Mechanics, body work talent are building the future as part of new Coventry team development program

“It is never boring. Every day is different; it’s amazing how much I am learning every day,” says Darrien Trombley.

Trombley is the first apprentice mechanic sponsored by Coventry Connections in its 2023 program to build its automotive maintenance team through recruitment, apprenticeship and outreach including co-op programs.

“And to be truthful, my girlfriend is a lot happier now that I have regular hours and am home in good time every evening,” he laughs. His last job in delivery had a seven-day per week schedule.

Now, Trombley is officially an apprentice in Ontario’s apprenticeship program, working under supervision at 455 Coventry Road Ottawa; he will report to classes at Algonquin College in September and be back at work in the garage from Monday to Friday 9a.m. to 5p.m. and  Saturday, 9a.m. to noon.

Coventry Connections is Ontario’s foremost provider of ground transportation services. It provides taxis, limousines, accessible transportation and courier services in Ottawa, Niagara, and several other regions. Fully-trained drivers and state-of-the-art technologies allow Coventry to provide online order-taking, dispatch, billing and transportation management services to thousands of client accounts and individual customers 24/7/365.

“My sponsorship by Coventry is official, and my binder is at Algonquin now, that feels good,” he says, adding that most of his friends are also in mechanics programs and that they all share contacts and experiences.

He notes that a tremendous amount of the work done daily involves the computerized components of the vehicles: “I would say, the scanner comes out about three in every five cars, maybe even four in five. So, while we are definitely doing a lot of mechanical work – shocks and struts, brakes, tire changes – there is a lot of technology involved as well. I’ll be studying all of that, between school at Algonquin and work at Coventry.”

While in most cases Trombley works on tasks assigned by his garage supervisor “already in some cases, I am dealing directly with the vehicle owner. That is great experience, too.”

Coventry Connections is working directly with school boards and co-op programs in Ottawa, Belleville, Durham and Niagara to identify students keen to prepare for careers in automotive.

“So far, the experience has been fantastic,” says Marc Andre Way, CEO of Coventry. “Every school board we’ve talked to has worked quickly to help us make connections with candidate students. As soon as Labour Day is over, we’ll begin meeting and interviewing them, and hopefully supporting them through co-op and into college and apprenticeship.”

In additional to mechanics, Coventry will also sponsor, train and hire body work professionals. In Way’s perfect world, he would never have to send a vehicle out for work, but could have everything done in-house by Coventry staff.

“Coventry is growing; we are building our team for the future,” he says.