More than 100 students from eight high schools in the Toronto District School Board experienced the 2025 Canadian International AutoShow on Wednesday as part of Accelerate Auto’s fourth annual program to create interest and awareness about the automotive industry and opportunities in it as a career.
The students included Joseph Brant Public School, SATEC W.A. Porter, Winston Churchill Collegiate, Cedarbrae Collegiate, Birchmount Park Collegiate, Stephen Leacock Collegiate, Albert Campbell Collegiate and West Humber Collegiate.
They participated in a fun scavenger hunt in the morning, followed by roundtable breakout sessions with automotive professionals and educational professionals from the Automotive Business School of Canada, the Autonomous Vehicle Innovation Network, Ontario Tech University, and Honda Canada. The topics included marketing and customer service, communication and public relations, human resources and internship, the dealership world and sales, and purchasing a car for the first time.
Christopher Nabeta, one of the founders of Accelerate Auto that is designed to promote the industry to Black talent in high schools and colleges, told Canadian auto dealer the event was created to be more than just a field trip to the AutoShow. “It’s to actually take home interesting information that makes them think or at least aspire to work in automotive one day,” said Nabeta.
Anton Skerritt, TDSB Centrally Assigned Principal, said engaging students in the day-long event is important so they can see the opportunities available in the automotive world.
“Often these students don’t see themselves represented in different industries, and I think this is a great opportunity for them to see and meet people who are doing things that they could possibly be doing in the future,” said Skerritt. “They don’t often see people who are involved in the level these Accelerate Auto staffers are involved in and they have a very narrow perspective on the automotive industry.”
Skerritt added that this broadens that perspective for them and “shows there’s a whole slew of careers that are open to them and with people who look like them and are from the same background and are being successful.”
The students included many women, which is a specific audience the automotive industry is targeting as part of its plan to encourage diversity, equity and inclusion.
“We’re really keen and specific in terms of selecting students who we think might benefit from this experience in terms of from their background, not having an uncle or an aunt who is involved in the industry,” said Skerritt. “They see people that look like them and have the same perspective and come from the same neighbourhood.”
ABSC Executive Director Jason Dale said he and Marketing Officer Taylor Woods attended the event to recruit students and talk about openness. “That’s a big reason why we’re here,” said Dale. “We are an inclusive school and we want to make sure we can capture all the students from all backgrounds.
Journalist Kay Layne, a Canadian auto dealer correspondent, shared her story with students about her career in automotive media.
“A lot of people don’t think of automotive journalism as a thing,” said Lane. “They think I like cars and I either have to be a mechanic, engineer and that’s it. I’ll be honest, my math marks were not great in high school and university, but I loved cars and can talk about it as an option. So they can see there’s different options for them out there still within the industry.”
