Building the Future of Canadian Roofing - PODCAST TRANSCRIPT

Editor's note: The following is the transcript of a live interview with Jason Campbell, 1st Vice president of the Canadian Roofing Contractors Association (CRCA). You can read the interview below or listen to the podcast.

Intro: Welcome to Roofing Road Trips, the podcast that takes you on a thrilling journey across the world of roofing. From fascinating interviews with roofing experts to on-the-road adventures, we'll uncover the stories, innovations and challenges that shape the rooftops over our heads. So fasten your seat belts and join us as we embark on this exciting Roofing Road Trip. 

Hello, everyone. Welcome back to the rooferscoffeeshop.ca Soundstage here at the Canadian Roofing Expo. I'm so honored. I have Jason Campbell here. And we're doing a live Roofing Road Trip podcast from the show floor. It seems really busy right now. It's kind of buzzing. So Jason, can you introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about what you do? 

Jason Campbell: So I know you have me down as Jason Campbell, which is true, but I go by Jay. 

Megan Ellsworth: Got it. 

Jason Campbell: I'm the current vice-chair of the Canadian Roofing Contractors Association. Unfortunately, our current president and chair right now is not able to attend the show, so I'm sitting in his absence. So hopefully I can do due diligence here. 

Megan Ellsworth: I sure you're going to do great. Perfect. Well, I would love to know, how did you get to be involved with the association and get to where you are within it? 

Jason Campbell: So getting involved with the CRCA, I segued in from the provincial affiliate, which is the Ontario Roofing Contractors Association. So I was past president and chair. And I came onto the CRCA board to represent our province of Ontario two years ago. 

Megan Ellsworth: Oh, got it. 

Jason Campbell: And aside from that, I've been in the roofing industry for 25 years now. So... 

Megan Ellsworth: Amazing. 

Jason Campbell: I've done a lot of different things in the roofing industry. And I was involved in the past trade show we had here, which was formally called RoofTech. 

Megan Ellsworth: Got it. 

Jason Campbell: And we segued into the CRE now and the rebranding but... So my second go around with the show here. 

Megan Ellsworth: Amazing. Okay. Because... This show is held every other year, correct? 

Jason Campbell: Yes. 

Megan Ellsworth: The last one was 2023? 

Jason Campbell: Yes. 

Megan Ellsworth: Got it. Okay. So what were some of the key goals when you did this relaunch from RoofTech to CRE? 

Jason Campbell: So our goals in having the show in general were to give the manufacturers a chance to exhibit new innovations, have educational seminars here that are beneficial to our industry. I'm a contractor, so a lot of these things obviously relate to my field of work. And it also allows for networking opportunities with a lot of our colleagues. And it's a great event. And from a CRCA perspective as being part of the show, this is a great revenue generator, which in business is always a key factor as well. 

Megan Ellsworth: Yes. Exactly. Exactly. Exactly. So what would you say... I mean, this show's been really fun. This is my first time attending the show. Thanks for having us. But what would you say has been a highlight so far? 

Jason Campbell: Well, I would hope. I just finished doing an educational seminar. I moderated a safety seminar, so... 

Megan Ellsworth: Oh, amazing. 

Jason Campbell: I would like to think that was the highlight. Of course it's not. 

Megan Ellsworth: I bet it was though. 

Jason Campbell: But no. What was... Just seeing the new innovations here. We have so many different manufacturers. We're in an industry where technology is ever-changing with the advent of AI. So just seeing the new innovations. And doing it every two years as opposed to every year, it doesn't saturate things. 

Megan Ellsworth: I agree. 

Jason Campbell: It allows times for things to generate. So it's interesting. And I've taken part in the IRE for the last four or five years, which I'm sure that you've been to. 

Megan Ellsworth: Yes. 

Jason Campbell: This is just similar... To those who may not know this show. Similar to the IRE, obviously on a smaller scale. But yeah, it's been a great networking and meeting with a lot of different people, a lot of colleagues. And yeah, it's a good time. 

