April 15 marked the first day that dealers in Quebec could gradually begin to re-open their dealership parts and service departments to offer repair and maintenance work on vehicles.
That may not seem like a big deal for dealers elsewhere in Canada that have already been catering to consumers seeking this type of service. But in Quebec, the provincial government’s tight restrictions had dealerships going mostly, if not completely dark for a period of time — with the exception of emergency service needs. All that changed after the Easter holiday.
La Corporation des concessionnaires automobiles du Québec (CCAQ), which represents 890 dealerships (about 99 per cent of the dealerships in Quebec), decided to take action when Quebec premier François Legault suggested in a press conference several weeks ago that some businesses could gradually re-open. That timeline has, as of writing this article, been pushed to the beginning of May.
“We were proactive and we worked on a protocol — a strict protocol that is first and foremost about the health and safety of the customers, employees, and obviously the owners themselves,” said Robert Poëti, President and CEO of the CCAQ, in an interview with Canadian auto dealer.
Poëti said they created a group of specialists from human resources, people that specialize in exceptional emergency health situations, and other areas, and prepared a “contactless protocol” that was then presented to the provincial government.
“We said, if ever there is a possibility that this will be accepted, we are ready to apply this protocol,” said Poëti. “They received it, they studied it, and then said that the protocol responded perfectly to what they wanted. We also drew a lot of inspiration and reference from the Institut national de santé publique du Québec (The National Public Health Institute of Quebec).”
Poëti said being proactive and presenting the protocol probably facilitated the government’s decision to include dealers among the services that may gradually reopen.
The COVID-19 Progressive Recovery Protocol is indeed well-defined, and extensively covers what dealers need to do in various departments in terms of hygiene and cleaning for reception and shipping, for technicians, mechanics and technical advisors, waiting rooms, rental cars, and cleaning of the vehicle’s cockpit after work or use. Disinfecting various areas such as work spaces and frequently touched surfaces are required at least four times a day for example, and after each shift for the auto mechanic/technician’s workshop. Dealers also need to install certain things such as a machine/distributor of hydroalcoholic solution at the entrance and exit of the garage, among other places — and labels and posters with important information/reminders.
The protocol also includes what employees need to do during breaks, meals, along with the actions they need to take from the moment they leave their home and arrive at the dealership. For example, upon arriving at the dealerships (which must be decontaminated), they must wash their hands, make their way to the changing room, and change into clean work clothes provided by the employer. Another round of hand-washing is also necessary after this, and they must immediately drop off their lunch in the dining area before starting the day.
Asked when the CCAQ started working with the provincial government, Poëti said the work started at the very beginning — when the COVID-19 situation began to take shape in Quebec.
“Of the 40,000 permanent (dealership) employees in Quebec, the reality is that there were probably something like 35,000 that were unemployed. So there were only a few left in Quebec to respond to emergency service needs,” said Poëti. “So we fully complied with government directives, which surely did no harm when the decision was made after we filed our protocol.”
For more updates and information on the COVID-19 situation and impact, visit our resource page here.
