Canadian Coatings Conference
Adding Value to Canada’s Economy
The Coatings industry provides essential products for the world. It provides essential inputs for manufacturing industries comprising more than 70% of Canada’s GDP. Without these inputs, many industry sectors would be challenged such as aerospace, automotive, construction, shipbuilding, oil and gas, design and many more. Increasingly, these products are more innovative, more sustainable and still meet the highest standards of Canadian manufacturers and their customer demand. The Coatings Conference will look at the ways in which the coatings industry delivers essential coatings for industry and consumers. The coatings industry drives sustainability by extending the lifecycle of critical assets and contributes significantly to Canada’s GDP with more than 125,243 direct and indirect jobs annually.
Join us and hear about the many advancements being made in the coatings industry today!
Event Schedule
Wednesday, May 21, 2025
Board of Directors Meeting
1:30 p.m. — 5:00 p.m.
Sable A - Ground Floor
Welcome Reception
7:00 p.m. — 10:00 p.m.
Alexander Keith's Brewery
1496 Lower Water St #312, Halifax
NS B3J 1R9
Thursday, May 22, 2025
Breakfast
7:45 a.m. — 9:00 a.m.
Annapolis - Ground Floor
Research Presentations
9:00 a.m. — 4:30 p.m.
Halifax Room C - Second Floor
Lunch
12:00 p.m. — 1:30 p.m.
Annapolis - Ground Floor
Thursday Night
Chair Awards Dinner
Reception
6:30 p.m. — 7:00 p.m.
Halifax Room C - Second Floor
Dinner
7:00 p.m. — 10:00 p.m.
Halifax Room AB - Second Floor
Awards Presented from 8:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.
Business Sessions
Thursday May 22, 2025 — Halifax Room Second Floor
9:00 a.m. — 9:15 a.m.
Darrin Noble, Chair
President & COO
Cloverdale Paint
Chair's Welcome
9:15 a.m. — 9:45 a.m.
Doug Bohn, Principal
ORR & Boss
Economic Update: CASE Industry in Canada
This session provides current economic and market insights on the coatings industry in Canada and the United States as well as globally with respect to market growth and some of the challenges in those markets. The session will also take a look at the impact of tariffs and the overall economic environment in the paint & coatings market as it relates to current and future growth trends. It will further assess the overall size of the various markets, expected growth rates, and trends in the Canadian economy impacting the CASE market. No review can ignore the issues impacting the raw material market throughout the supply chain.
9:45 a.m. — 10:15 a.m.
Bailey McLean, Scientist 2
Integrity Mining Industrial
Advancing Sustainability in Paint and Coatings: Bio-Based Dispersants for Enhanced Pigment Stability
As demand for environmentally friendly materials grow, there is increased pressure on the industry to use sustainable additives while retaining functionality. This session focuses on research in developing sustainable products to replace current synthetic materials using functionalized polysaccharides as bio-based agents for pigment dispersion. Modification of naturally occurring polysaccharides dispersants were developed to enhance the stability, uniformity and performance of coatings derived from renewable resources. This has significant implications for the development of high-performance coatings across various coating markets including architectural, industrial and automotive.
10:15 a.m. — 10:30 a.m.
Networking Break
Halifax Foyer Second Floor
10:30 a.m. — 11:00 a.m.
Jake Jevric
Senior Vice-President
LBB Specialties Canada
Trade Impacts on Raw Material Supply
This session will address the sluggish and uncertain growth rates across the CASE manufacturing landscape that was further challenged by geopolitical uncertainty over the past few weeks related to tariffs. Uncertainty continues to influence long-term strategic planning for both raw material suppliers and their customers. It’s unclear whether or not this will result in deflationary price pressures or cause inflation to remain a sticky issue under current trading relationships. Both manufacturing and raw material supply must be reassessed in terms of import-export flows that will evolve over time and likely impact how raw material suppliers will have to adjust and respond.
11:00 a.m. — 11:30 a.m.
Gary LeRoux
President & CEO
CCA
The Evolution: Public Policy, Legislation and Regulation
The coatings industry remains among the most heavily regulated sectors in Canada for thousands of formulated products across 15 industry segments. Regulations for each one of those segments varies and impacts the CASE industry differently. As such, they often require different advocacy strategies to ensure a fair and evidenced-based approach to regulations in a more volatile trading world. This session will touch on these constantly evolving regulatory challenges and how industry must adjust advocacy approaches moving forward to ensure positive outcomes.
