637: Raising the Bar in Canada: Inside Canadian Pet Care Professionals
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How do you professionalize an unregulated industry across a vast country? Erika Godwin and Morag Wilcox share why they launched Canadian Pet Care Professionals, a membership built by and for Canada’s pet care providers. They explain the “Verified Pro” approach, Canada-specific education (HR, legal, CRA), and a public directory designed to build trust with pet parents. We discuss shifting the mindset from “pet care is a luxury” to “professional care is a necessity,” and why turning competitors into colleagues helps everyone win. The conversation closes with how in-person events and a shared code of ethics can elevate standards from coast to coast.
Main topics:
Why a Canada-first organization
Verified Pro directory & badge
HR, legal, CRA education
Competitors into collaborative colleagues
In-person events & advocacy
Main takeaway: “If we work together to raise the standard in the industry, it’s better for all of us.”
This is the heartbeat of professional pet care in Canada. When we collaborate, share resources, and uphold clear standards, pet parents get safer, more consistent care—and our businesses grow stronger. Verified credentials and Canada-specific education help build real trust with clients. Let’s replace turf wars with teamwork and make “professional” the norm from coast to coast.
About our guests:
Erika Godwin — Co-founder of Canadian Pet Care Professionals; long-time industry supporter on the tech and marketing side. She builds websites and growth systems for pet businesses and co-founded ProPet Software, serving kennels, daycare, grooming, and training operations.
Morag Wilcox — Co-founder of Canadian Pet Care Professionals and owner of York Professional Pet Sitting & Dog Walking in Newmarket, Ontario. With 25 years in the field and a multi-person team, she champions education, safety, and raising standards across Canada’s pet care industry.
Links:
https://www.facebook.com/petcareprocanada
https://www.instagram.com/petcareprocanada
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Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by our guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of Pet Sitter Confessional, its hosts, or sponsors. We interview individuals based on their experience and expertise within the pet care industry. Any statements made outside of this platform, or unrelated to the topic discussed, are solely the responsibility of the guest.
A VERY ROUGH TRANSCRIPT OF THE EPISODE
Provided by otter.ai
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
Canadian pet care professionals, professionalization, industry education, pet care standards, membership model, directory, in-person conferences, code of ethics, pet care professionals, industry challenges, pet care industry, professional development, pet care resources, industry collaboration
SPEAKERS
Collin, Morag, Erika
Collin 00:00
Collin, hello and welcome to pet sitter confessional today. We're brought to you by our friends tied to pet and pet perineal professional organizations are incredibly important to running a good dog walking and pet sitting businesses for more education community and education to our clients as well. So how do we begin to professionalize ourselves and the industry? And today, we're really excited to be speaking with the co founders of the Canadian pet care professionals, Erica Godwin and Morag Wilcox. They're gonna be on the show today to talk about the development of this organization, how it's helping Canadian specific pet care professionals, and what their kind of plans are for some of the future stuff. So I'm super excited to have both of you on the show. For those who are listening and aren't familiar with either of you or kind of know what you do, Morag, could you tell us a little bit more about yourself?
Morag 00:51
Sure, I'm Morag. I am the owner of York professional pet sitting and dog walking for the last 25 years. So I think I have probably seen and done it all. And I met Erica many years ago. New Market. I'm in New Market Ontario, which is about 20, half an hour north of Toronto, so it's a big commuter area, which is great for dog walking and pet sitting. And I met Erica, oh, maybe about seven years ago when she started redoing my website, and that's how we first
Collin 01:30
connected. And Erica, what about you?
Erika 01:34
Yes, thank you so much for having us. Collin. So yes, for those that don't know me, my name is Erica Godwin. I am the co founder of Canadian pet care professionals with morgue, as well as the owner of marketing solutions. We Build and Manage websites for pet businesses and pro pet software, which is a kennel boarding, daycare, grooming and training software. So I've been in the industry for over 10 years in the on the back end, tech side and marketing side. And, yeah, that's how we met morig. She's been a client of ours for many years, way before covid. And we'll get into the story on how this started in a little
Collin 02:14
bit. Yeah, keen, keen listeners will recognize Erica from being with us on episode 184 so I'll have that link in the show notes to hear kind of your story with marketing and the importance of having a good website. So yeah, super excited to have you both on to talk about this. Now you both came together to start this organization. From your perspective, why was the Canadian pet care professionals so needed?
