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Employing 58,000 people, Canadian Tire and its Associate Dealers together form Canada’s most-shopped general merchandise retailer, with 482 stores from coast-to-coast. Canadian Tire offers customers a large selection of national and retail brands through three specialty categories in which the organization is the market leader – automotive parts, accessories and service; sports and leisure products; and home products. Also offered are automotive services such as engines fixes, brake changes, windshield wipers and fluid level checks, and muffler, hose, belt and plug replacements. Essentially, if a repair is needed, it’s up to Canadian Tire automotive service technicians to find a way to get it done. Before being employed by Canadian Tire, one must attend an automotive service technician apprenticeship.

At Centennial College, Ontario’s first community college, students can study at such an apprenticeship, which is partnered with Canadian Tire but yet designed to be product-generic and cover a broad-range of makes and models from the automotive industry. Therefore, it doesn’t limit one from working at other places of employment should they choose to.

Taking a year to complete, automotive service technician training with the Automotive Service Technician Canadian Tire MAP 32 program is more in-depth than the training one would obtain in a traditional apprenticeship. The in-school portion is conducted from Ashtonbee Campus, which is a fully-equipped transportation training centre. In fact, it is the biggest training centre of its sort in Ontario. For the in-school portion of the program, Canadian Tire supplies the tools and equipment with which you will be training. This makes it convenient to ensure that you are familiar with the tools of this particular company, as the hands-on part of the automotive service technician training takes place at a Canadian Tire dealer. Field placement gives students the opportunity to face real life scenarios, apply what they have learned, network and gain insight into the industry from seasoned professionals.  Read more...

This video describes one of the training options available for Autosoft Automotive software. See how you can get the “road map to live” through Autosoft’s structured process of guiding you from system implementation through to going live and beyond. This system has been designed after years of experience dealing with Automotive Businesses and their experiences with implementing new software systems and procedures.

Donnie-Smith.com In this video we are going to apply primer surfacer. The repair has already been cleaned, masked and sprayed with epoxy primer. Now the filler primer or primer surfacer ia applied to fill any scratched left by the sanding. Once the primer surfacer is applied, you can block sand the surface, which should be ready for sealer, paint and clear. If not, it may be necessary to repeat this step. The goal is to sand all of the guide coat off without sanding through the primer surfacer ot epoxy coatings. Step 1 – Mix the primer surfacer (most primer surfacers do NOT have an induction time. mix and spray) Step 2 – Read the procedure pages for specific recommendations. For the primer we used, the epoxy requires a flash time of 30 minutes. This means that the primer should dry for at least 30 minutes. However, this epoxy has a 72 hour window. This means that you have up to 72 hours to spray on top of it without sanding. If more than 72 hours has passed, you must scuff the panel to provide mechanical adhesion. Step 3 – Apply the primer to surface. Again, read your procedure pages. This primer state to apply to coats. Be sure to wait the recommended flash time between coats. Now allow the primer to dry thoroughly, before block sanding. The primer we used said to wait at least 3 hours, but I always like to wait longer to ensure it had adequate time to dry.

Automotive training used to be a more common part of our society. Shop class was a commonly offered elective in high schools nationwide, ensuring that most boys knew their way around a car’s engine bay. Additionally, cars relied more on mechanical principles, rather than computerized systems. As a result, when a car broke down, the owner was much more likely to know how to fix it themselves, or at least have a friend or a family member who could fix it for them.

The situation has changed dramatically over the years. Today’s cars are much more complex, and their owners are much less likely to have had any automotive training. As a result, dealerships and garages are repairing a higher percentage of cars than ever before, and mechanics’ rates have risen in accordance with the increased necessity of their services.

Those who dislike the situation have another option. With a little automotive training, most people can perform more of the routine maintenance on their cars, reducing the expenses associated with car maintenance and allowing them the satisfaction of a job well done.

An oil change is an example of routine maintenance that frequently costs car owners far more than they need to spend. An oil change is a fairly simple procedure in most cars, requiring only enough automotive training for the individual to know the location of the oil filter and drain plug. A basic car care class should teach car owners how to locate major components under the hood and perform simple maintenance tasks, as well as imparting valuable tips for beginning do-it-yourselfers. For example, a good introductory class should warn students to beware of screwing a bolt or screw in crooked, known as crossing the threads.  Read more...