Nissan crowns Canadian Champion Technician

Nissan Canada has announced the winners of the Canadian component of NISTEC, the Nissan International Service Technical Excellence Contest. Two rounds of written testing pared the original 700 contestants down to 72, who participated in hands-on testing, resulting in 12 finalists. The twelve came together at Nissan Canada’s Mississauga, Ontario head office on June 9th to determine final winners in a hands-on competition in electrical, A/C and driveability categories. Winners were announced at a gala dinner the same evening. This year’s national champion (and Western regional winner) is James Southam from Oakwood Nissan in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, who won the electrical category in addition to the overall title. Other category winners were Quebec regional winner Marc Cuillerier from Pelemo Nissan in Quebec City (air conditioning) and Chris Bitz from Stadium Nissan in Calgary (driveability). Brian Ferguson, from Maple Leaf Nissan in Saint John, New Brunswick was the Eastern Region winner. Southam goes on to represent Canada in Japan in the fall.