Erika 02:38
So I think what happened was, I've been talking to a lot of clients, and Morag noticing that there's a lack of content for the Canadian pet care professionals. So organizations like psi naps, they they have really great information, but they're not Canadians specific. So when they bring in a lawyer or an HR professional, or even, like talking about weather taxes, like CRA versus IRS, there wasn't anything that Canadians could use without, quote, unquote, translating it from the American like legal system to Canadian. So while a lot of their resources are great and can work in any country, there was that missing link, that little, that gap that we were looking to jump in and fill. And when I noticed that I reached out to more I've been working with each other for a while and like, well, there's nothing out here, like, we should do it. So that's, that's basically how it started. And we started it with, let's do a Facebook group. So then we started doing a Facebook group, and then kind of fast forward here. I'll let Moray jump in and complete the rest of the story from her perspective. Yeah.
Morag 04:01
Sarah emailed me one day and she said, You know, I feel it's time I belong to a lot of groups in the US that I love and I i still participate in. But as Erica said, an HR professional would come in and you'd say, ask a question, and say, I'm in Canada, and it would be like, oh, you know, I can't really help you. Or some kind of a bookkeeper, or they talk about LLCs now go, what's an LLC and, you know, that kind of stuff, or even the marketing material that they give you, it was American spelling, American holidays, that kind of stuff. And so Erica said, you know, I think it's time. And I said, you know, I agree. And thinking we would have some zoom calls and discussions and plan it out. And the next thing you know, Zoom Erica. Erica is. The age of my son. So there, there, there's an energy age gap. And she just took off. The Facebook group got really popular really quickly. And then Eric has amazing tech background, the membership started, and it just, it just kind of flew. There was clearly people saw the same thing that we saw that there was a gap that needed to be filled.
Collin 05:25
And that is certainly something that you saw a gap for this and saw that there was a need for it from a personal perspective. Now both of you can maybe speak to this. Why were why was it so important for you to be the one to step up and make this happen. No one else was.
Morag 05:45
And, yeah, I mean, I see it in you talked earlier about, you know, it's not just the pet professionals. It's the pet parents as well. I see in my from my side of the industry, how uneducated people are in the Facebook groups and everything when they say, I need a dog walker. And you know, my 12 year old daughter loves dogs, and she'll walk the dogs. And you know it was, it's the education of the pet parents as well. That what is equally important to me and also seeing other pet professionals. And just to clarify, it's not just dog walkers and pet sitters, it's groomers and trainers and boarding facilities and daycares as well. And people just not knowing how to look, how to choose, how to choose what's best for their dog, where to go, to look, that was equally important for me, and it's been a passion of mine since I've started, is trying to educate. And again, I find that it the industry in general is a lot more popular in some European countries and the US than it is here. Here, it's still kind of new and questionable.
Erika 07:24
Yeah, and I think that's kind of where I saw it too, because I can see a real big difference between like, my US based clients and my Canadian based clients. And there's a lot like the US clients are way more into like. I can see like their clients are a lot more into seeing I need a pet sitter, and it's a need, but in Canada, it's still kind of seen as a luxury. So one of the things that we're working on is trying to get away from seeing it as a luxury, and that no it is a necessity to have professional care. So that's kind of what I'm seeing, that the little differences, and it might depend on what city or where you are located in Canada, some cities are a little bit more are a little bit different than others, but generally, you can see a big difference in in like, kind of the mentality of the pet parents. So we want to work on that. Like, I've talked to people who are like, Oh yeah, my neighbor walks the dog. And I'm like, Okay, so like, what happens if another dog comes charging at them? Oh, I don't know. Do they have insurance? You need insurance. So, like, it just and I don't know if, like, what it is, but a lot of I've seen a lot of, like, trends where people don't realize the liabilities behind it, and they don't realize that you need to hire a professional because of x, y and z. So we really want to that's part of it. And if you Google in various I mean, most places around Canada, it's all the tech companies that come up too. So it's just a different mentality up here than than I've seen in the US.
Collin 09:08
It changes how you market too, right? And those market materials that you were both kind of talking about of it's one thing to go online or have on your website of saying the best dog walker or the best pet sitter when you're going, well, do people even believe they need one? Right? So there's kind of like these different steps and different messaging that you have to do, and if you start off, but just by saying, I'm the best people go. So what I don't need one instead, there's all this education that has to come before that a lot of groundwork, and that takes a concerted effort of not just one person out there in a particular area, but a lot of people communicating and making sure everybody's on the same page. And so I definitely see why that's that's really important to have an organization that's not just doing that on their own, but equipping members to do that for themselves in their own business too.
