If you run a dealership service department, you already know the technician shortage is one of the biggest obstacles in FIXED OPS today. Finding a technician shortage solution is critical. While the U.S. struggles to find and retain talent, Canada has quietly figured out a better way. And there are lessons here that every SERVICE MANAGER and FIXED OPS DIRECTOR should pay attention to.
The Technician Pipeline Problem
Let’s face it—fewer young people want to become technicians. Vocational programs in the U.S. have declined, kids are pushed toward four-year colleges, and when new techs do enter the workforce, they often find the job harder than expected.
The result? Burnout, turnover, and dealerships constantly scrambling to fill open stalls.
👉 Curious how to turn entry-level hires into long-term technicians who stay?
Read How to Train Quick Lube Techs into Master Technicians.
Canada’s Smarter Approach
In Canada, the system works differently. Dealers can sponsor skilled immigrants (many from places like the Philippines) to enter the country and train as technicians. Here’s why it works:
- Loyalty: Sponsored techs are committed to the dealer who brought them over.
- Standardization: Canada requires licensing and apprenticeships, ensuring every tech has a consistent skill base.
- Opportunity: These programs change lives, creating long-term gratitude and retention.
Dealers don’t just get more technicians—they get dedicated ones who are invested in the store’s success.
Why the U.S. Falls Behind
In the States, immigration policies and education gaps create a double problem:
- We won’t let skilled workers in.
- We stopped training on our own effectively.
Too many vocational programs were cut or underfunded. And even when schools promote the trade, they often oversell it, painting the role as an easy six-figure job right out of school. New hires hit reality quickly and quit.
The Fix for Dealers Right Now
While you may not be able to change U.S. immigration policy on your own, you can:
- Build strong in-house career paths for your techs.
- Set realistic expectations with new hires.
- Partner with local vocational schools.
- Focus on creating systems and mentorship so young techs stay and grow.
💡 Service Manager Tip: Stop thinking only about filling stalls today. Start building systems to grow technicians over the long term. Retention always beats replacement.
⚙️ Leadership Shift: Build vs. Borrow Talent
If you’re a U.S. SERVICE MANAGER, waiting for the education system—or immigration policy—to fix the technician shortage will keep you stuck. Canada proves the real advantage isn’t just borrowing talent, it’s building it.
Top-performing leaders don’t just recruit; they develop. They design mentorship programs, pair new techs with veterans, and measure progress the same way they track CSI or ELR. When your culture becomes a training ground, turnover stops being your #1 problem—and starts becoming your competitive edge.
🔥 The big lesson? Canada proves the technician crisis isn’t unsolvable—it just requires better strategy, structure, and leadership.
Full Video Transcript
Welcome to the big show. Today we’re going to talk about what does Canada do better. And you might be thinking something else than what we’re going to actually talk about. It might surprise you, but it’s going to be really good. We talk about the news. Christian has a new way of doing the news. It’s very cutting-edge technology, high-tech stuff. Most people don’t have this technology.
And we talk about something that we’re thinking about doing that affects everybody in our program, I would say. And much more coming up on this edition of Service Drive Evolution.
[Music]
In the past, we’ve done a service manager challenge. I gave a Jeep away, given $50,000 away a couple times, $25,000. And the contest is kind of like the managers in our program are competing against themselves, like your numbers against your numbers, and whoever gets the most increase, right? So, last time I gave away my Jeep. So, I had one of those Jeep pickup trucks.
You loved driving that thing.
The thing was so fun. We had a bunch of sponsors. They lift kit, wheels, like all gun rack.
It was cool.
It actually wasn’t a gun rack, but I wanted one. That thing was fun. Especially living in LA, driving a truck. Like, you scare people.
In your car now, you look comfortable, but in the Jeep, you look like you’re having an event. It was a thing for you. You actually drove down the road with a little smile on your face. It was kind of fun to watch.
It was great. You felt like you were high up there, too. It was like a monster truck.
You were. You created that.
But we have been flirting with the idea of bringing it back but making it service and parts. So, thing being thrown around is two Corvettes.
Okay.
And so, we’d get two Corvettes. One would be for the parts manager, one would be for the service manager. You know how in truck we did the training for parts and service managers kind of together. We called it Between Two Flames, I think.
Yeah, Between Two Fires. Really fun to do.
