The 411 on 410N

Do you have a trusted, skilled painter on your staff roster? If not, you better get to brushing up. It’s a secret to none that Canada’s automotive aftermarket is in the drawls of a skills shortage—and painters are no exception. In a July survey issued by Collision Repair magazine, more than 65 percent of Canadian collision owners found themselves lacking a qualified workforce in 2020.

In other words, only 35 percent felt they had the help required to persist through the pandemic. The top priority for these collision centre owners? Hiring. And now. The pandemic forced owners to make difficult cuts in countless departments, but with repair volumes creeping back to normal, Canada’s collision shops need help.

“We need certified refinishers, yesterday,” said one anonymous respondent. Thankfully, SATA Canada is here to help. The paint equipment giant now offers an eight-week course in Automotive Refinishing (Trade Code 410N) from its Vaughan, Ontario training centre.

The course, designed for anyone and everyone interested in a future in automotive painting, is delivered over eight weeks of five days a week of in-class learning at SATA Canada’s training centre in Vaughan, Ontario.

Following completion of the course, graduates will receive their Ontario 410N certification—which is the equivalent of the Automotive Refinishing Technician Red Seal certs. Students must end the course with a grade of 70 percent or higher in both the practical and theory segments.

For registered Ontario apprentices, the government will cover the cost required for that apprentice to enroll in SATA Canada’s 410N course. Over eight weeks, SATA’s students will learn all the comprehensive automotive painting knowledge required to work in a collision centre setting. From safety, respirator and compressor awareness, detailing, prep work, paint repair and finally, refinishing, John Turner, general manager of SATA Canada, says completion of 410N will equip graduates with all the skills necessary to succeed in automotive painting, and more.

“It’s going to deliver the same skillset and the knowledge that an automotive painter would receive in the 310B course,” said John Turner, general manager of SATA Canada, in reference to Trade Code 310B, a three-year program that teaches a spectrum of autobody and collision damage repair skills and includes the training for 410N.

SATA Canada’s program came to life after the Ontario government approached SATA Canada in search of a partner in comprehensive automotive painting training. With a state-of-the-art training centre at its disposal SATA Canada happily obliged, gaining official status as a training delivery agent from the Ontario Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development in January 2020.

“Our 410N course is for everyone,” said Turner. “It’s geared toward women who want to enter the automotive painting industry. It’s geared towards the high school student that has no idea what they want to do. It’s for the person sweeping the floor in the bodyshop, yearning to get their hands on a spray gun.” If interested, SATA suggests you better get going—the company’s next course will run from October 25th to December 17th and space is limited. You must be booked into this class no later than September 30th, 2021 to participate.

To start an Ontario apprenticeship program, apply at: https://www.ontario.ca/page/start-apprenticeship#section-9