CanLift Rolls Out AI Across Rental Operations with Employee-Led Innovation
CanLift Equipment Ltd. has introduced artificial intelligence (AI) across customer-facing and internal operations, transforming how customers access support and staff work day-to-day, the company said. The independently owned company is one of the first in Canada’s MEWP (mobile elevating work platform) rental industry to integrate AI in this capacity. This comes as the Canadian Rental Association has projected continued growth for construction rental, which is expected to rise 4 percent in 2025 to $6.6 billion.
To enhance service, CanLift deployed Clive (CanLift Intelligent Virtual Expert), its AI chatbot, which provides 24/7 online support and has reduced web inquiry response times to instant replies. The company also implemented AI-powered call routing, connecting customers to the right department faster, improving response times and reducing missed calls. Together, these tools have led to faster quote turnaround and less downtime for rental customers, the company said.
In addition to customer-facing improvements, CanLift has fostered internal adoption of AI through an employee-led “AI Club,” where staff collaborate on new applications for emerging technologies. Several custom GPTs have been developed in-house to support fleet optimization, prioritize urgent repairs, and manage cash flow. CanLift’s 50-person staff report real gains, from faster collections in accounts receivable to quicker service calls and more accurate dispatching.
The company also uses AI video generation to create training and onboarding videos, making knowledge transfer faster and more scalable.
“There’s no doubt that professionals across Canada are feeling anxious about AI replacing their jobs, but CanLift took the opposite stance. Instead of seeing AI as a threat, the company treated it as an engagement lever that helps us do our best work,” said Paul Cavert, rental coordinator at CanLift. “We’ve been able to take an active role in shaping how AI is used on the team, and the tools we’ve helped implement to automate repetitive tasks have made my work more rewarding.”
Integrating AI
CanLift’s culture has supported the smooth integration of AI into daily operations, reinforcing the company’s commitment to employee satisfaction and retention.
Recognized nationally as a “Great Place to Work,” CanLift continues to invest in its people while adopting new tools to strengthen service, which matters at a time when Canadian businesses face growing economic pressure.
“Our AI innovation is empowering people, not replacing them. The industry relies on individual knowledge, which AI cannot replicate,” said Ryan Fitzgibbon, director of technology and marketing at CanLift. “Combining AI with our team’s expertise allows us to serve customers more effectively than companies that haven’t adopted these tools. We’ve done this while staying true to our people-first culture that earned us a Great Place to Work certification. These tools free our team to do what they do best, which is build relationships and deliver exceptional service.”
Looking ahead, the company says it plans to expand its use of AI into predictive maintenance and personalized rental recommendations, ensuring even greater efficiency and customer value in the future.
CanLift, based in Burlington, Ontario, Canada, is No. 84 on the RER 100.
About the Author
Michael Roth
Editor
Michael Roth has covered the equipment rental industry full time for RER since 1989 and has served as the magazine’s editor in chief since 1994. He has nearly 30 years experience as a professional journalist. Roth has visited hundreds of rental centers and industry manufacturers, written hundreds of feature stories for RER and thousands of news stories for the magazine and its electronic newsletter RER Reports. Roth has interviewed leading executives for most of the industry’s largest rental companies and manufacturers as well as hundreds of smaller independent companies. He has visited with and reported on rental companies and manufacturers in Europe, Central America and Asia as well as Mexico, Canada and the United States. Roth was co-founder of RER Reports, the industry’s first weekly newsletter, which began as a fax newsletter in 1996, and later became an online newsletter. Roth has spoken at conventions sponsored by the American Rental Association, Associated Equipment Distributors, California Rental Association and other industry events and has spoken before industry groups in several countries. He lives and works in Los Angeles when he’s not traveling to cover industry events.