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah. I've been impressed with the turnout and just the quality of the people stopping by the booth and the quality of the conversations. They're a lot longer. People are really interested and it's less of the walking by, "Oh, hi," and more of the walking into the booth, "What are you doing?" actually asking questions. It's really nice. 

Jason Campbell: Yeah. There's so much... Not just with technology, but there's so many people that are so astute in this industry, especially with in roofing where a lot of it is calculations, a lot of technical stuff. There's so much knowledge in the room here as well. So it's nice to be able to finally get a chance to meet with people outside your business in an event like this to share stories and, yeah, new advancements and... Yeah. 

Megan Ellsworth: I completely agree. So would you say that you've seen any noticeable trends or themes, unique innovations across the show floor this year? 

Jason Campbell: Definitely seeing a move towards more advanced technology. What I mean by that is we're seeing more and more use of drones for roof inspections, advent of AI, which is now more prevalent in our industry and a lot more technically sound information and testing that's being provided, which is why we have some of these seminars. There's a lot of consultants and architects and engineers that attend the show. And green energy obviously, so the change and shift into more green roofing and energy-efficient roofing. And that's changed even since the last couple of years. So we do see... Each time the show continues to grow, we do see more innovation here and more switch towards sustainable roofing. 

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah. I've noticed... Something that really caught my eye was the number of companies that do green roofing, like plants on the roof. That fascinates me. I think it's so cool. And really forward-thinking, adding green space to our cities and all that stuff. And there are quite a few booths here representing that. 

Jason Campbell: So for green roofing in general, for the province that we're in, in Ontario, it's mandated that every new building that's built that 50% of the roof area needs to be green, either green or solar reflective roofing. 

Megan Ellsworth: Oh, no way. Oh. 

Jason Campbell: Yeah. So you can see there's definitely a push towards green roofing here and a lot of that has to do with sustainability and water runoff. So we have seen quite a few of them here. My company has installed some of these. 

Megan Ellsworth: Amazing. 

Jason Campbell: So it's nice to see. And I think we're going to continue to see that trend grow more and more as we move along. 

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah. I hope to see that across the States as well, all of North America, more towards that sustainable green roofing, plants on the roof type of thinking. I think it's so important, so... How would you say CRCA is evolving to help support the contractors that are here? And especially in today's economy, there's some ups, there's some downs. How is CRCA evolving to help the contractor? 

Jason Campbell: So I'm looking at it from two point of views. Obviously, I'm a contractor, but I also sit on the CRCA board. So what we do... What people should know about the CRCA is that we're involved with a lot of national committees, National Technical Committee, the Building Research Council. So there's always new information coming out when it relates to testing and building codes, things like that. So it's a great information sharing session for contractors and manufacturers to be able to have access to this research. So we can definitely see that there's a big push not only towards sustainability, but making sure that things are installed properly... 

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah. Yeah. Technical support. 

Jason Campbell: With the change in climate and wind and... So wind uplift is a big thing. And by connecting with a lot of these research councils, a lot of these calculations and formulas are worked out. So CRCA is part of the driving force behind that. 

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah. And providing materials, documentation, technical resources. That's so huge. When you're busy in the weeds running a business to have someone like the CRCA behind you giving you all these materials to better your company right at your fingertips. 

Jason Campbell: Yeah. You can never have enough avenues to go for information. 

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah. That's so true. So how do you collaborate with other international organizations? I know there's NRCA in the States. There's other Canadian associations, European associations. Who do you guys work with? 

