CFCRA is now CFI Canada, too
The CFCRA has signed a contract with the International Certified Flooring Installers Association (CFI) to hold their classes in Canada. This is part of the international expansion of the CFI where they have not only expanded into Canada, but into China as well.
This launch of the CFI in Canada fills a large void in the training of floor covering installers and their ability to receive internationally recognized and world-class installation training. Up until now, to get proper flooring installation training, you either had to travel to the U.S. to take the CFI classes, or you had to take a manufacturer’s class or you had to take an INSTALL class run by the carpenter’s union. With the proper support from our industry partners, provincial trade associations, large flooring retail chains and flooring manufacturers I feel we cannot fail.
Luckily for us, we do have significant support from the flooring retailers. Baxter Freake, the vice president of Carpet One Canada, has said their group will give whole-hearted support to the program, and they are offering their members incentives to attend. Alexanian’s in Ontario and Aktas Flooring in Alberta have also shown great interest and indicated they will support the program. This all before we even have announced the training schedule!
After we have our local instructors approved as CFI instructors at our initial classes in Mississauga, we will be offering to hold the CFI classes to our regional trade association friends for their own benefit.
Let’s face it: We all need these classes. The lack of formal training of our carpet and hard-surface flooring installers is costing a lot of people a lot of money. I feel it’s fairly safe to say that there is a significant risk for most consumers in Canada that buy floor coverings, that their new flooring is not being installed properly. This issue is causing flooring to fail and be replaced long before they should have to be replaced.
I also know that many manufacturers are thrilled that the CFI classes are coming to Canada. The lack of training causes a lot of issues for the flooring manufacturers. We hope to receive even more support from them and their distributors.
The Canadian lead trainers will be Jack Pilcher of Canuck Flooring, who is a long-time flooring installation instructor at INSTALL; Drew Kern of Infinity Claims Management Solutions, who is a long time NWFA instructor; and Clayton Leckie of Ardex Canada. Mark Aydin will be training to be an instructor as well.
The classes will be held the last two weeks of April 2018 in Mississauga, Ont. There are grants available to cover the entire costs of the training as well. Speak to Sharon Fenton at our office for more information on the classes and the grants available. Sharon can be reached at [email protected].
The CFCRA is also moving ahead with the IICRC Wood Floor Maintenance Technician (WFMT) technical training with Roy Reichow coming to town. We will also be holding a Basics Coatings Tykote hands-on training class the day before. This happens the last week of March 2018.
As the president of the CFCRA, I would like to extend our hand in friendship to anybody in the flooring industry who would like to get involved with furthering information-sharing and education of flooring products beneficial to our industry. We want to bring the education that is so desperately needed to Canada so we can raise the bar of our installation quality and product knowledge of flooring products. Feel free to reach out to me at [email protected].