CRE 2025: Canada’s biggest roofing show

By Emma Peterson. 

We went behind the scenes at CRE 2025 with Jason Campbell of CRCA to talk workforce, education and growing the Canadian roofing industry. 

This year, The Coffee Shops™ got the chance to go North and meet with our industry friends from Canada at the Canadian Roofing Expo (CRE)! This was the first year we attended, and we had an incredible time. The show (formerly known as Rooftech) was hosted in Toronto, Canada and featured over 150 exhibitors, educational sessions and live demos! While there, we recorded a live Roofing Road Trips® episode with Jason Campbell, first vice president of the Canadian Roofing Contractors Association (CRCA), which hosts CRE, to talk about the expo. 

Jason opened the conversation by sharing some basics about what CRCA is hoping to do with CRE. He shared, “We hold the show every other year with the goal to give the manufacturers a chance to exhibit new innovations and have educational seminars here that are beneficial to our industry.” Creating this space is key to helping strengthen the industry. Jason explained, “Roofing is difficult. It's a dangerous profession. Two of the biggest challenges in the industry are attracting workers and managing supply chains, especially in the post-COVID world.”  

By building a designated space for the industry to come together in person, CRCA has created the perfect place to address these issues. Jason shared, “We want to make sure that our manufacturers and distributors have an avenue to showcase new goods. And we offer educational seminars because a lot of consultants and engineers need to get their continuing education credits, which is key for them to keep up their status as an engineer. Further, we partner with Media Edge to promote the show to raise awareness of the industry, and we partner with a company called Beyond Borders that works with Canadian immigration to bring workers to Canada, get them situated and set up with the trades.” 

The result of all of these efforts? Canada’s biggest trade show and forum dedicated to all parts of the roofing community and a huge boost for the Canadian roofing market. “CRE is a great opportunity to showcase our industry. We have a lot of good people and a lot of great innovation. And there’s still a huge potential for more growth, we can even just see that in the amount this show has grown since we did it two years ago,” Jason explained. “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.” 

Read the transcript, Listen to the episode or Watch the recording to learn more about the 2025 Canadian Roofing Expo.