Morag 09:59
The other big. Reference I've found, and again, I'm referring to my fairly small area, but I think it's pretty national, is I find that pet sitters, dog walkers, people in the industry within the same area that you're not colleagues, you're competitors, and that's a big thing that we want to change, too, that there's more than enough dogs and pets out there for all of us, that if we work together to raise the standard in the industry, it's better for all of us. And I from day 125, years ago, trying to make colleagues. It was just like, No, you're the competitor and and that's a big thing that we're trying to
Erika 10:53
work on changing as well. And I think too, having, like, a network of people that we know they are registered with the government. They are like they are. They do have insurance. They've been in the business for a while. They have professional websites. So we kind of they agree to our code of ethics. So all of that will hopefully, when we build it out, we'll get away from that competitor mentality and say, Okay, well, I least I know I can trust this other person, instead of not knowing, because there's nothing kind of there to make sure that there actually are professionals and being accountable. I know on
Collin 11:34
your website, I tried to apply. I don't live in Canada, so I couldn't go through this process. But I did notice that you require the registration you require these different things. Is that why it was important to you? So there could be a trust from one business to the next business that everybody has the same standards.
Morag 11:51
Yes, that and so yes, everyone has the same standards.
Morag 11:59
We are looking for professionals, people that are serious about what they do, not just, you know, the hobbyist who wants to make a few dollars when they have a chance. So yes, that is important. It's also important for as we build out the directory for pet parents to find a professional in their area in whatever they're looking for, whether it be a groomer, a dog walker or a boarding facility, that they know that these places have been vetted
Erika 12:35
and at least have the minimum requirements, because sometimes it's hard when we're kind of covering the entire pet care service industry. There might be different credentials that would consider a dog trainer, a professional versus a pet sitter. So those are kind of the bare minimum requirements. And then down the road, we can look into having different different other other segments to be able to further qualify.
Collin 13:00
Yeah, so it's the trust among colleagues, but it's also the trust back out to the public of I need, because you're right. If clients don't know either that there are standards or what standards to be looking for, trying to just have one baseline of saying, Okay, here's what we we require, and then you go and find and do your own vetting and ask your own questions. And we can equip you with those too, but at least making sure that that's all there. Because when it is the kind of wild west of business where everybody's out doing their own thing, everybody gets really, I've noticed in where we really opinionated, like, I'm best, I'm best, you're not, you're not, you're not. And that leads to that other mentality of like, no, not them, never them over them, but when you can have some common ground and some shared standards, it really helps to bring people together so that you're on the same plate and advancing that same mission together too.
Morag 13:53
Yes, that's absolutely the goal. And also, as Eric has said, you know, the bare minimum, it shows that you're serious. It shows that. And there's nothing against the tech companies. I'm sure they're good, but having been in the industry for 25 years, some of the horror stories people just don't they don't know what they don't know.
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Collin 14:45
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Collin 14:57
I know you mentioned a few of the few things. About the make the Canadian pet care space, you know, unique. Was curious, what other kind of, maybe challenges that pet care professionals face in Canada?
Morag 15:09
Well, we, we face a lot of the similar ones that they do everywhere. But I mean, the difference would be, you know, that you're belong to a group that does a disaster planning certificate, and they're talking about hurricanes and tornadoes, which is something we don't experience. Well, we're experiencing forest fires right now, but it we're, you know, dealing with winter and dealing, you know, different, just different things like that. And I think I'm correct me if I'm wrong on this, but in Canada, this is completely unregulated industry, all of it. I mean, the the boarding facilities and maybe a little bit different, they have certain rules, but people don't realize that someone can watch a YouTube video on how to train a dog, take, you know, $50 from their neighbor to train their dog to, you know, sit and walk nicely, and all of a sudden they can call themselves a professional and and we know there's a lot more to it than that, and there's a lot of education that goes into it. You know, I've got 22 team members, and before they step out the door for their first visit, they're pet first aid certified, and they go through training in dog behavior and dog dog body language and those kind of things, and people the general public, don't understand that, because they just think, well, if they love dogs,
Collin 16:47
you know, that's good.
Morag 16:52
So yeah, though, I mean, I don't think the challenges are, are that different and unique, other than transferring it into Canada, a different country, sure.
Collin 17:07
What were those early stages like for putting together the the organization, you two, trying to get this off the ground, and making some of those initial contacts, I should say, Have you recovered from the lack of sleep yet? Is really what I'm asking.
