An independent Canadian Tesla communityJoin the conversation
Tesla CanadaOWNERS. KNOWLEDGE. CONNECTION. Join our group

Tesla Plans Western Canada’s First Factory-Owned Collision Centre in Port Coquitlam, B.C.

Tesla Canada
Grey Tesla Model X in a body shop with its rear liftgate and bumper removed, showing bare panels during collision repair

Tesla owners in British Columbia may soon get the same kind of factory-run body shop that Ontario drivers already have in Oakville. Tesla is building what it calls Western Canada’s first factory-owned and operated Tesla Collision Center in Port Coquitlam, B.C., and it is hiring the team now.

What Tesla announced

Drive Tesla Canada reports that Rishi Bakshi, Tesla’s new BC Collision Manager, shared the news in a LinkedIn post, saying he is leading the launch of “Western Canada’s very first factory-owned and operated Tesla Collision Center.” Port Coquitlam is the same city where Tesla opened a 60,000-square-foot Service and Delivery Center last year.

Tesla hasn’t announced an opening date or the exact address. AutoIgloo notes that Tesla’s current Nicola Avenue location is listed as a store, service and delivery site, not a collision centre, so don’t assume it will be the same building.

Who Tesla is hiring

According to Bakshi, Tesla is recruiting collision body technicians from apprentice to journeyperson level, along with paint preppers and detailers. New hires get repair training straight from Tesla, including aluminum and structural work. AutoIgloo also found postings for estimators and an associate collision manager. Its review of the listings shows pay ranges of about $35.20 to $75.24 per hour for collision technicians and $23.76 to $45.14 per hour for apprentices.

Factory-owned vs Tesla-approved

Tesla already works with approved independent body shops, such as AutoMind in Coquitlam. Those shops get Tesla training and tooling but are run by other businesses. On its collision support page, Tesla describes its own collision centres as handling everything from cosmetic fixes to full structural repairs. AutoIgloo adds that collision appointments, damage details and estimates run through the Tesla app.

What it means for Ontario owners

Port Coquitlam would be Tesla’s third factory-owned collision centre in Canada. The first opened in Oakville, Ontario, in 2022, and the second in Montreal in 2023, per Drive Tesla Canada. That leaves Ontario drivers with the only factory body shop in the province for now, so if you have had a fender bender in the GTA, Oakville is still the in-house option, alongside Tesla-approved shops.

A third site shows Tesla is still building out after-sales support in Canada. It comes the same week as Tesla’s Supercharger for Business launch in Canada.

Had a Tesla body repair in Ontario? Share your experience with 17,000+ Ontario Tesla fans in Canada’s most active Tesla community on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/teslamodelyand3/. You can also join our X community, Tesla Model* [Ontario, Canada], to swap tips.

Sources