In response to the growing concerns over the COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak, the Automotive Industries Association (AIA) of Canada has canceled its National Conference, and moved the Annual General Meeting scheduled to have taken place during the conference to an online format.

The events were originally to be held on April 28-29, at the Delta Hotels Toronto Airport & Conference Centre in Toronto, Ontario.

Details on the AGM’s digital format are still being prepared and will be announced once they are finalized.

“This has been both an easy and difficult decision to make,” said Jean-François Champagne, AIA Canada President. “From the standpoint of keeping our members and the community at large both safe and healthy, we feel this is the best way to go. At the same time, we are disappointed not to be able to bring our members together in celebration of our industry. I want to thank all of the members and sponsors who showed so much interest and support, and to the staff at AIA Canada who worked so hard planning the event.

“As a not-for-profit association, we rely on the revenue generated by events such as this to keep AIA Canada working in support of our members. Like with many organizations, these kinds of measures taken to help guard the health and safety of the public will have an impact on our ability to operate in the months to come. For that reason, I am asking those who have already paid conference fees or sponsorship associated with our conference to consider donating them to AIA Canada to allow us to continue to deliver the services we’ve been providing to our members for over 75 years.”

All reservations will be automatically cancelled for those who have reserved within the conference room block at the Delta Hotels by Marriott Toronto Airport & Conference Centre. If you have booked alternate accommodations, please cancel accordingly.

Members who have already registered can contact AIA Canada’s membership team to arrange a refund. Please allow 5-10 business days to process refunds. 

All other inquiries related to the cancellation can be directed to communications@aiacanada.com.