Canadian Training Program Being Developed By Traci Matt Mike Athay, president of Oakville Starter Alternator, Ltd. in Oakville, Ontario and past president of the Au- tomotive Electric Rebuilders Associa- tion of Canada (A.E.R.A.C.) has agreed to chair a committee to orga- nize a training and certificate program. “Training has been an issue in our industry for many, many years. Having such a certificate is very helpful to ev- erybody, not only the owner, but also the rebuilder/technician,” said Athay. “We want to try to give some credibil- ity to the industry. Let’s face it, we’re specialists, we should be able to charge like specialists.” The committee’s first action is to find out if there’s interest in such a program. “The first thing we’ve decided to do is survey members to ensure this is what they want and they will support it,” he said. The call will go out in the next A.E.R.A.C. newsletter. A gov- ernment-sanctioned home study pro- gram which had previously been avail- able to electrical rebuilders in Canada has died out due to lack of interest. According to Athay, one of the main obstacles was the $1,100 price tag. Although it was “spread out over a number of years,” not enough people took advantage of it. The proposed course will consist of two parts—written material and a mul- tiple-choice exam. Study and exams will be available at the rebuilder’s place of business and will be forwarded to the A.E.R.A.C. business office for evaluation. To maintain integrity, ques- tions will vary from exam to exam mak- ing it difficult to pass answers on to other applicants. A passing grade will result in a Certificate of Achievement being issued. “This will really sort the wheat from the shaft,” said Athay. “There are those of us who like to do a thorough job, but unfortunately there are those who want to put something out there cheap, cheap, cheap, and if it lasts 30 days they are happy. We have to do some- thing to stabilize the industry.” Athay says this course will not be for the newcomer, but will require some shop experience. Any A.E.R.A.C. member in good standing who has been in business for a mini- mum of five years will be allowed to take the exam without studying the written material. This offer will be avail- able at a reduced rate. Failure to pass will result in the member registering for the complete course and paying the full rate with no monetary compensation for the original failed exam. No timetable or pricing structure has been established yet. The committee is currently meeting to develop study material and will continue to do so if sufficient interest is expressed from A.E.R.A.C. members. MARCH, 2001 Page 1 of 1