Erika 17:21
Well, I mean, both of us are in other businesses as well, so yeah, um, I mean, a lot of it was just pulling together information. Once we started putting it out there and connecting with the people that we know, kind of for the low hanging fruit, it just started taking off and getting out there, and people heard about it, so it just started happening. And then we started getting people reaching out to us to say, how can we support you? So I think that was the big part. We have had HR professional, we have bookkeeper, we have emotional intelligence experts who talk about burnout and stress management and boundaries and that kind of stuff. We have a lawyer that a lawyer. So like, all these people are hearing about us and reaching out. Be like, how can we help? How can we be part of this community? So it all kind of snowballs, and the more we have, the more it's just getting out there and getting more attention, more people are seeing what kind of value there is we have, like, a marketing toolkit that focuses specifically on the Canadian like, holidays and that kind of stuff. Because, like, Maureen was mentioning that you could get a toolkit, but it might have, like the Fourth of July, which is, what are we going to do? Because it's right. It's not like we don't we celebrate Canada Day on July 1, not Fourth of July and July 4. So a lot of those types of things are no good for the Canadians. And like, the contracts that are out there, like, they have to be completely different. Like, like SOPs and all like, everything is so different. HR rules are different. So we're just trying to basically figure out what's needed, and once we're getting some good feedback, we're going to be partnering with the Connect Pet Expo on March 4. We are going to be having a full day where we're going to be doing some sessions for Canadians, the pet care service providers, where that that trade show is very heavily on, like the retail and distributor side. So we're trying to kind of work with them, and we're bringing it all together. So right now, we're just basically pushing through, gaining trust and showing people that we're here for them.
Collin 19:44
What? What was the you talked about, some of the the feedback where people kind of just caught on. Oh, let me look at this. Did you ever get any pushback or questions about this as you were putting it together? Yes, because, I mean,
Erika 19:57
it's brand new, and people like, for example, we. Had somebody comment to be like, Oh, I bet these people don't even have a dog. They're just doing this. And it's like, okay, well, Maurice been in the industry for 25 years as a pet care professional. I've been in it for over 10 years on the support side, like supporting and getting, like, the second hand knowledge. So it's not like we just rolled off the side of the street and started it. We have a lot of background. We have a lot of like, experience and credibility all put together and our reputations that we're building off of right now. So, yeah, you're always going to get naysayers, and if they don't want to join, then they don't need to join, and down the road, they'll probably realize they should have so
Morag 20:39
that's but we also got someone saying, Oh, great, another membership. And you know, you know, it just the people that have to the negative Nellies who have to put something out there that that's negative, when they could just kind of move on and go, not for me and not interested, but really, mostly, it's been a lot of a lot of support. We were actually quite shocked the way people reached out to us, and it just made it more clear that there, there was a need and a gap. I think, about two days after we launched the Facebook page, the the people that run the Connect Pet Expo and all the big pet expos around town reached out and said, you know, how can we help? What do we what can we do to be involved? And gave us a free booth at their connect show on Niagara last June, where we had to scramble and get postcards and a backdrop. But even there, people you know were coming up to the booth and saying, you know, finally, where have you guys been?
Collin 21:58
So you launched with a membership model, and I'm glad you touched on that. If I was like, Oh, another thing to do, how has it been launching this without all of it being built out on the back end and getting people on board with that vision?
Erika 22:15
So we were able to use a platform that allowed us to build it out pretty quickly, and one that I was familiar with. So the biggest thing when we started was getting the professionals in experts and getting educational content going. So that was a big thing. Right off the bat, we were able to do that. And then within our hub, we have kind of different areas broken down. So we have the expert series with all the replays, and we have show notes, and we have handouts that go with it. We have an HR Power Hour. So once a month, we have an HR professional coming in talking about different topics related to specifically to Canadian. And then we also have sit, stay, recap. So that's basically a round table. We've seen some really interesting results come out of that, where you can just a free for all, ask your questions, and it's really neat hearing different perspectives, and especially from around the whole country. So we have that, and we have our monthly marketing toolkit each month to come out with Instagram and Facebook templates that are easily branded, that you can share. And I mean, we keep adding more and more. So now we have the verified pro badges. So those who are members, and we have verified that they are, they meet the minimum requirements, will be able to add that badge to their website to add that credibility. And our goal there is that we want Canadian pet parents to see that logo and immediately say, okay, these guys are legit. So that's kind of we want that household name for pet parents. When they see our organization, they immediately relate it to reliability. And then we are building out a directory as well. So we're hoping to have that fully launched by it should be fully launched now,
Erika 24:10
and you can probably cut that out, because we get there anyways, try that again.
