprise Holdings–parent company of the Enterprise Rent-A-Car, National Car Rental and Alamo Rent-A-Car brands–held its annual golf event, where stakeholders from the Canadian collision industry teed off in support of Food Banks Canada and Enterprise’s Fill Your Tank program.

The charity golf event served as a platform to raise funds and awareness toward alleviating hunger in the Canada. With the participation of enthusiastic golfers, sponsors, and volunteers, the event proved to be a resounding success.

Enterprise’s Fill Your Tank program, a multi-year endeavour first launched in 2016, aims to tackle food insecurity head-on by partnering with food banks and related organizations across the globe, including Food Banks Canada. Through this program, Enterprise aims to make a meaningful difference in the lives of those facing hunger and food scarcity.

This year’s golf event was extra special; a celebration of Enterprise’s 30th anniversary in Canada. The company opened its first international office in Windsor, Ontario in February 1993, and has since grown to more than 750 branches with a fleet of 96,000 vehicles across eight subsidiaries in Canada.

The event took place at the King Valley golf club in King City, Ontario.

Canada officially has an OEM-dedicated training centre, thanks to a lucrative collaboration between Volkswagen Group Canada and the Canadian Welding Bureau (CWB).

First announced in October 2022, the Canadian Collision Repair Academy (CCRA) is a state-of-the-art training facility located at CWB’s Milton, Ontario, headquarters, featuring top-notch equipment from companies like Pro Spot, Flatline, Filco, Spanesi, Car-O-Liner, Celette and more. Through training and certification, the CCRA aims to improve the competency of Canada’s collision repair technicians by offering welding and other certifications, in addition to hosting events with industry partners.

Cumulatively, the investments funding the creation of the CCRA would exceed $1 million, according to Scott Wideman, wholesale and collision manager for Volkswagen Group Canada, had it not been for the support of the OEM and CWB’s industry partners. Canada has long been without a dedicated OEM training centre, forcing shopowners to send staff to the United States for credited OEM training. Initial plans for the CCRA first began in January 2021; the first classes at the facility were held in November 2022.

“I was shocked to hear that this country was missing such important tools for the industry’s development,” Pierre Boutin, president and CEO of Volkswagen Group Canada, told audiences at a CCRA open house. “To have the opportunity to develop [collision repair] expertise right here in Canada—this is critical for us.”

The Canadian Collision Repair Academy is located at 8260 Parkhill Drive, in Milton, Ontario.