11:30 a.m. — Noon
Annual General Meeting
(Members Only)
Noon — 1:30 p.m.
Luncheon
Annapolis Room Ground Floor
1:30 p.m. — 2:00 p.m.
Keynote Speaker — Eddie LeMoine
The Changing World of Work: Leading and Engaging Through Disruption
As industries across Canada adapt to unprecedented change, the coatings sector is no exception. Skills shortages, demographic shifts, AI and automation, tariffs, and global trade uncertainty are all reshaping the workforce faster than ever before. For members of the Canadian Coatings Association, these changes demand a fresh approach to leadership.
In this engaging and forward-looking keynote, award-winning speaker and bestselling author Eddie LeMoine shares practical insights from two of his most requested presentations: Attracting and Retaining a Skilled Workforce and Leadership and Employee Engagement.
With a warm, relatable style and plenty of real-world examples, Eddie explores how leaders can:
- Understand why employees join, stay, or leave
- Build a workplace that works across generations
- Boost engagement in times of transition
- Lead with clarity and purpose in a time of rapid change
Attendees will leave with inspiration and actionable strategies for helping their teams and organizations adapt, grow, and thrive in this new world of work.
Darrin Noble
President & CEO
Cloverdale Paint
Katie Maljaei
Senior Account Manager
Quadra
Roula Hanna
Key Account Manager
Kronos Worldwide
Convener, Gary LeRoux
President & CEO
CCA
2:00 p.m. — 2:30 p.m.
The Industry Talks
There are always business challenges in the CASE industry in Canada and in some segments more than others. The past number of months have presented economic challenges like never before on the trade front. Members continue to grapple with these challenges in Canada on a number of fronts. This session will be an open and frank discussion about the coatings industry in Canada today and how it is likely to evolve in the coming years. Everything is on the table. The audience is encouraged to engage.
2:30 p.m. — 3:00 p.m.
Brian Bastien
President
Product Care Recycling
Paint Recycling in Canada
Canada was the first in the world to establish paint recovery and recycling in the early 1990s for paint manufacturers and has led the world in post-consumer paint recycling since. Paint manufacturers have been and remain a driving force behind paint recycling in Canada, which has evolved significantly over the years with the advent of sustainability and more recently ESG. During that time Product Care was on the ground working closely with and for paint manufactures to deliver on the industry’s commitment to recycling. This session will look at the state of paint recycling in Canada today, the current challenges and where it’s headed in future.
3:00 — 3:15
Networking Break
Halifax Foyer Second Floor
3:15 p.m. — 3:45 p.m.
Samantha MacLean
Global Marketing Lead
Lorama Group
Colour Complexity
Colour is a captivating force, transforming not just what we see, but how we feel. In the coatings industry, it shapes everything from safety and brand identity to the very emotions our customers experience. While we acknowledge the science of colour as light and energy, it's the impact on our lives that truly resonates. This session is about unlocking colour's transformative power. We'll explore its dynamic evolution, influencing our choices and crafting vibrant experiences in both our work and daily lives. Together, we’ll explore harnessing the power to create spaces and products that not only delight aesthetically but also resonate emotionally.
3:45 p.m. — 4:15 p.m.
Dave Saucier
Director, Issues Management
Melanie Di Tullio
Director, Graphic Design & Digital Communication
The NEW Coatings Academy
CCA established an online coatings course in 2013 by leveraging the excellent educational courses offered by the Toronto Society for Coatings Technology (TOSCOT) over several decades. TOSCOT was made up of volunteers and specialists in the CASE industry who wanted to provide practical coatings courses for those already in the industry and those wishing to enter it. CCA is now building a new online, more engaging modular course format on a new digital platform to be completed at the end of 2025 for the benefit of members and non-members alike.
4:15 p.m. — 4:30 p.m.
Darrin Noble, Chair
President & COO
Cloverdale Paint
Closing Remarks
6:30 p.m. — 10:30 p.m.
Chair's Award Reception & Dinner
Halifax Ballroom Second Floor
Reception Starts at 6:30 p.m.
Dinner Service at 7:30 p.m.
Awards Presentations from 8:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.
Thank you to Our Sponsors
CCA thanks all our sponsors for their financial contribution to the Canadian Coatings Conference. Your generous support makes this conference possible.