Yeah. And the idea is that the parts and service managers are stronger together. And we were trying to create a scenario where they kind of were forced to learn each other’s departments and then hoping that there would be an appreciation for each and they’d be closer, which worked.
Yeah, it worked really well. Now, what if we did that, but there was a prize like a Corvette in it for them to work together? Maybe it’s the same kind of measurables, but there’s a measurable of their S-POP, where it’s the service and parts profit combined. Like that could be one of the measurables. So they’re working together. Three different measurables, well, probably more than three. Like you’d throw customer satisfaction there, too. But like, yeah. Okay. So, it would be like a whole scoreboard of things, and then the parts and service manager or team. So, it wouldn’t be a parts manager from one dealership and then a service manager from another. It’s the team. Okay. Now, all right. I’m smelling what you’re doing. Now, I don’t know, maybe that doesn’t work. I don’t know. Maybe that’s too much because some people have a hard time bonding parts and service managers. But overall, I think it would be a fun thing. It would bring the departments together, too, right?
And so what we would do is we would buy two Corvettes, and then I would drive one and you would drive one for a year or whatever. We’d go from Top Dog to Top Dog.
Would it be okay for me to apologize now to the winner of the one that…
Yeah. So this was the thing that I was thinking is because really what it says is that parts is less important if they get the car you drove for a year. That’s not the message we want to send.
Oh, goodness gracious. Could you imagine? Like, they’re like, “Oh, yeah, thanks for the car.” But the wheels are all scuffed.
There’s only one.
How many times is that bumper replaced?
Imagine we have to send it to the body shop before we hand it over.
We have to give like a disclaimer. And then the only thing with mine is maybe it smells like cigars a little.
Yeah, that’d be it. Well, you know how I feel about the new Corvettes. Like, they’re pretty freaking awesome. I love. But that would be like maybe the one I drive goes to parts and the one you drive goes to service, but then the service guys are going to be upset. We can’t buy three Corvettes to give two away. That doesn’t make sense.
Or, well, we could incorporate body shops and then mine goes to the body shop and it’s already ready to go in.
Oh my goodness gracious. That would be a lot of fun. I love the idea of time together. I don’t think I’ve ever told you this before, but I did this when I was in a dealership. I had a parts and service manager challenge that me and my parts manager did, and we won. It was a Rolex. We both got matching Rolexes.
You have a Rolex?
I do.
Oh, wow. Why don’t you ever wear it?
Because I’m in Los Angeles and I don’t want to get mugged.
Oh. Is it like that nice?
Yeah.
Like, how much is it worth?
10 grand, probably.
Oh, yeah. Before that contest, we barely spoke. Like, we talked at the monthly meetings, the manager meetings, but we didn’t.
Yeah, see, it works.
But we had to strategize, and like we were in there.
Brings people together like a common goal.
Yeah. So, we had a common goal. We both won. There was like two or three stores in the country that won the award, and we were one of them. Until you said that Corvette thing. I’m like, “Oh, wait. That sounds…”
How many parts managers would rather have a Rolex than the Corvette you’re going to drive if we do it?
Most of them. Also, your color choices are a little sketchy.
I’ve got a thing, and you keep trying to correct me on it, but I like red more than I should because isn’t red like mistrust, or like what are all the things the psychological things that you tell me about red? But I love…
Well, in America, red is stop.
Yeah, for sure. Okay. So, that’s part of the problem.
Then it’s fire.
Yeah. Then it’s Satan.
But it also is very noticeable.
Yeah. Isn’t the most pulled over car is a red car?
I don’t know if that’s accurate.
No. That could be an old wives tale. I mean, do we really think our government’s capable of tracking that?
No.
If they are, they should worry about other stuff.
Yeah, that’s funny. Yeah, you would think that I’d remember all that stuff because I don’t know if you know this, I have a photographic memory. I just ran out of film.
Makes sense. So, we’re thinking about that. I think that could be fun. Love to hear in the comments. See what people think. Like, I bet people do a lot of stuff for a Corvette. Like, they would move some mountains for that thing.
Yeah. The only thing that’s hard is somebody has to win it and that’s the hard part.
It’s hard to see those people leave after the event that didn’t win.
Yes.
I don’t know how to fix that or to think about it. Maybe we should have bigger prizes for second and third.
Yeah. But there’s also a thing where, like, then I get spider tingles on the other side because I don’t know that the participation trophy era is helpful either. Right. I get it. I think I get it. Why participation trophies exist?