Jason Campbell: So we work with the National Research Council, Canada and the National Technical Committee, which is affiliate of the CRCA. Aside from that, we do partner in some ways with the NRCA. So every year at the IRE, we usually attend and have some sort of joint meetings, information sharing sessions. And CRCA is really just the Canadian extension of the NRCA. And we can often use a lot of the same information that NRCA would provide. The standards are a bit different. American standards are a little bit different than Canadian standards and the building code here, but the grassroots is still the same, the foundation's the same. So it's nice to be able to pick from other sources of information where things may be done... Climate might be a bit different. Things may be done a little different. At the end of it, you're still working towards the same goal, sustainability. Right? 

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah. And building better business. 

Jason Campbell: Absolutely. 

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah. Absolutely. 

Jason Campbell: Cost. Cost analysis. 

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah. Cost. Cost analysis. And this is kind of a left field question here, but are you involved with the IFD at all? 

Jason Campbell: I am not 

Megan Ellsworth: In Europe? It's really cool. I went to Innsbruck last fall and it was crazy. I had never seen anything like it. 

Jason Campbell: I've heard it's a massive show, but no, I haven't taken part. Is it a yearly event? 

Megan Ellsworth: It's... Every other year they do the competition or the... So one year it's the meetings and the next is the competition with all the young roofers. That is what we attended. It was a feat of innovation. It was really cool to see all these people. 

Jason Campbell: So is it part trade show and conference? Or just- 

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah. Part conference, part roofing competition. 

Jason Campbell: Oh, okay. 

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah. Really cool. So I'd love to see Canada there. 

Jason Campbell: Oh. Okay. 

Megan Ellsworth: So, Canada. 

Jason Campbell: Now with that said, have you taken part in any or viewed any of the demonstrations that we've had here? 

Megan Ellsworth: Yes. I saw a little bit of them getting ready this morning with the green roof and then the low slope heat welding. And I love watching heat welding. I think it's so fun. It's so satisfying. So stay tuned to our social media for some videos of that. Okay. So what can members and attendees of the show look forward to for the next one? 

Jason Campbell: So planning is already underway for the next CRE. The discussion is whether we stay Toronto-centric and Ontario-centric. In the past, we tended to move around every other year to different provinces, but the majority of the manufacturers and obviously the population center here really is suited well for this type of show. But planning is underway. 

Megan Ellsworth: Nice. 

Jason Campbell: It takes a lot of planning and I sit on the organizing committee, so I know... 

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah. I bet. 

Jason Campbell: That's for certain. But hopefully we can be back here in two years talking again. 

Megan Ellsworth: Yes. Amazing. Any other events coming up for this year, 2025? 

Jason Campbell: So the CRCA is about to launch, I believe we already have actually, our first annual golf tournament. 

Megan Ellsworth: Oh. Cool. 

Jason Campbell: June 3rd, which is nice, so... And that coincides with what we call... The first week of June here in Ontario is Roofing Week. 

Megan Ellsworth: Oh. Okay. 

Jason Campbell: So the CRCA, as part of Roofing Week, we've implemented this new golf tournament and we culminate the week with a barbecue at headquarters up in Ottawa. 

Megan Ellsworth: Amazing. 

Jason Campbell: So if anybody's able and willing to attend, I might even be there to flip the burgers myself. 

Megan Ellsworth: Oh, amazing. Okay. June 3rd in Ottawa at the headquarters. Be there or be square. What would you say the CRCA... What role did they play in putting this show together? And why is this show so important to the Canadian roofing industry? 

Jason Campbell: So that's a good question. So the CRCA was heavily involved with the show. Obviously, we partnered with Media Edge, who does a fantastic job promoting and organizing. Where the CRCA was... Really what our role was was making sure that our manufacturers and distributors had what they needed, had an avenue to be able to showcase new goods. And we wanted to focus on some of the educational seminars because what we have is a lot of consultants and engineers that would be attending the seminars to get their continuing education credits, which is key for them to keep up their status as an engineer. So we just wanted to have a hand in the actual, the bones of it and how we wanted to see the show put together. And partnering with Media Edge fantastically they brought it all together and... 

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah. It looks great. 

Jason Campbell: Yeah. It's... 

