Home medical equipment is hands-on by nature. Customers typically don’t purchase their mobility, accessibility and home safety products online (and if they do, buyer beware). It’s incredibly important that a wheelchair or scooter complements the patient’s physique, and that grab bars and handrails are optimized to a home’s unique layout. Ours is a service industry first, grounded in customer insights, with products offered on a foundation of trust.
There are a handful of live tradeshows and conferences in our yearly events calendar, and each gives us hands-on experiences with the products we sell while exposing us to new and emerging innovations. These events are crucial to helping us provide our customers with the product lineup they deserve.
The two-day Ability Members Group annual conference we attended in February in Toronto does things differently than the traditional tradeshow format.
“We consider this more of a networking event similar to speed dating,” elaborates Kelli Vriend, General Manager with Ability Members Group. “The first two days involve several 15-minute one-on-one meetings between Ability Member retailers and our supplier partners. These focused sessions connect principals directly with other principals, enabling everyone to make decisions on the fly while firming up business planning for the year.”
With the big-picture planning out of the way, the third day of the conference involved touring a couple of the supplier facilities based in the Greater Toronto Area. This year included stops at Motion Concepts and Sunrise Medical, where we were able to learn more about some of the new products offered by these two forward-thinking mobility equipment manufacturers.
During the event, we were also delighted to connect with our good friend David Harding, CEO of Raz Design. David has been a prominent member of Canada’s accessibility products industry for decades, and we are always excited to hear what’s new with Raz Design, an international leader in mobile showers, commode chairs and tub sliders.
“What we like about the Ability Members Group conference is that it’s so different from your traditional trade show where people float by and you’re hoping to catch their attention,” explains David. “Here, we had in-depth conversations about our product line and answered questions directly. The mood was very cordial and collaborative.
“We have five new models coming out in 2026,” David continues. “Among them, our Trakz tub slider has several points of difference compared to alternative products, which we were able to explain in depth at the conference. The system features a secure unit comprised of a mobility base, tub base and bridge, allowing users to be safely transferred over an existing bathtub for showering.
“The beauty is that no bathroom renovation is required, so you’re not having to rip out a bathtub and then put a new one back in when you sell your home. This feature also makes Trakz ideal for individuals who are renting apartments. The list of advantages goes on, and the Ability Members Group conference dynamic allowed us to go into great detail while showcasing Trakz’s superior construction quality in person.”
Up next in our event calendar is The Rehab Equipment Expo (REE) here in British Columbia. You can read about our experience at the 2025 event here; we will be reporting on the 2026 event in a future blog post.
At Kootenay Columbia Home Medical Equipment (KCHME), we are delighted to offer a comprehensive selection of the most advanced mobility, accessibility and home safety products readily available in Canada. If you would like to learn more about the latest innovations such as the Trakz tub slider by Raz Design, contact us today.