Because of me.
Yes.
That’s not where I was headed with that. But so funny. Okay. What’s in the news?
All right. So, we’re trying. But, by the way, my color Corvette, I would get the convertible and I would get that baby blue.
That’s so nice.
Yeah. I don’t think that car looks so good with that color. I think that car looks better with lighter colors. The lines look better.
Yeah. I don’t normally like this color on cars, but I loved on the Corvette. There’s like a yellow color and then like you can get it with black accents. Really cool head turner. Like a Corvette’s a head turner anyways. But I was looking, too, like the Bose stereo. I think the upgrade is 24 speakers. How do you put 24 speakers in that little cockpit?
I don’t know. There’s no world where I could ever imagine there being a car stereo that would work for your audio file ears.
Really?
Yeah. I think that you have a really good pallet for sound and I think cars keep getting worse.
So, last night sitting in front of the stereo, I go through Cubs and like they’ll have like playlists that are like hi-fi, you know? So, I’m sitting in front of the stereo, and if you don’t know, I have a pretty nice stereo at home, and this is like my wind-down routine. And this suggested song comes up. So, the playlist, no joke. So, the playlist is called 1972, the album’s golden year.
Ooh.
Who was born in 1972?
You.
Me? And evidently, I was born in the album’s golden year. It all makes sense. Then in the playlist is a song by the Almond Brothers called what?
Melissa.
Wow.
So, she was in bed already.
Did you wake her up to tell her about this?
She wasn’t asleep. She was doing what people her age do, looking at TikTok or whatever. But I told her.
I like when you say something like people her age.
I told her all about it. And then this morning on the way to the gym, I put it on in the Range Rover and it was great.
Okay. So, you like the Range Rover audio system?
It’s hard to make an audio system with glass. Most of the speakers just have to be pointed right at you because when the sound bounces around glass, it’s not the same as like a listening room. There’s a disadvantage to audio in a car.
Yeah, so that’s it’s not your fault.
24 speakers might fix that.
Maybe. It seems like a very small cockpit for 24 speakers.
Tesla does a good job with it. The Tesla has…
Your car has a nice sound system.
And also I think what’s happening in the Tesla, I could be wrong, but I’m pretty sure, is it’s noise cancelling at the same time.
That’s pretty cool. Yeah. How I describe your listening pallet to other people is it’s like it’s the difference between going and watching something in IMAX is like your home system, and then going to like the regular theater and just watching a movie.
My home stereo is an experience. You’re not listening to music. You’re experiencing it. It’s another…
Isn’t it the best way?
It’s a thing that people don’t even know exists.
Yeah. Isn’t it the best way to get people not to talk?
Oh, for sure.
Yeah.
That and really good food. One of the two.
Oh, yeah.
But it is an experience. And like it doesn’t matter, like you can take your favorite song that you’ve heard thousands of times, and if there’s a hi-fi version of it or have it on vinyl, and the vinyl’s good, it will be like the first time you ever heard that song. It’s crazy.
Most recent where I heard it two different times was a Zack Bryan album where I’d heard it on my iPhone and then on your system. The whole it sounded like a different album. It was so crazy.
It’s nuts.
I love it. Especially vinyl.
Yes.
What’s in the news?
Okay. So, we got a new format. So, I used to like go through and research and print up stories and all that other stuff. We’re not like this is live to the minute kind of news like as we’re filming. So Ford has issued over 30 recalls since last May. See if your car is on the list. Now, here at Service Drive Revolution, we’re not just trying to provide you with news or anything like that. We actually want to make a difference in your life. So I’ll save you. You don’t have to read this article, but I’m going to give you the instructions on how to figure out whether or not your vehicle is included in the recalls. Okay? So, if you’re in your car now, get out. Go to the front. If you have a blue oval that says Ford in the middle, your call is included in the recall.
Jeez Louise.
But I just they I I read this in a different article earlier today. They they broke their record in July of most recalls in one month. I thought that was interesting. Crazy.
This next one you have to you have to play with me on this. I hope that you get a lot of these right, but it’s 13 of the longest-running nameplates in automotive history. So, they’re ranked newest to oldest. And when I say nameplate, it’s the brand and the model. So, for example, Ford Mustang.
Yes. So, and let’s see if that’s on the top 13. Survey says it is in fact on the list of the cars that have had the longest run. And so then is Corvette on there? Yep. Chevy Corvette.