Erika 24:19
So then we have our directory, and that's where all of our members will be able to add their business only verified members can be in the directory, and then you'll be able to add any other associations, that you're members of, any training, that you have, any other types of credibility expertise that give you that that that that edge over your competitors. And then a few other neat things that we have in our system is we have some breakout rooms as well, because we're tackling the whole pet care service industry. So we have, we have breakout rooms for different services. So. There's trainer specific rooms, groomer specific rooms, for example. So if you have those specific questions, you can kind of go into that hub and ask others with this in this within the same kind of silos you and then we also have provincial hubs. So we don't have quite as many provinces as there are states in the US. So we can manage the hubs. So we have, yeah, we have hubs for each province, from BC all the way out to Newfoundland and something like that. Like, like Quebec, for example, has a lot of different laws, and they have language laws that are much different than any other province. So we found it important to have those specific provincial hubs so that if someone in Quebec wants to ask questions, maybe they want to ask in French, where other provinces don't speak French, they can go in there and they can have their conversations that are provincial specific. So there is a lot going on in there. We have, we have discussions, we have, we have lots of new things popping up pretty much weekly at this point, other
Morag 26:11
than Erica has done an amazing job setting it up, I feel pretty useless in that department with the tech end of it. But you your original question was building it out that the probably the biggest issue has been getting engagement. We're still kind of in, we're in that no like trust stage, so a lot of kind of lurkers seeing what is going on, and we're really trying to promote engagement, because that's how it works best, if everyone communicates. And every month we see it growing and improving, and people asking questions, people getting involved, more involved in the webinars, and just sitting there off camera, you know they're getting involved. So that has probably been the biggest challenge, and I completely understand it. It's new. People are still getting to know us and know what it's all about. But it is, it. It's very rewarding to see each month that it just improves and people are feeling more comfortable with opening up, asking questions and being involved.
Collin 27:26
Because there's two aspects to that. There's the one, you know, you launch, you've got to then build all of the content for the people right, to attract them to be there. But that takes a little while. So, you know, a membership, maybe it's you talk about like value per minute of content from a membership perspective, yeah, in five years when you've got days and days of stuff like, that's a different value proposition, versus the kind of people that you attract really early on with, like the diehards, the committed the bleeding edge of what they're trying to push with the industry, looking for the latest and greatest and being able to keep them active and engaged, so that, you know, in a couple years, you've got all the content and a really engaged group of people who are passionate about this and helping others, and so that that kind of slow build to bring people in so they have that value. And Erica, you also mentioned the importance of both of you actually, actually mentioned this about, you know, being a known brand from the from the organization for the in the broader community. So I was curious about that. You know, you want to see, you want a dog owner to see your logo and see that's, you know, whoever has that on their website. I need to go with, how are you doing that? Kind of, what's your strategy with that?
Erika 28:39
So that'll be a lot of the education. So we some of the things we're going to be doing is going to local networking or local expos. So we have the Ottawa Pet Expo, for example, and then there's the one in the missing one in Mississauga. So those are business to consumer shows. So for those shows, we're going to start going to those, bringing some of our members along with us, so that we can have discussions with the pet parents that are there, and kind of talk about what we're doing and why, why it's important to have someone that's professional. And so that's kind of one avenue we're taking. We'll be doing some blogs that are more geared towards a pet, pet parents, talking about like this, the kind of like the professional side, to really educate. So, I mean, that's the biggest thing, is just educating. And eventually we'd like to use some of our membership funds to be able to run ads and that kind of thing too. So really, right now, we're, we're just like, Maury said, we're just at the beginning of it. We're just building up, and then we're hoping that, yeah, once we have membership, the more members, the more revenue, the more money we have to support. So it's like. Just a big, big circle, and the more we can do in communities. And it's just, yeah, the whole advocating side of it, as well as the supporting, and I mean, educating the pet service providers on the business side as well.
Collin 30:15
I know you mentioned one of the benefits being an online directory. Why? Why is that so important to have? And kind of, what benefits does that give? Does that give the people who sign up?
Erika 30:25
So the directory? I mean, well, one thing is, I have heard that a like a lot of the llms are looking into directories to find their information. So if, I mean, that's changing every day. But if that's the case, then it'll be even more important to have the directory to be found, because right now, when you do some searching, that's where they're pulling their information from. So that is one big part. It's also we're still it's still new. So once we get the directory built and there's more people using it and more traffic, it'll also give you a backlink to your website, which then helps your website's authority. So that's one thing. And then the other thing too is we have all of the local events we go to will have little postcards that we hand out that'll have QR codes that will go to the directory. So we're just basically going everything we do on the pet parent side, we're going to just drive people to this directory so that they can find the local professionals in their area.
Morag 31:26
The other place that I see it useful is if someone contacts me and wants to hire our our pet our pet sitter, dog walking company, and we don't service that area, I can direct them to the directory. Also for local vets, which is, is an area that we've stayed away for, they have their own associations. But instead of, you know, just having kind of a pile of cards behind the desk that they hand out, they can say, you know, we know this is a trusted site, go in and put in what you're looking for in what area, and this will give you people that you know are vetted. We're still going to encourage people to do their due diligence, of course, because they should be. And so I see it going much bigger than, than just, you know, someone who asks, I always, since I started the business 25 years ago, I hate saying no. I can't say no, but I can't say I'm sorry, but try this.
