-

Home

CKCA has Moved!

Effective June 1, 2012, the CKCA will be under new association management. The Willow Group, one of Canada's largest association management companies, will be your new management team - they are looking forward to working for and with you on upcoming CKCA initiatives!

The telephone, email and web site addresses all remain the same.

NEW - CKCA Mailing Address (Effective June 1, 2012)
1485 Laperriere Avenue
Ottawa, ON K1Z 7S8
Tel: (613) 567-9171
Fax: (613) 729-6206
Email: info@ckca.ca

Should you wish to contact The Willow Group prior to and/or during the transition period, please contact Shirley Trowbridge or via telephone at 613-722-8796


Upcoming Events

Visit our Events Section for event details, registration forms and sponsorship opportunities.

 

Recent Events

Visit our Events Section for event details, registration forms and sponsorship opportunities.

  • CKCA 2013 National Forum
    Date:    Jan 31 - Feb 3, 2013
    Location: Winnipeg Convention Centre
    City: Winnipeg, MB
    Hotel:

    A block of rooms have been reserved at the Delta Winnipeg at a special rate starting at $119.00 per night, available until December 28, 2012. To make your reservation call 1 888 311 - 4990 and state that you are with the Canadian Kitchen Cabinet Association.

    Delta Winnipeg
    350 St. Mary Avenue,
    Winnipeg, MB R3C 3J2
    1-888-311-4990
    Book Now

     

     

    Annual General Meeting
    Notice is hereby given that the nineteenth Annual General Meeting of the members of the Corporation will be held at the Winnipeg Convention Centre, 375 York Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba on Saturday, the 2nd day of February 2013 at 9:00 am to:

    a) Review and consider minutes of the meeting
    that was held in Toronto, Ontario on the 11th day of June 2012;

    b) Receive and consider the President's report;

    c) Receive and consider the reports of the directors;

    d) Elect directors and officers;

    e) Transact such business as may properly come before the meeting.

    The new by-laws will be ratified at the AGM, click here to review.

    The CKCA Board of Directors is pleased to announce that the 19th National Forum will be held in Winnipeg Manitoba. The program will feature plant tours, topical guest speakers, a supplier showcase and a manufacturers' roundtable.

Register Online
Download: Registration Form
Read: Program
Download: Sponsorship Opportunities

See Our Sponsors

  • CKCA Fall Regional Meeting
    Date:    September 24-25, 2012
    City: Calgary & Lethbridge, Alberta
    Hotel: A small block of rooms have been reserved at the Deerfoot Inn & Casino at a special Workshop rate of $159 per night (available until September 1, 2012).

    When booking please provide the group Code GMSCKCA under the name of the Canadian Kitchen Cabinet Association.
    Deerfoot Inn and Casino
    1000, 11500 - 35 Street SE
    Calgary, Alberta
    T2Z 3W4
    Tel: 403 236-7529 or 1 877-236-5225
    www.deerfootinn.com

    Read: Program
    Download: Registration Form
    Download: Sponsorship Opportunities
  • CKCA Spring Regional Meeting
    Date:    June 12, 2012
    City: Toronto (and region), Ontario
    Place: Kings Riding Golf Club

    Photos from the Event (click for larger images)
    Jim Zoras and Jake Wolters Richard Kaufmann Jake, Mark and Richard
     
  • CKCA 2012 National Forum
    Date:    February 2-5, 2012
    City: Victoria, B.C.
    Place: Fairmont Empress Hotel

    Photos from the Event (click for larger images)
    CKCA 2012 National Forum CKCA 2012 National Forum CKCA 2012 National Forum CKCA 2012 National Forum CKCA 2012 National Forum CKCA 2012 National Forum CKCA 2012 National Forum

CKCA E-Blast - Feb/March 2012

Click here to read our newsletter  

Our E-Blast newsletter is sent out about 4 times a year. If you want to get our our distribution list, please email us at: info@ckca.ca

February/March 2012 - In this issue:

  • CKCA National Forum Report
  • New CKCA Board of Directors Elected
  • Membership Recruitment Road Show Planned
  • Going Global Export Workshops
  • Calendar of Events

CKCA Certification Program

Learn about the standard  

The CKCA certification testing program is availalbe to active manufacturer members of the Canadian Kitchen Cabinet Association.

