Canadian Tire Drivers Academy

Canadian Tire Drivers Academy™ (CTDA) is a driving school that combines driver education and car maintenance instruction; this concept was new to the driver education market when the CTDA pilot program launched in August 2012 (Kopun, 2012). The first CTDA location opened on August 13, 2012 in Toronto’s east end, followed by locations in St. Catharines and Kingston. A fourth location was added in Brockville in 2014. Locations are in close proximity to a Canadian Tire retail outlet. We will be opening our most anticipated fifth location in Waterloo on November 14th.

Canadian Tire has been one of Canada’s most recognized brands since 1922. Canadian Tire Corporation, Limited is a network of more than 1,700 retail outlets and gas bars. The core retail business spans Living, Fixing & Playing, Automotive, Apparel and Sporting Goods categories, and includes brands such as Canadian Tire, Mark’s Work Wearhouse and FGL Sports. FGL Sports includes Sport Chek, Nevada Bob’s Golf, Atmosphere and Hockey Experts amongst its corporate and franchise banners. Canadian Tire Financial Services (under which CTDA operated) supports the retail businesses by offering credit cards, in-store financing, insurance and other financial services products (Canadian Tire, 2012).
Contributing to the strength of the brand is Canadian Tire ‘Money’. First introduced in 1958, Canadian Tire ‘Money’ is credited as Canada’s oldest loyalty reward program. The company is redesigning the loyalty program and launched the first phase of the re-design in Nova Scotia in February 2012. The enhanced loyalty program is called “Canadian Tire ‘Money’ Advantage”.

Canadian Tire has a long history as a Canadian retailer of automotive parts and service. Company statistics show that over 10,000 cars a day are serviced by Canadian Tire and that more than 80% of the population shops at Canadian Tire retail outlets each year. Additionally, there is a Canadian Tire store within 15 minutes of 90% of Canadians (Canadian Tire, 2013).

CTDA was launched in an effort to strengthen Canadian Tire’s position in the automotive category. “Created in partnership among Financial Services, Canadian Tire Retail and local Dealers, the Canadian Tire Drivers Academy™ was developed to establish relationships among young and new Canadians as well as expand our customer demographic.” (Canadian Tire, 2012) By focusing not just on cars but also on drivers, Canadian Tire felt it could further strengthen brand loyalty. CTDA has the potential to drive additional traffic to the retail outlets by way of servicing cars and the discounts provided to CTDA graduates.

CTDA differentiates itself by offering a combination of driver education and car maintenance instruction, and by relying on the Canadian Tire brand. It is believed that the pairing of an automotive, hardware and general merchandise retailer with a driving course was a first for North America (Kopun, 2012).