Collin 32:38
Yeah, having that good reference part, because you it's part of just good customer. Service, right? I don't want to say, No, sometimes I have to, because I just don't know who's over there. And it's to know, hey, here's a professional network. Here's a great organization I'm a part of. Put your information in. It helps a lot. And it it has a it really opens up the kind of community I think that pet parents get to experience when there are individuals who are going look at this thing, pointing them back to that that's another way where you earn trust with that pet owner, is by being able to give them and point them in a direction, especially towards a professional organization, right? That that's where a lot of that knowledge and trust starts to happen with that direct interface between a pet business owner and that client, even when they can't serve them, right? That's really, that's really powerful,
Morag 33:25
yeah, and we get a lot too that, you know, I'm sorry we're moving next month. And, you know, do you cover where we're moving to? No, I'm sorry we don't. But, you know, I I always like to give a resource, and I'm assuming every everyone else in the industry does too.
Erika 33:45
And it's also a good resource to have, because I a lot of people ask in their local Facebook groups, Can you recommend a dog walker, pet sitter? And I'm so sick of seeing, Oh yeah, my son can do it, and he's vola, right? Or like, oh my so and so is doing it because they're bored, and at least this way now we can go like, okay, here is a here's a list of professionals and and that, and it's a good way to share it in these local groups and educate people on why you don't want to hire that person. And also educate the people that are interested in dog walking, here is how you actually start a company, and this is what you need. So I think it also can help, and we have a startup membership as well, which is great for those who want to get into the industry. So hopefully it'll also encourage these, these people that want to become dog walkers or pet sitters, to consider actually taking it on as a profession instead of just a hobby.
Collin 34:44
Yeah, that's that is really critical of as an as an industry. How are we treating not just the existing people here, but the people interested in coming on board? Are we actually, if we really love the industry and we want to see it. Around for 3040, for the rest of our lives and beyond. How do we actually do that? We cultivate pathways for people to come into the industry and succeed and progress. That's every other industry has a way to get in lines to follow and move forward. There's a progress and pathway that you can come through. And if we continue to say, I want to figure out, well, that does nobody any good to be able to say, Hey, you're interested in this. This is a legitimate career. You can spend your lifetime growing a business and being wonderfully successful in this. Here's how you do that. That what? Oh, wow. Let me go this way versus trying to go it on my own. And that way is how you build those a culture that you want in the industry, and you maintain those standards. Erica, you mentioned you have a startup level. So that clues me into that maybe you guys have a couple different options for people to join. What are those? And maybe any differences that people would expect?
Erika 36:00
Yeah. So we do, we have the professional level, and we have the startup level, and then we have a rescue level. So we are giving any registered rescues free access to the infirm, to the tools that we have, all of our content, all of them like, basically, for the nonprofits. And the main difference between the Pro and the startup right now is the professional has they have insurance, they're registered, they have a website, and they're at least two years. They've been doing it professionally for at least two years. And then the startup plan, they're less than two years. We and then we require that they are, they are enrolled in some sort of education. So we don't our we're our focus is on the business side, and there are tons of resources out there that have really great training to become like on the on the pet care side, and because it's universal, there's no point in us trying to reinvent the wheel when it's already out there. We're just filling in the gap that's missing. So we just want our startup members to show yeah, I'm enrolled in XYZ, to show that they are committed and they to becoming a professional.
