SAAR AGM TACKLES BUSINESS TRANSITIONS
A keynote on succession planning set the tone at the Saskatchewan Association of Automotive Repairers’ 2026 spring AGM and conference, which focused on how unprepared many business owners remain for leadership transition.
“Our keynote speaker, Tom Deans, absolutely knocked it out of the park,” said Tom Bissonnette, SAAR executive director and conference organizer, writing in the association's circular. He said the estate planning advisor “talked for 90 minutes straight without notes or PowerPoint and had everybody absolutely riveted.”
Deans’ message centred on the risks of failing to plan ahead, particularly for shop owners with accumulated assets and businesses tied to family outcomes.
“His talk was aimed mainly at business owners, but pretty much anybody who has created any kind of wealth portfolio would be well advised to at least read his books or attend one of his speaking engagements,” Bissonnette told Collision Repair.
He noted that Deans’ presentation included one suggestion many collision business owners have failed to heed: to ensure their successor is appointed prior to their death. “The one key thing I heard is that you need to have a will and share what’s in it with your family before anything goes sideways.”
Similar themes emerged during the panel that followed the keynote, which brought together Darren Ulmer of White Owl Financial, Regina financial planner Mike Spicer and Mackenzie Tulloch of McDougall Gauley LLP to discuss estate planning, financial transparency and other legal considerations tied to ownership transition. Discussions later in the conference shifted toward operational pressures, particularly Saskatchewan Government Insurance’s planned Parts Autonomy program.
“The Parts Autonomy program has a number of people concerned because they’re not sure how this change is going to affect their business,” Bissonnette told Collision Repair. The program, already in place in Manitoba, is designed to give shops more flexibility in parts sourcing if they meet insurer targets, but requires closer tracking of parts performance. SGI vice-president Ciaran Downes told attendees the insurer is facing financial pressure, with no rate increases since 2014 limiting room for additional compensation to repairers.
Despite that, recent discussions resulted in measures including paid time for OEM repair planning, funding for training and a 4.5% increase in door rates over three years.
“We have a good working relationship with SGI and we need to understand that we have to work with them for everybody to be sustainable,” Bissonnette told Collision Repair. Training and workforce development were also emphasized throughout the event. About 130 students took part in Friday sessions on ADAS and plastic repair at Peacock High School. Kelly Roberts, the performance engineering director of BETAG North America and a widely respected voice in the Canadian collision industry, was among those who delivered training sessions during the event.
“The feedback that we received from all of the training attendees was super positive, especially with the students participating at the Peacock training events,” Bissonnette wrote. Additional sessions featured Scott Sinclair of I-CAR Canada on training needs, and presentations from PPG’s Tom Parnell and Manitoba shop owner Norm Bruneau covering shop financials and operations.
The event concluded with a banquet recognizing past president Terry Beattie. Bissonnette noted in the circular that the association’s next event will be a golf tournament in June and added it may be his final one as organizer.
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