This vision is of an expanded agri-retailer association with a national scope that will allow us to build upon our past successes and to meet the opportunities of the future.
Neil S. Jorgenson, president WFCDA/immediate past-president CAAR

1995 AN ASSOCIATION IS BORN
The Western Fertilizer and Chemical Dealers Association (WFCDA) unanimously votes to dissolve the organization and transfer its funds to a new national association. With that, the Canadian Association of Agri-Retailers, headquartered in Winnipeg, Man., is born. Randy Wogelmuth is elected president of the CAAR board of directors; Jacqueline Ryrie is the association’s first executive director.

1996 INTRODUCING: THE CAAR CONVENTION
The 1996 convention boasts 70,000 square feet of trade show space and includes presentations on several groundbreaking technologies such as GPS and VRT (variable rate technology). 750 people fill Winnipeg’s Fort Garry Place for a steak dinner and entertainment provided by a Jean Chretien impersonator.

1997 AMMONIA SAFETY COUNCIL FORMED
The Ammonia Safety Council, made up of three representatives from CAAR and two from the Canadian Fertilizer Institute (CFI), is created to administer the new Ammonia Field Tank Safety Program.

1998 TREND SPOTTING
Among The Communicator’s 10 Hot New Technologies of 1998: digital cameras, seed treatments and “seeing-eye” sprayers.

1999 20th CENTURY TECH ROUND-UP
Glyphosate is lauded as one of The Communicator’s “Top Ten Technologies of the Century,” along with genomics and minimum-till farming.

2000 COMMUNICATING IN THE NEW MILLENNIUM
CAAR enters the new millennium with a new website and a fresh look and focus for The Communicator. The new format includes more technical articles and places a stronger emphasis on agribusiness news from across Canada.

2001 A TICKET FIX
After traffic inspectors threaten to ticket members without license plates on their floater units, CAAR successfully lobbies the Alberta government to retain an “Implement of Husbandry” agreement on floater units, saving CAAR members over $250,000 in licensing fees.

The Canadian energy sector’s current carbon emission problem is the agriculture sector’s future cost problem.
Janet Peace, Climate Change Central (April 2004)

2002 INVESTING IN THE INDUSTRY
CAAR is awarded $300,000 by Human Resources and Development Canada to assess training needs in areas such as human resources and health and safety, to ensure continued growth of the sector.

2003 GOOD E-VICE
Retailers are advised to offer e-billing and e-payments as a way to improve customer satisfaction and their bottom line.

2004 A SUCCESSFUL SHOW
The 9^th annual CAAR Convention welcomes 1,233 attendees.

2005 PROTECTING PESTICIDES
After proposed urban pesticide bans begin to make news, CAAR takes on the task of defending the safety and science of pesticides.

2006 STRENGTH IN NUMBERS
A contingent of 25 CAAR board members, committee members and staff travel to Ottawa for meetings with 74 Members of Parliament.

2008 HALL OF FAME
Ron Helwer of Shur-Gro receives CAAR’s first-ever Retailer Hall of Fame Award at the newly rebranded CAAR’s Choice Awards Banquet, held in Winnipeg.

2009 NH3 FOR FIRST RESPONDERS
CFI and CAAR present the first Anhydrous Ammonia Training Kit and DVD for First Responders to the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs at the Fertilizer and Agri-Retail Reception during joint parliamentary meetings in Ottawa.

2012 NH3 STEWARDSHIP
CAAR’s Anhydrous Ammonia Safety and the Farmer course launches, as well as a Nurse Tank Safety Program recertification course.

2013 CAAR GOES GLOBAL
CAAR joins FERN – an international network of fertilizer dealers – along with the Agricultural Retailers Association (U.S.), AFCOME (France) and ANDAV (Brazil).

2014 NEW LOOK, NEW FOCUS
CAAR rebrands and refocuses to better serve its membership. The new CAAR tagline, Produce. Protect. Proud., represents the founding values of the association.

As an association, we produce tools, products and services that are used to produce food to feed an ever-growing population.
Grant Larocque, CAAR president (2014)

Mitch has brought in some great insight to the equipment side of ag and has really helped us start to connect the dots in terms of the technology being implemented into the equipment side. That just makes the rest of what we do better.
Don Kitson, CAAR board chair

2016 SEEDS OF KNOWLEDGE
CAAR teams up with the Canadian Seed Growers Association to offer the eLearning course Investing in Certified Seed, providing retailers with the knowledge they need to confidently sell certified seed.

2017 AN UPDATED CODE
A new Ammonia Code of Practice is released. CAAR worked closely with retailers and Fertilizer Canada to develop the new version of the Code for much of the previous year.

2018 WELCOME MITCH
Mitch Rezansoff joins CAAR in the role of executive director.

2019 A SMART PARTNERSHIP
Building on one of its new strategic pillars, CAAR helps the University of Guelph refine and facilitate its 2019 Canadian Precision Agriculture Dealership Survey.