Collin 37:12
Yeah, I think that that's really interesting to have that commitment to education aspect. Is that, how do you I mean, how is that something that you foster in your current members, or you want to keep moving, because that's one thing, hey, you're coming in. We need to see a commitment to education. What's it like to possibly foster that for people moving, you know, who have been in the industry for a while? Well, we've,
Morag 37:36
we've reached out and got some, you know, Canadian pet care professional member discounts to some of the the groups that do, like psi, does the CP, CPPC,
Erika 37:53
I can't remember what it's called, training in their courses, yeah,
Morag 37:58
yes, and and, and fetch, find, and so we've reached out to some who have offered our members discounts, and also the there's some dog training conferences coming up, and they've offered our members discounts. And we're also trying to promote to pet care professionals that the benefits of attending live events and attending things and making connections and learning so we can give them the resources, and also we do ask what, you know, what kind of training they have. There's different kind of certifications for, you know, trainers, and being an unregulated industry, you know, does it really matter? But you need to show that you're, you're bettering yourself, and you're, in my case, my staff, like I'm always asking them, you know, what other training do you feel you need? What would be beneficial? What you know, what would help you out and and the more equipped you are, and it also makes it more than walking around the dock walk with a dog. We're learning, we're learning how to implement things in our own lives as well, and and pet first aid certification, again, not every aspect of the industry that we cover would require it, but we are asking for it from certain certain
Collin 39:33
sectors cool
Erika 39:34
and I think one thing to add to that's a little bit different between Canada and the US is there is the lack of in person conferences in Canada. So there are a ton in the US and part of the and then also part of the the reason why we were looking into this is right now the exchange rate is really big between Canada and the US. So everything that's built in the US, you have to add like 40% All of the Canadian businesses. That's how extreme the the exchange rate is right now. So going these conferences in the US are amazing, but they're so expensive when you have to convert it to Canadian dollars, and then you have to get your flights and your accommodation. So by the time you go to the conference in Florida or Texas, like it's just gets to the point where is it even worth it, because it's so expensive. So we are looking into, I know there's are some conferences. There is one November, 1 to second in Calgary, Alberta, the behavior a conference they just finished up the city's dogs in the city conference in Toronto was in late September. So there are we're trying to get it going, but we and we also need to get Canadians understanding the importance of the in person conferences, because the American pet business owners jump on them as soon as there's a conference, like, Oh my gosh. We're going, I'm booking it like, and then in Canada, it's like, well, do I really need to go? And it's like, yes, you do need to go. So that's one of the things that we're working on, too, is having some more of the in person things. And I think once you go to an in person event, you really that's the only way to really understand the impact of it. I think
Collin 41:20
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Morag 42:53
Yeah, I know I met Erica even though we'd worked together for years. We were at the psi conference in Niagara Falls last, no, last September or something, yep, and that was the first time I'd met her in person. And you even talked to someone differently. You know, we always had a good relationship. But then once you've actually met them face to face, the conversation is different, the the feel of is different.
Erika 43:19
And you know what? This might not Canadian pet care professionals might not have ever happened if we had didn't meet at that conference in person, right? Because when you meet someone in person, you're like, Okay, well, maybe we vibe or like, something like that. But if you didn't have that in person contact, it might not have gotten to the point where we would have reached out to each other to actually do this. So that's one of the big impacts, I think, of in person, yeah,
Collin 43:44
you all put together a code of ethics for the organization. I was curious about the development of this, and particularly like the responsibilities of the individual members and how you hold them to this.
Morag 43:58
Yeah, I think we came up with it. A lot of it was basically what I do. And I've believed in for 25 years that this is how you should treat animals, this is how you should treat your clients, this is how and again, kind of the bare minimums. I always believe in going above and beyond. And we did question, you know, how are we going to hold people it's great that they say, Yes, I agree, but how are we going to hold people accountable? We do have some people, well, one person who will be checking like reviews and see if there's anything negative that goes against what we, you know, feel, and we, I also truly feel like if someone sees that Canadian pet care professional badge, and you. They've had a bad experience with one of our members. We'll hear about it pretty quickly.
Erika 45:05
We hope so, because at least that way, we can follow up and say, Okay, what's going on to to see who's if it was their fault and if they should get their membership removed, or if it was the customer not acting appropriately. Yeah.
Morag 45:20
But reviews, I am, as you probably know, people are much faster to give a negative review. I always tell my team that good news travels fast, but bad news travels at the speed of light, and they're often much quicker to leave a negative review than a positive one. That as we, you know, as we do our round of checks, we will be able to see and catch, right,
Collin 45:48
yeah, and that process, at least, you know, in we talk about, in an unregulated industry, how do we start that process? And I think it continues to be exceptionally important to start internally, holding people to internal standards. Because I think one of the last things we really want is somebody from outside the industry coming in and dictating how we're supposed to operate with no knowledge of what we do or how we do it. And so this kind of stuff of, hey, here's our set of standards. We are going to have repercussions for not following these or doing these. It's again, you start building that mindset of, again, we're all in this together, and this is what we agree on, and it just makes everybody better. You mentioned earlier, more about kind of this exploding and going really fast and taking off a lot faster than you expected. How has that been? You know, kind of why writing this sounds like a wild tiger with the growth and expansion and everything,
Morag 46:45
a Marlin at the end of a leashing it. I mean, it's
Morag 46:54
been fun. This is clearly a passion of mine. Everyone says, you know, you're 63 when are you going to retire? And it's just like, why would you retire from something you love? And this is, this has been a passion of mine for years, to evolve the industry, to educate So, yes, it has been a whirlwind. I can't keep up with Erica. I'm not even going to try and keep up with Eric. I do my best. I help you know where I can, and I said running your own business. And as you know, if you have a dog walking and pet sitting business, summer is is crazy town, not only with events. I've got four events coming up in August, you know, and you know 22 staff members, and thankfully, an awesome office manager. So you know you do what you can and but the passion keeps you driving forward for sure.
