OREA proposes sweeping changes to governance

The Ontario Real Estate Association (OREA) is proposing a series of sweeping governance changes designed to bring more transparency and accountability to its members, says association president Ray Ferris.

Among the changes being proposed to help streamline operations and engage OREA members more meaningfully, are:

decreasing the size of the Board of Directors and the number of committees;
reducing the number of regions;
moving toward more skill-based representation;
adding a couple of independent advisors (non-members) to the board;
moving away from the current Assembly model and replacing it with a more traditional Annual General Meeting with voting open to all members;
providing more comprehensive disclosures on OREA strategy and performance;
clarifying OREA services to avoid service overlap with other boards;
clarifying the division of responsibilities between management staff and the board; and
developing a comprehensive long-term strategic plan.

Ray Ferris

“These changes will result in an OREA that is transparent and accountable to its members…including communications with members on strategic and board priorities and performance, along with accountability on financial matters,” says Ferris. “(This will engender) a better way for individual voices to be heard – through real engagement with a broad cross section of members, rather than a ‘token voice’ at the board table.”

OREA is encouraging members to register to come out to the Sheraton Centre Hotel in downtown Toronto on Feb. 28 during the 2017 annual conference to give their feedback and vote on the proposals.

Ferris, who will end his run as OREA president following the conference, says that he is proud of the fact that every real estate professional in Ontario has been given the opportunity to “have their say” during what the organization terms a ‘no holds barred’ review.

If there is sufficient support for the proposed changes (based on e-polling results taken that day), the next step will be to draft amendments, which will be put to a vote at a special general meeting in the fall. Some of the changes proposed could be put into effect quickly, but others will take time and will need to be phased in.

OREA represents close to 70,000 brokers and salespeople and 40 member boards across the province.

The organization acknowledges that it is at a crossroads and needs to change in order to navigate changing dynamics for the industry, including:

the increasing empowerment and demands of consumers;
member tensions such as perceived imbalances of influence between large and small member boards (for example, the Toronto Real Estate Board has expressed concerns that it is under-represented based on its membership numbers);
challenges levied under the Competition Act;
negative media exposure that erodes the reputation of real estate professionals;
the impact that the loss of self-regulation in British Columbia could have on the real estate industry as a whole; and
challenges around service overlaps and evolving relationships with other organizations.

Also looming over OREA, as reported previously by REM, is that OREA will no longer be the licensing education provider after 2020. Sources say the Real Estate Council of Ontario (RECO) has chosen a different provider to take over licensing education. With a confidentiality agreement currently in place, OREA declined to comment on the issue. RECO’s senior communications officer Adam Hawkins says the selection process “is still ongoing.”

According to the 100+ page governance review report that OREA recently commissioned from consultant Watson Advisors, the OREA Real Estate College employs over 100 staff and is the source of two-thirds of OREA’s annual revenue.

By any measure, that’s a whopping percentage. As the Watson report notes, if OREA does indeed lose the RECO education contract, it would be a significant change that “would impact staff, members and the association’s future direction.”

An important question in any discussion of OREA’s future is what sets it apart – why is OREA needed at all when there are local boards across the province as well as the national organization?

“Just as local real estate boards are often best equipped to provide local services to their members, OREA provides products and services of provincial significance to Ontario Realtors,” says Ferris. “A major service such as a high impact provincial advocacy is naturally best served by the provincial association”

Ferris says that “OREA scored what is probably its biggest government relations win in our association’s history, by stopping the spread of the municipal land transfer tax across Ontario.”

He says OREA also produces standardized forms and tools used in Ontario real estate transactions, and offers a set of standard clauses that are “invaluable tools for enhancing professionalism.”

Ferris says the proposed governance changes “will allow for more nimble decision making facilitated by more streamlined and efficient governance processes and structures. These changes will foster a culture of continuous improvement in board performance, reflect current ‘good governance’ practices, and work to improve clarity and formality with respect to the division of responsibilities between management and the board of directors.”

He says, “The issues faced by Realtors and OREA today are increasingly complex and potentially threatening to the real estate profession as we know it. It is essential that OREA be able to navigate the changing dynamics in the real estate industry to best serve its members. For this to happen, change is necessary.”

For detailed information about the proposed changes, click here.