So 1964 is the Mustang.
You’re going to be blown away by this. Chevy Corvette is number three on the list.
1956?
Three.
Good job. There’s another one I think is kind of a layup. It’s by a brand that has had a lot of trouble with recalls. Ford.
Yep. Is it the F-150?
Yeah. So the F-series is basically they count that. So F-series trucks been made since 1948.
Just after World War II.
I love Ford trucks.
People love them a lot. Okay, let’s go to, kind of up your area. If there was a BMW on the list, what do you think it would be?
Would it be the three?
Five.
The five.
Five is 72.
Do they make the three anymore?
Yep.
I saw like the big thing now is like the M4.
M4. So, that was the same chassis that mine was, but with a beefed up engine. But they have, believe it or not, they have one, two, three, four, and five, and six. So they’ve added more models. Okay. Competitor of BMW.
Mercedes.
It’s a Mercedes. And then think of a model of Mercedes that probably has been around for a long time.
S is an S-Class 1972.
I’m good at this.
Yes, you’re very good at this. Okay. The people’s car and a sport where you wear ugly pants.
What country is the people’s car from?
Germany.
Is it the Volkswagen Pug?
Volkswagen Golf.
Golf.
That was the P. How long have they been making the Golf?
I was two.
I was unborn.
Did you know 1972 was the year of the album?
I just learned that today, believe it or not. And also, your birth year was when they came out with the five series and the S-Class.
I wasn’t I wasn’t aware of that. Another 1972 from Honda. This should be a slam dunk for you.
Civic.
Yep. Man, you’re really good at this. Okay, this is kind of cool that this car is this old, but you see a lot of them on the road. Made by Toyota. Probably one of the first compact cars.
Camry.
Corolla.
Corolla. The oldest is the one that surprised me the most. And I want you to prepare for this. It is a Chevrolet and it is an SUV. A very large SUV. Well, the only Chevy SUV is the Suburban, isn’t it? Or the Tahoe.
They have a Tahoe, and the Suburban is the oldest nameplate that’s on the road today. This is going to blow you away. They’ve been making that thing since 1935.
Wow.
Pre-World War II. Amazing.
Okay, so that was just a car geek thing for a little bit. Other stuff in the news, just kind of letting everybody knows, Stellantis is going to hit a 1.5 billion euro hit from tariffs. That’s how much that’s going to cause that company. There was a thing that you and I are talking about the other day is remembering that automakers are global, not North America or United States. Like Porsche was talking about that they’re going to have to do cutbacks because they’ve had such a reduction in their sales. But in North America, it’s blowing up. But America is not the promised land of automobile sales. Not, I would say it’s probably not even close. China is the battleground. So, the companies that are struggling in China are pulling back. Let’s see. Brembbo’s going down. The brake people. Tremendous news for Chris and I. We’re very worried about this. The EPA is proposing gutting its greenhouse gas rules.
Like if you’re looking for some light reading, I think that’s a thing. But yeah, that’s what’s in the news today. That was kind of fun. We covered a lot of news articles in a short amount of time. Technology.
Okay, I think this one’s funny, but it’s very true. What does Canada do better than the United States? Their ability to import talent for technicians.
Yeah. So, this is not a political conversation whatsoever. And wherever your politics land is fine by us, even if you’re wrong.
But it’s fine by us.
That was great.
Yeah, it’s fine. The thing is, like, I just think about this all the time, is we need techs. The kids coming up don’t want to be techs. Also, in other industries like shipbuilding, we need welders. Like we need people that will do those sort of jobs and will like it, and it gives them an opportunity. And in Canada, they allow you to hire people from other countries, like the Philippines, and bring them over as techs. And a couple things happen with that is, one is if you sponsor them, they’re very loyal to you. That’s right. And there’s a term to the program. So you have them for a certain amount of time, no matter what. Second of all, is then they have the ability to bring their families. It’s life-changing for them in a sense. The program is very successful. It’s a win-win on both sides. I can’t think of anything bad about it. Can you?
No. I think that the other thing I really like about it is that technicians I know I know that probably I would guess that the Canadians think this is a pain, but I think I love the standardization of it is that you have to be licensed to be a technician, which means you have to go through like a two-year kind of apprenticeship in order to do that. But so you bring the immigrant over, put them through that thing, then they graduate and then become a skilled person, and then like they look at you as the person that gave their family and themselves freedom and opportunity. They’re not going anywhere.
