On the heels of presentations at the Right to Repair Global meeting, held in September at Automechanika Frankfurt, AIA Canada
president and CEO JF Champagne says initiatives here are positive but at a critical stage.

With progress and Quebec, and a Bill C-244, vital to the foundations of a national Right to Repair Rule, ending its progress, things are at a critical stage for Right to Repair in Canada’s automotive aftermarket.

Speaking on The Great Canadian Aftermarket Podcast, Champagne laid out the bottom line for the aftermarket in Canada.

“You have to understand that the automakers could, through limitations to access to telematics data and so on, make it so that while aftermarket [service providers] might be able to have access, they would do so only under the premise of buying OE parts.

“They would now have control over what kind of parts go into a repair process. And that’s really what we need to understand: ultimately, we are going to continue to have just as many repair shops in the aftermarket, but they might not have the choice as to which tool they use, what process and what parts they use.

“And that’s really what this whole fight is all about. And when you go back and ask consumers, more than nine out of 10 Canadians will consistently tell us, ‘Yeah, I want the choice as to where I go, what part I use.’ And that’s ultimately what drives our whole success, here and around the world.”

Listen to the whole conversation BELOW ON THIS PAGE or on APPLE PODCASTS or SPOTIFY.