ECS Electrical Cable Supply (ECS), one of Canada's largest independently owned wire and cable distributors, will exhibit at Electricity Transformation Canada (ETC) 2026 from October 19 to 21 at the Enercare Centre in Toronto. At Booth #323, the centerpiece will be an electric formula race car designed and built by Toronto Metropolitan Formula Racing (TMFR), a student engineering team at Toronto Metropolitan University. ECS sponsors the team as part of a broader commitment to youth-led engineering programs, where the next generation of electrical talent gains hands-on experience before entering the workforce.
This announcement matters because Canada's electrification buildout—spanning new generation, storage, transmission, and distribution—will be delivered by people who are still in school today. Youth-led programs like TMFR provide students with real components, real constraints, and real consequences for getting a termination wrong. ECS supports these initiatives because the industry's capacity to deliver depends on a skilled workforce. By showcasing the car, ECS underscores the practical link between student training and the future of Canada's electrical infrastructure.
Techspan Industries donated the component kits used throughout the car's electrical system, including high-voltage hook-up wire, lugs, ring terminals, crimp connectors, fuses, heat shrink, and mounting hardware. The car will be a display-only exhibit. Kirk Readings, Chief Revenue Officer at ECS, emphasized the significance: "Connecting people and powering success is not a tagline for us. It is the actual business, and it starts long before a project reaches a job site. The students on this team specified, terminated, and tested every connection on that car themselves. That is the same work our customers do every day, just at a different scale. Partnering with youth-led programs is how our industry makes sure there are people ready to build what Canada is about to build, and being part of that matters more to us than anything we could put on a product sheet."
Belden and Techspan Industries are partners on the ECS booth, with product literature and representatives present throughout the show. ETC 2026 brings together utilities, developers, contractors, manufacturers, and suppliers working on Canada's electricity system, from renewable generation and energy storage to grid and distribution infrastructure. ECS supplies cable into these sectors from its nine Canadian locations and two in the United Arab Emirates. For more information about ECS, visit ecswire.com.
ECS technical and account team members will be available at the booth to discuss product specifications, applications, lead times, and supply program options, and to introduce attendees to the TMFR students behind the car. The event details are: What: Electricity Transformation Canada (ETC) 2026; Where: Enercare Centre, Exhibition Place, Toronto, Ontario; When: October 19 to 21, 2026; ECS Booth: #323; Booth Partners: Belden, Techspan Industries. The presence of the student-built race car serves as a tangible reminder of how industry investment in youth engineering programs directly contributes to building a robust electrification workforce for Canada's future.
