Our History

Since 1978, the Dental Industry Association of Canada has been the voice of the dental industry for Canada. Nine titans in the Canadian dental industry met to establish the by-laws and hold the first AGM on May 17, 1978, with the first letters patent registered on July 31, 1978.

The first Board of Directors included Al Austin of Ash Temple, Fred Heaps of Dentsply Canada, Les Jones of Amalgamated Dental, Karl Kempnich of Williams Gold, Norm Laberge of Novocol, Yves Lambert of Depot Dentaire, Robert Viau of Johnson & Johnson and Art Zwingenberger of Lux & Zwingenberger, with Lee Maddison of Medi-Dent elected as the first President of DIAC.

The mission of DIAC has evolved and expanded over the years from its beginnings as a forum for consensus on trade show management, regulatory affairs and market research. Today, DIAC is the respected voice of the industry in matters of business ethics, legislative change, industry issues, communication and industry collaboration with dental associations in Canada and globally. We sponsor the Technorama Lab and Technology trade show annually, bringing together members of the commercial laboratory and technology industry. The initial objectives of our association have remained steadfast as we continue to build programming that provides value to our members.