Suggest a research project for Canada’s Value to Wood Program


President's Message

CKCA President
Jake Wolters, Nu-way Kitchens Inc.
CKCA President

Why should I as an owner of a kitchen cabinet manufacturing company join an association such as the CKCA? Don't you know that my time is valuable and I can't be wasting it going to some function about kitchen cabinets, after all I've got a business to run. What could possibly be more important than that?

Those were my responses when I was first invited by one of my supplier reps to attend a CKCA regional meeting back in 2001. In my mind I couldn't justify the expense of time and money to attend a function that I figured would have little or no benefit to me. If you're a business owner you will attest to the fact that you can't say yes to every invitation and demand of your time. You have to be selective as to what you say yes to. Needless to say, I didn't go.

I'm glad the story doesn't end there. To the credit of my rep she never gave up. She kept hounding me about going to one of the meetings. I kept saying "no" or "I'll think about it." Like a dripping faucet she finally wore me down after a year and I agreed to go to an event in Montreal in the spring of 2002. I don't remember a whole lot about the actual conference, just that I was sitting on a bus full of business owners like myself with a few crazy supplier reps. I will say that we had a lot of fun. The one thing I remember the most was some of the conversations I had with a couple of other cabinetmakers. We talked openly about how we ran our shops and some of the common problems that most shops have. They weren't all big things. I came away with some small ideas about how I could do some of the things in our shop a little bit better. I was also amazed that I was able to give a solution to the owner of a much larger shop than mine about setting up a jig to perform a certain procedure. He thanked me for the information. Who knew that an apparently successful midsize shop owner could learn from a small shop owner like me?

That conference I went to was the first of many and it really made me think about why it has the potential to be a benefit to every cabinet shop across the country. Let me say first that our Canadian culture is ever changing. I recently celebrated my fiftieth birthday and most would agree that our culture and lifestyle have changed a lot from the sixties when I was a child. Some things are better, some worse depending on your personal value system. And so it is with the kitchen cabinet industry. Things are constantly changing. What was good ten years ago in our business may not be relevant today. This is especially true in the world of technology. We need to constantly educate ourselves as to how we can improve our businesses. We do that in many different ways, such as reading trade magazines; attending trade shows and watching our competitors closely to make sure they're not doing something better than we are. These are all good things and I would suggest that you keep doing these things to stay ahead. In essence we must become lifetime learners. We must never say, "I know all there is to know about my business". The reality of that statement was made real for me at our last national forum when our guest speaker, Sam Geist asked the audience a question of how we rated our shop in the area of communicating information and executing the important things that need to get done. Our average was a dismal 6.2 out of 10. That spoke volumes to me. It asserted to me the importance of belonging to an association like the CKCA that is committed to helping us become better at what we do. It won't change us in leaps and bounds or spring us into becoming a Fortune 500 company overnight, but it can help us become a little better one step at a time. I can look back over the last eight plus years and say that I have a much improved business with happier customers and better profits and a large part of it was due to things I learned as a member of the CKCA.

Now I don't want to mislead you in any way. Being a member will not guarantee a benefit in itself. You do have to be proactive. I recall a conversation with Harvey Short who is former president of CKCA that "you get out of it what you put into it". You do have to take time away from your business and attend the events. You may have to go out of your comfort zone and speak to other shop owners whom you have never met. Another big plus is our supplier members. They have a wealth of knowledge about our industry and are more than happy to help you solve problems, offer solutions and assist you to succeed in any way they can. And of course when you get home from an event you have to put into action what you have just learned. But I shouldn't have to tell you that. As business owners we didn't get to where we are by letting life just happen to us. We made decisions based upon our knowledge and acted on it.

In closing, I would like to say to you that if you are not a member and are still not sure about joining that CKCA I would invite you to attend one of our upcoming events. We have special rates for first timers and I can assure you that you will not be disappointed.

Thank you for your interest in the CKCA. I hope to see you at one of our events this year.

Learn more about CKCA membership and benefits.
Home • Site Map • Français • Contact Us ©2011 CKCA. All rights reserved.