Built for the whole career, not just the first week.

Whether you're an owner planning succession, a manager onboarding your third hire this year, or someone on the floor who wants to move up, the training is here and the path is mapped. Build a training program tailored to your team, so you can stop second-guessing and stay consistent.

What is your current onboarding actually costing you?

Four numbers is enough for a realistic estimate. Adjust them to match your store — the total updates when you click away or press Enter.

Including seasonal and part-time
What a new hire earns
Whoever shows them the ropes
1 week12 weeks
Where the money goes
Wages paid before full productivity
New hires are paid in full while producing about half the value
$8,800
Your trainer off the floor
About 6 hours a week teaching instead of selling
$4,560
Replacing hires who leave
20% leave within a year, largely because they never felt competent
$2,816
20%
How this is calculated: new hires are assumed to produce about half their value during ramp-up, and a trainer spends roughly 6 hours a week with them. Replacement cost is estimated at four weeks of wages per departure. A 40-hour week is assumed throughout. These are conservative industry estimates, not a quote.
Costing you every year
$16,176
That is $4,044 for every person you hire, before anyone sells a thing.
With a structured plan

Getting new hires productive in two weeks instead of 5 brings the same figure down to:

$8,160
You keep $8,016 a year
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Onboarding cost estimate from supplybuild.ca —

 

Course Explorer

Explore our full catalogue of online courses, tailored for the building materials industry to help you and your team build skills, strengthen performance, and succeed.

Browse Course Catalogue

Common Remarks

"I can't pull people off the floor for training."

Nobody's asking you to. Courses run 30 to 90 minutes and save progress, so they fit around the day instead of interrupting it.

The details

Why development keeps getting postponed

  • Any full-day session means coverage you don't have
  • Training gets scheduled for the quiet season that never arrives
  • Staff development competes directly with today's sales
  • People who want to grow get told "later" until they stop asking
  • The gap between your strongest and weakest staff keeps widening

What fits into a real week

  • Modules short enough to finish in one slow stretch
  • Progress saved, so a course can be picked up over several days
  • Staggered across the team, one person at a time
  • No travel, no scheduling, no coverage problems
  • Skills that show up on the floor within the same week

"My team learns on the job."

They do. The question is what they're learning, and from whom.

The details

Where it breaks down

  • New staff copy the habits of whoever they're paired with, good or bad
  • Product knowledge has gaps nobody finds until a quote goes wrong
  • Confident-sounding wrong answers cost customers quietly
  • The pace depends on how busy the floor is that week
  • Nothing is written down, so nothing improves

What fits into a real week

  • A defined starting point, so everyone learns the same fundamentals
  • Product training built for Canadian building supply, not generic retail
  • Staff who know when to ask instead of guessing
  • Learning that happens whether or not it's a busy week
  • A program that gets better each time it's used

"My team is solid. They don't need training."

Probably true, and that's the argument for it. Training a struggling team fixes problems; training a strong one raises the ceiling.

The details

What a good team is already doing

  • Answering the questions customers ask
  • Knowing the regular product lines cold
  • Keeping things moving on a busy Saturday

What the next level looks like

  • Spotting the sale the customer didn't know to ask for
  • Handling the pro contractor conversation with confidence
  • Understanding margin, not just price
  • Knowing the newer categories before customers start asking
  • Being ready to run a department, not just work in one

Short courses that fit around a shift, built for where this industry is heading. No travel, no coverage gaps, no waiting for a quiet week.

Designed for the building supply industry, sized for people who can't leave the floor. Start with one course and one employee.

Not sure what your team needs? Find out here.

The stores that get the most out of training aren't the ones with the biggest problems; they're the ones who know where their gaps are.

Take three minutes with the Skills Gap Scorecard and get a read on where your team stands right now.

Skills Gap Scorecard

Or take thirty with the Director of Industry Training and walk away with a training plan built around your roles, your budget, and where the business is headed.
Either one beats guessing.

Book a Meeting

 

Programs Already Built

Each one is a set of courses already chosen and put in order for a specific role. If none of them match your store, or you're buying for several locations, a custom kit can be built around what you need.

View pre-made bundles and add-ons

Member Testimonies

“

The Building Materials Fundamentals courses have been an excellent addition to our onboarding process for new sales staff. They provide a consistent foundation of industry and product knowledge, allowing new team members to become productive quickly and engage in meaningful conversations with customers. We have seen increased confidence and improved understanding of building materials and construction processes. Overall, the courses have helped accelerate development, improve the quality of customer interactions, and establish a higher standard of knowledge across our sales team.

Cole H.

Star Building Materials

“

Over the past several years, UFA’s continually evolving partnership with Supply-Build Canada has created meaningful opportunities for mutual growth. The decision to invest time in Supply-Build Canada’s web based BMF training was driven by both quality and impact. Each module delivers high production value, rich content, and practical, industry-relevant learning, an approach that resonates strongly with UFA’s Pro Sales Team. The strength of these courses lies in how they build confidence. They equip our team with the knowledge and assurance they need to support customers at every level. That confidence shows up immediately in customer conversations.

Dave R.

UFA

 

Questions? Ideas? Somewhere to Start?

Whether you know exactly what your team needs, or you're still working it out, the Director of Industry Training can help you sort it in one conversation. No pressure, no obligation.

Headshot of Anita Holtmann

Anita Holtmann

Meet our Director of Industry Training

 

Contact Info:

Email: aholtmann@supplybuild.ca
Phone (Local): (431) 668-7421

ATTRACT. CONNECT. EDUCATE. ADVOCATE.