Collin 47:59
Erica, what about with you, and how fast this has taken off.
Erika 48:04
So I mean, I when I get an idea, I just run with it and just go full speed, and I get pumped up on like seeing results and seeing that progress. So when I see members coming in, and I see them joining, and I see them taking advantage of what we're building that just, like, basically pumps me up more. Be like, Okay, we're gonna get more people. And like, like, what do you want? What do you guys want? We'll go find them. Like, we'll find the resource to make this and, yeah, I just like, I guess it's just that entrepreneurial on I just like building amazing things so and helping people. And this industry has been a passion for a long time. And, yeah, I've seen so many just in my neighborhood, like,
Morag 48:53
how
Erika 48:56
not, how the unregulations of this industry, really, it's just like, boggles my mind. So I just want to make a difference. And like, yeah, and
Morag 49:10
yeah, I'm kind of calling it my legacy. But also I'm hoping, as you know, things grow and you know, we will get to a point where it's not quite it'll always be work, but it won't be, you know, that building stage, and at that point, I'm really hoping that we can connect and maybe get some regulations in this industry, in this area, through local connections and politicians and and try and make a difference that way. Because in my mind, it's absolutely ridiculous that this industry, with all its risks and liabilities, is not regulated in some respect.
Erika 49:59
But then we. Need that big base to be able to basically go to the government and lobby them and be like, Hey, we've got 1000s of pet care professionals here. Like, we want this regulated, so we need to build that before we can take it to that next level.
Collin 50:14
Well, and you have to have the passionate community too, right? The pet owners really of both sides of this coin. It's one thing for an industry showing up saying, hey, we want regulations for us. It's a whole other thing if people start hearing, if legislators hear from their constituents who are saying, hey, we need to regulate this because XYZ and here you need to go talk to this professional organization for guidance on that right. Like, that's what, really what makes that powerful squeaky wheel?
Morag 50:44
Yeah, and I think we start with local every if everyone starts with their local, and you kind of grow out from that point. Is my current thinking. But we're not quite there yet.
Collin 50:56
Well, you know, we're coming up into the end of the end of 2025, I was curious, you know, as far as future plans maybe you already have in the books or, you know, in concrete that you that you guys are excited about,
Erika 51:10
I think the most exciting thing right now will be being at the Connect Pet Expo and having our own little quote, unquote mini conference within it, where we'll be bringing in some speakers and having some sessions directed towards the Canadian pet care professionals. Since it's a fairly new thing, I I'm not aware of anything in Canada that does that right now, other than there's a lot for like the retail side, but and maybe like, some grooming and training specific ones, but there's nothing for like the pet services in general, and focusing on the Canadian side of business. So I'm really excited for that. And then we're going to be having different speakers coming in and building out the webinar, hopefully bringing in some workshops and and just kind of figuring out what's working, what people want, and going with it.
Collin 52:05
I love that that's really exciting. I can't wait to see where you guys take this and the impact that you start making. So thank you, both Maura and Erica, for coming on the show today and sharing with us about this and the importance of professionalizing the industry, getting connected and raising the bar for everybody. For those who are interested in getting connected, learning more about the Canadian pet care professionals organization, how best can they do that?
Erika 52:33
So you can go to our website, pet care pro canada.ca, that will have all the information that you need to connect whether you want to join, follow us on socials. Get upcoming industry events and member events.
Collin 52:48
Well, I will have a link to that in the show notes and on our website and encourage people to follow along, because they're putting out a lot of really good information. And it's really cool to see that. So again, thank you both so so much for coming on the show today and sharing this with us. I really appreciate your time.
Erika 53:05
So thank you. Thank you Collin, thank you so much for having us.
Collin 53:09
My favorite part of this conversation was when Morag said that when we work together to raise the standards of the industry, it's better for all of us. I love that when we collaborate, when we share resources, when we uphold clear, set standards, pet owners get safer, more consistent care, and our businesses grow stronger through credentials and specific education. This helps build real boots on the ground, kind of trust with our clients. Let's replace star fours with teamwork and make sure that professional is the norm globally. We want to thank our sponsors today, time to pet and pet perennials for making this show possible, and we really want to thank you so much for listening. We hope you have a wonderful rest of your week, and we'll be back again soon.