Megan Ellsworth: It's a great show. 

Jason Campbell: It's a great looking show. 

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah. It's a great looking show. Okay. 

Jason Campbell: Not that roofing's that sexy, but it's... 

Megan Ellsworth: Right. But hey. 

Jason Campbell: It's colorful for sure. 

Megan Ellsworth: It looks good. It's looking good. Okay. So let's get into the meat here. What are the biggest challenges facing Canadian roofers and roofing contractors today? And how would you say CRCA is helping alleviate some of those challenges? And why should they be a member? Maybe that kind of segues into why they should be a member of the CRCA. 
Jason Campbell: I'm not sure we have enough time to discuss that. 

Megan Ellsworth: I know. That's a big one. 

Jason Campbell: It's a huge one. Roofing is difficult. It's a dangerous profession. It's not a sexy profession. So first and foremost, the hardest part is attracting workers. What CRCA has helped us is we've had a partnership with a company called Beyond Borders and they work with Canadian immigration to bring workers to Canada, get them situated and set up with the trades, more importantly with roofing. 

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah. That's awesome. 

Jason Campbell: So we've really... The well was dry when it came to workers in the construction field, roofing in particular. So being able to have some sort of resource to bring people in. And we had a big... Over the last three, four years, we've had a lot of people that were a little older that were moving closer to retirement and we just weren't regenerating those workers. So having a place to go to be able to attract some workers to our industry is key. Bringing them here is one thing. Getting them and steering them towards roofing is another. And it's been a real challenge. That is first and foremost our biggest challenge in roofing. 

Number two is often we run into problems with supply chains. We've seen that in particular with COVID, was a big issue. Those are some... We would like to see more women in our industry. 

Megan Ellsworth: Yes. We would. 

Jason Campbell: That's not to say they need to be doing heavy lifting or carrying shingles or anything like that, but there's... 

Megan Ellsworth: There's so many avenues. 

Jason Campbell: There's so many avenues. And I think for the most part, people outside our industry don't recognize that, that when we speak about roofing, you just think, "Okay. You're doing the physical work," but we need engineers. We need people who can do CAD. We need project managers. We need executive directors. We are starting to see more women in our industry. I would say we're still lagging far behind many other industries, but I can tell you, being in this industry for 25 years, it's a fantastic industry to be. There's so many good people. And you can walk the floor here today and shake hands with 50 different people. Very welcoming industry. I think there's always been a stigma about roofing and the people in it, that it's a dirty industry, it's not welcoming to females. But I think we've changed that. I hope we change that. 

Megan Ellsworth: And I think too, because there's a chapter of National Women in Roofing in Canada, I think based here in Ontario. I don't know if there's one on the West Coast, maybe in Vancouver. But if you're a woman in roofing in Canada and you're not a part of National Women in Roofing, you should definitely be a part of it. It's such a great community of people and a great way too. If you're not in roofing yet, but somehow you stumbled upon this podcast, join National Women in Roofing, find a job in roofing and you have this amazing community around you that is just there to uplift and support you and it's awesome. 

Jason Campbell: Yeah. They actually had an event, a social event, last night. One of the fine women that we work with as part of our association and the CRCA staff attended the event last night. So we have National Women in Roofing, which has really helped elevate women in this industry. And we also have something here called the Canadian Association of Women in Construction. Now I know that's not roofing, but I'm a proud sponsor of them and do attend their events. 

Megan Ellsworth: Amazing. 

Jason Campbell: So in construction in general, we're really starting to see a lot more females come into the industry and it's probably long overdue. Certainly bring different perspectives, but I think we were lacking a lot of that perspective too. 

Megan Ellsworth: I think. Absolutely. And I think now is the best time to join roofing. So if you're looking for a job out there, get into roofing. It's the best. Okay. So what excites you about the future of the roofing industry in Canada? 