Yeah. I would guess that on a couple occasions to figure out a way here where we could set up vocational schools and even worked with a couple manufacturers that would sponsor the vocational schools in Mexico, have the students graduate and then be adopted up here. And you can’t. There’s no lawyer that I’ve been able to find that can make it work here in the US.
Yeah. And it’s ridiculous.
It seems like such a great solution.
It’s nuts. But yeah, that’s definitely one of the things that they do better. You know what else they do better?
What’s that stuff called that Vicki loves? Poutine.
So gross. But yeah, that’s the place you can get poutine. I think that they’re also…
Norm Macdonald.
Rest his soul. So many good stories that Norm has about being in Canada, but he’s Canadian. Like they produce…
Super Canadian.
They produce the one of the best comics ever.
I agree. But they’re also way better at Tire Season.
Oh yeah, for sure.
Like they’ve got the tire thing.
Almost out of necessity.
Yeah. Well, out of necessity, but they definitely like you can see the halves and the halves not there. Like the ones that are figuring out, like storage of tires for retention purposes. Like they’ve got that figured out way better than we do in the States. There’s a few other things, but the technician thing pops out the most. So great that you could have an opportunity there. It’s a game-changer. If anybody listening to this knows something that I haven’t thought of, please reach out and let me know.
Yeah, because we like I do have the ability to function in Mexico. I understand how to I grew up there, right? So I kind of understand the game. It’s just the way the immigration is. It’s, you know, I don’t know, like politically or whatever. You have the past administration that just let people come in, which is a total disaster and a mess. You have a bunch of people here now that are working that should, you know, aren’t legally supposed to be here. And whatever all that is, there’s a group of people that would love to do the jobs, would love to learn that you could bring, but because of the other issue, it gets kind of thrown in there, and then you just have people far right or far left. Nobody’s in the middle talking about the opportunity, right? So, I think that that’s one of the things that’s difficult for me to understand is that we’ve got that mess, right? And we also at the same time like vocations in our education system went to crap. So like, we won’t let someone else come in and do it, but we also didn’t teach ourselves how to do it. Like…
Our vocational schools were struggling.
Yeah. Well, I think that there’s a few making a comeback. I did see that when I was looking at the news, like a community college that I went to for a semester, they built their own program, and that guy just won an award. The guy that built it. But like trying to put this is a Chicagoland area. Like trying to put kids through vocational school right out of high school. I think that that’s a wonderful thing to see that that’s growing because I feel like everybody just kaibosed their plans. So it’s good to see that I think it’s making a comeback, but not at the rate that we need technicians. There’s no way we don’t do that without help.
Yeah. And also like one one part of the vocational thing here that could be better, is we overpromise these kids what it’s going to be like when they get on the line. Like they’re trying so hard to sell it that they’re overpromising it. So you get these kids that come, you hire and they come to work and they think that the job is easier than it is.
It’s a they think it’s a six-figure job out of the school.
Yeah. And so that’s the other part is we’re kind of misrepresenting what it is too in a sense. But you know that’s by degree depending on where and how and all that. It’s not an absolute.
Exceptionably fixable.
Yeah.
So that’s not even that hard of a fix. It’s just kind of the tell the truth and career pathing and everything like that. There’s a lot of opportunity there. But yeah, but invitation if anybody has any ideas how we could navigate that or a different approach would be great. But that’s our thoughts on what Canada does better.
Oh, Canada. See you next time on Service Drive Revolution. Thanks so much for watching this episode of Service Job Revolution. We’re uploading new stuff every day, so make sure you subscribe and click the bell icon so you don’t miss out. If you have a question you’d like us to answer on the show, call 833-3-ASK-SDR and we’ll answer your question on the show. That’s 833-3-ASK-SDR. For special deals on our books and training, head over to offers.chriscollinsinc.com. Now that’s offers.chriscollinsinc.com. I’m Chris Collins, and I’ll see you in the next video.
🔗 Related Resources:
- Top Fixed Ops Performers: What Car Dealership Service Managers and Advisors Do Differently
- The 9 Reasons Why Service Managers Fail (And How to Avoid Them)
Feel free to explore the linked articles above for deeper insights into each strategy. If you have any further questions or need additional resources, don’t hesitate to ask!
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