Looking back at CRE 2025

By Emma Peterson.

Hear all about the Canadian Roofing Expo from Alex Tolle and Megan Ellsworth!

This was the first year that The Coffee Shops™ crew have made it to the Canadian Roofing Contractor’s Association (CRCA)’s biannual Roofing Expo. This is Canada’s only dedicated show for roofing systems and technologies and features over 150 exhibitors, education sessions and demonstrations. This also marked the release of our Canadian domain site, rooferscoffeeshop.ca!  

While there, Alex Tolle and Megan Ellsworth (with Zane DeLuccie running camera) made sure to livestream and showcase the incredible expo! From interviews with friends and partners in Canada, like S-5! and TRA Snow and Sun, to a live episode of Roofing Road Trips®, they brought the show to anyone who wasn’t able to be there in person.  

Near the end of the show, as everything was winding down, they also made sure to take a moment to share some of their highlights of the show. For one, just exploring the Canadian market in person was an invaluable opportunity. Alex explained, “It’s amazing seeing so many new people that we don't get to see in the States very often and learning about what's different in Canada versus the U.S. The energy in here is great, I heard yesterday they had 2,200 registrations, which is a lot higher than previous years!”  

One of those differences that Alex and Megan noticed was the emphasis on green roofing in Canada. Alex elaborated, “One of the biggest differences that I noticed was there's a big push for green roofing. There were probably four or five booths that are just promoting vegetation on the roof or some other sort of green roof and it's fascinating.” One of these booths even happened to be running a demonstration near our booth! Megan shared a bit of what they saw, saying, “They were doing demos using SOPREMA low slope drains and also USG coverboards. The demo showcased how you put a layer of coverboard, then a layer of ice and water shield, then another layer of what looked like felt and then the layer of the vegetation. It was really cool to see.”  

Megan also got the chance to chat with a few people about this push for green roofing and found out that it’s not just fueled by the roofing industry, city and provincial policies are also pushing for it. Megan explained, “I learned new builds in Toronto and in the Ontario province specifically now are required to have at least 50% either green roof or solar reflective roof.”

Make sure to watch Alex and Megan's entire recap to learn more about their highlights of CRE 2025! Also, you can check out all their livestreams on demand on the RoofersCoffeeShop® YouTube channel.