Jason Campbell: I think what I'm most excited about was for the longest time we didn't really see a lot of turnover and younger professionals coming into our industry. I think if you walk the floor today, you can see that has changed. And it's much needed. So I think if we can continue to attract more young professionals, engineers, architects, project managers and we can bring them from potentially going to other industries and shift them more towards roofing, I think that bodes well for our industry. I plan to be staying around for a little while. So I certainly would want somebody coming behind me to be able to, "Okay. Move along. It's my turn now." But... And it's nice being able to mentor people and bring them along as well. 

Megan Ellsworth: Absolutely. 

Jason Campbell: I mean, that's what happened when I first got involved. Nobody really chooses roofing. 

Megan Ellsworth: Right. We all fall into it. 

Jason Campbell: But you find with most people that are in our industry, once you get in it, it's such a good industry. I rarely know of anybody that's left. 

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah. Same here. Which is incredible. 

Jason Campbell: Incredible. 

Megan Ellsworth: It's a great track record for us. 

Jason Campbell: 100%. Yeah. 

Megan Ellsworth: It's just truly amazing. It's a great industry. And we're gushing about it here. I love it. Okay. So to round it all out, for contractors that couldn't make it to the show, what would you say to encourage them to attend the next one? And if they're not a CRCA member, how do they get involved? How do they become a member? And why? 

Jason Campbell: So I'll answer the second part first. So to become a CRCA member, you need to be a member of your provincial affiliate, whether it be industry member, contractor member. And secondly, what I would say, if you were unable to attend this show, you're really missing out. And we have a great opportunity to showcase our industry. And we only do this every two years. So I would recommend that you find the time to promote your industry. First and fore... Be proud of your industry. We have a lot of good people, like we spoke about and a lot of great innovation. And I see that there's huge potential here to grow this industry more than what it is now. I believe the show has grown since we did it two years ago. We'll find out the final attendance there in a couple of days, but looking around, I would say that the show's a little bigger. 

Megan Ellsworth: That's awesome. 

Jason Campbell: So if we can continue to grow. Be proud of our industry. You're in it. Put the time in. Enjoy. Respect each other. We have a lot to be proud of. 

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah. Yeah. So any advice on how they can get in touch with their provincial association and join that membership so they can join the CRCA? 

Jason Campbell: Yeah. So as associations go, if you want to become a member, it's best to contact your local association, whether through online media or phone call. I mean, there's a process to go through that. To become a member, you have to meet certain criteria, but we're always hoping for discussion, always looking for new entries. 

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah. So true. Amazing. Well, Jason, Jay, thank you so much for chatting with me today and for putting on this great show and everything you all do up here in Canada. We're really honored to be here and be a part of the Canadian market and the roofing industry. And we just launched our rooferscoffeeshop.ca. 

Jason Campbell: Oh, nice. 

Megan Ellsworth: So we're just really, really happy to be here. And you all are so welcoming. So thank you. 

Jason Campbell: So you promise you're going to be back though? 

Megan Ellsworth: Promise. 

Jason Campbell: If we're back here in two years. 

Megan Ellsworth: Promise. 

Jason Campbell: Okay. 

Megan Ellsworth: I promise. Pinky swear. 

Jason Campbell: Thank you very much. 

Megan Ellsworth: Yes. Absolutely. 

Jason Campbell: Megan Ellsworth, appreciate it. Thank you for your time. 

Outro: Thank you. Yes. Thank you so much, Jay. Everyone, stay tuned. This has been an amazing Roofing Road Trip. You can go and listen to this back if you want to share it out with your friends on rooferscoffeeshop.ca, under the Read, Listen, Watch navigation. And we'll see you on the next interview and on the next Roofing Road Trip. Thanks. Bye. 

If you've enjoyed the ride, don't forget to hit that Subscribe button and join us on every roofing adventure. Make sure to visit rooferscoffeeshop.com to learn more. Thanks for tuning in and we'll catch you on the next Roofing Road Trip.