Montreal trades school gets major Vast-Auto donation

From left, Patrick Dubois (marketing manager, Eastern Canada, Vast-Auto), Serge Gauthier (director, l’École des métiers de l’équipement motorisé de Montréal), Roger Goudreau (executive director, AIA Quebec Division) and Pierre Lafrance, marketing director, Vast-Auto).

Aspiring technicians in Montreal are getting a boost thanks to a donation from Vast-Auto Distribution.

Tools, parts and equipment totalling $210,000 were donated to l’École des métiers de l’équipement motorisé de Montréal, an automotive trades school.

The announcement was made under the radar as part of the company’s annual convention in Montreal Feb. 16-18.

“There is always a demand for gifts for students,” said Patrick Dubois, who spearheaded the project, with help from Roger Goudreau at the AIA Quebec division. “I thought it was good to offer something different to stand out from other networks while helping the school and students. At the industry level, there is also a need to enhance the image of the aftermarket. We often talk about dealers in schools, that’s fine, but we in the aftermarket are often forgotten. We need to have a better presence.”

• Read more about the convention including who took home prestigious awards here.

For the school, it’s a considerable gift.

“This is so much material that we will not need to buy. There are tools that are new,” said the school’s director Serge Gauthier.

The school gifts $10,000-$15,000 in tools every year for automotive students from vocational training centres across the city as part of a special gala every June. “We will have a supply of gifts to offer for many years because we have new pallets and tool pallets.”

The school typically gets about 10 damaged cars each year, typically from General Motors, valued at about $5,000 each, Gauthier said. The donation of tools from Vast-Auto is the biggest it has ever received, Gauthier said.

For Vast-Auto, according to Dubois, it’s the largest donation of this type the company has ever made.