Manitoba's Cassandra Foy and Ontario's Peyton Miller Plante claimed gold in the post-secondary and secondary car painting competitions, respectively, at the 2026 Skills Canada National Competition.
The national event challenged competitors through a series of refinishing and surface preparation projects designed to reflect the demands of modern collision repair facilities. Over 12 hours, students were evaluated on their understanding of car painting procedures and their ability to complete refinishing tasks safely, accurately and professionally.
Competitors were required to clean and prepare vehicle panels for paint application, mix and apply undercoats and topcoats, perform minor damage repairs and refinish a variety of substrates. They also demonstrated colour-matching skills using manufacturer paint chips, tinted colours to achieve blendable matches and, in one challenge, created a colour without relying on a formula. Additional tasks included masking for refinish work, removing paint defects and applying decals or paint protection film.
The largest portion of the competition score came from the paint project itself, worth 30% of the overall mark. Judges also assessed competitors on prepping and masking, colour tinting projects, polishing and paint protection film application, as well as their overall work practices.
Skills Canada's car painting competition is designed to assess the refinishing knowledge, colour-matching abilities and surface preparation techniques required in today's collision repair industry. Competitors were judged on the quality of their finished work along with their ability to follow professional procedures and industry best practices throughout the competition.
Car Painting medalists
Post-secondary
Gold: Cassandra Foy, Manitoba
Silver: Tommy Michaud, New Brunswick
Bronze: Emily Frick, British Columbia
Secondary
Gold: Peyton Miller Plante, Ontario
Silver: Davis Schneider, Manitoba
Bronze: Harkirat Vilkhu, British Columbia
