WHY ROWC’S DIVERSITY CENSUS IS A FIRST FOR CANADA’S COLLISION REPAIR INDUSTRY
Canada’s collision repair industry repairs millions of vehicles each year, supports public safety and employs thousands of people. Yet it cannot answer a fundamental question: who actually works in this industry?
In Manitoba, collision repair has no central workforce registry. Trade certification is not mandatory and workers are not required to register to enter or remain in the field. As a result, no organization can confidently state how many people work in collision repair, what roles they hold or what the workforce looks like demographically. Th is gap has long constrained the industry’s ability to plan for labour shortages, training needs, succession and growth.
The Resource Organization for Women in Collision (ROWC) is a Manitoba-based, industry-driven organization that supports and connects women across collision repair. Its work spans all roles, from skilled trades to leadership, and focuses on visibility, advocacy and practical support in an industry where women’s contributions have too oft en gone unmeasured.
Early in its work, ROWC encountered a recurring challenge. Conversations about women in collision repair relied almost entirely on anecdotal experience. While many leaders sensed where representation gaps existed, no one could point to reliable data showing how many women worked in the industry, where they were employed or which roles they occupied. Existing datasets off ered only partial views: I-CAR tracks training participation, MPI sees facilities, claims and associations track member businesses, but none captures the full workforce.
ROWC recognized that meaningful support requires understanding who is being supported. Without baseline data, it is impossible to design eff ective mentorship programs, advocate for training investment or identify where barriers to entry and advancement exist. Like public policy, the collision repair industry first needed a headcount.
ROWC approached Manitoba Public Insurance (MPI) in July 2024 seeking funding for a provincial workforce survey. With labour pressures intensifying and no baseline data available, MPI’s support conferred critical credibility, positioning the census as a legitimate, sectorwide eff ort. MPI also provided in-kind support through industry access and communication channels, helping ensure broad participation and reinforcing Manitoba’s leadership in addressing workforce data gaps.
The Manitoba Motor Dealers Association (MMDA) and the Automotive Trades Association (ATA) also recognized the value of reliable workforce data and backed the initiative, reinforcing its relevance across dealerships, independent shops and the broader automotive sector.
KEY TAKEAWAY
21% ISN’T THE WHOLE STORY. WHERE WOMEN WORK MATTERS.
Women are well represented in administrative, customer service, HR and finance roles, but remain severely underrepresented on the shop floor. Addressing labour shortages and building a sustainable workforce will require targeted pathways, training and retention strategies focused specifically on collision, paint and mechanical trades — not just overall industry participation.
Executing a census in collision repair is uniquely difficult. Without a central registry or digital access to workers, employers remain the industry’s gatekeepers. ROWC relied on direct outreach, calls, hand-delivered surveys, onsite followups and manual data entry, to build trust and capture voices typically excluded from workforce data.
Additional complexity emerged in how work is defi ned. More than 140 unique job titles were reported, oft en describing similar responsibilities using different language. To analyze the data meaningfully, these titles had to be consolidated into broader functional categories without erasing the diversity of roles beyond traditional trade classifi cations. Privacy was also central: the survey was confidential and anonymous, with only aggregated results reported, an essential condition for participation in a closeknit industry.
Th e Manitoba Collision Industry Diversity Census launched in late May 2025 and remained open until February 2026. By its close, 1,791 employees across the province had participated. Th e initiative was positioned as a census rather than a simple survey, capturing structural data such as gender identity, age range, region of employment, industry segment and job role.
Women represent just over 4% of skilled mechanical trades and roughly 12% of collision and paint roles. Yet women account for 21% of the overall collision repair workforce, a figure driven largely by administrative and support positions. Th e data makes one point unmistakable: women are present in the industry, but not in the trades where hands-on repair work occurs.
For ROWC, the census provides a foundation for targeted programming, mentorship and advocacy grounded in evidence rather than perception. For the industry, it establishes a long-missing baseline: a shared understanding of who is doing the work today and where future efforts must focus.
This census is not an endpoint; it is a starting line. Industries that measure themselves demonstrate that their people matter. In an industry built on precision, accountability and safety, fi nally counting the workforce may be one of the most important repairs of all.
