From August 20-22, CARSTAR Canada hosted its 2025 Rise Conference at the Westin Harbour Castle in Toronto. Over 500 attendees, including CARSTAR franchisees and corporate team members, as well as vendor partners and other industry stakeholders attended and what a conference it was.

Leadership update

Day two began with a leadership update from Dave Foster, SVP of Operations and Development. Foster provided insight into CARSTAR’s 2025 key metrics, showing key objectives going forward and what was required to both meet and exceed those targets. Foster outlined several critical areas for growth and engagement: These range from improving performance and profitability to expanding new unit growth, as well as enhancing CARSTAR’s regional meetings, and strengthening education and mentorship programs. Foster stressed that today, more than ever, the CARSTAR network, must rally around these initiatives to maintain and elevate it’s industry-leading position.

Shifting demands

Next up was Ryan Mandell, Director of Claims Performance at Mitchell who delivered a keynote address. Always incredibly insightful, Mandell didn’t disappoint, taking a good look at current collision repair trends and what shops must do to stay ahead in fast changing landscape. Mandell discussed shifting demands of the collision repair industry and how the “shop of the future” can adapt and thrive in this fast-paced and frequently unpredictable environment.

EDGE Performance update

Following Ryan’s keynote session, CARSTAR Zone Directors and event Emcees  Collin Welsh and Andrew Northrup, took the stage to provide the audience with information on the latest updates to the EDGE Performance Platform. They shared new tools and resources available to franchise partners, all-designed to help drive performance in today’s increasingly competitive and results-focused environment.

Day two also provided the first round of informative breakout sessions. These were designed to provide attendees with the opportunity to dive into highly practical, shop-level topics. These day two sessions covered everything from estimating strategies and OEM repair support to the Qapter Estimating system and updates from the CARSTAR Store Advisory Council. The conversations sparked in these rooms continued well beyond the sessions, setting the tone for ongoing learning and collaboration throughout the rest of the conference.

On-site vendor expo

The second day of CARSTAR Rise 2025 concluded with on-site Vendor Expo. This represented an amazing opportunity for attendees to connect with the vendor partners and key stakeholders that are integral to CARSTAR’s success. Multiple product and solution demonstrations, as well as ample networking and business discussions ensured the Vendor Expo delivered exceptional value, offering the chance to learn, engage, and strengthen the relationships that support CARSTAR’s entire network.

Stay tuned to Autosphere.ca for more coverage.