Hamilton, Ontario — For a few too many shops, earning an OEM certification is treated like the end of a race; a free pass to take a foot off the gas and let the work roll in, but for truly top-shelf shops, like ProColor Collision Hamilton, a certification from Tesla marks the beginning of a journey of shop-wide education and skills development.
As of March 1, ProColor Collision Hamilton is the only facility in the city to earn the highly sought after approval from the EV industry’s biggest name, and co-owners Jasmin Sidhu and Sim Kalsi are trying to make the most out of it.
“Both my partner and myself, we’re looking to be a premier shop here in Hamilton,” said Sidhu, over the phone with Collision Repair.
The pair of young entrepreneurs envision their shop as a hub for luxury vehicle repairs in Hamilton’s downtown core. The first step to getting there? An equipment overhaul.
“The investment involved getting state-of-the-art technology in our shop, from car benches, to the aluminum repair station and making sure our paint booths are adequate,” she said.
Sidhu said the training requirements, despite being quite thorough, were contained within an overall very smooth application process.
“We had to get aluminum training certification, welding certification and also the training that Tesla provides themselves—they have estimating training, structural repair training—all online. There are about 12 or 13 modules per person,” said Sidhu.
“It was one of the fastest turnarounds for a luxury brand that we have ever had, and it was all virtual.”
All told, the application process for ProColor Collision Hamilton’s Tesla certification, from the initial application submission in late December to the final approval granted on March 1, took slightly over two months, and at no cost of travel or booking for in-person training sessions.
Sidhu says she is lucky to have a partner and a team who are so enthusiastic about working on cutting edge technology and facing challenges.
“It’s been a really good process because our technicians were able to get on board. When we first announced that we got Tesla approval and we’re going to go through with this, they were actually very excited because this would be something more challenging and they would be able to learn,” said Sidhu.
She says Kalsi even takes every opportunity to get right into the repairs and learn alongside his team.
“Any Tesla vehicle we get, my partner will still work on with the technicians, so that we can always keep learning.”
Sidhu says she and her young shop, all of whom are under the age of 30, are excited to continue on this journey into the EV space and establish themselves as a premier luxury repair facility in downtown Hamilton.
