The new Quebec Professional Association of Real Estate Brokers (QPAREB), formed on Jan. 1, brings together more than 12,500 real estate brokers and agencies.
The Greater Montreal (GMREB), Quebec City (CIQ) and Laurentides (CIL) real estate boards held general meetings in October, at which more than 96 per cent of members voted in favour of a merger. Until the first annual general meeting of the new association, which will be held in April, the three presidents of the former real estate boards – Nathalie Bégin, Christiane St-Jean and Anouk Vidal – will act as co-presidents of the new association.
The QPAREB is headquartered in Quebec City and has its administrative offices in Montreal. It has two subsidiaries, Centris Inc., which operates the MLS System, and the Collège de l’immobilier du Québec.
“Our goal is to bring real estate brokers together in a new provincial association model that will become the only organization in Quebec dedicated to promoting our profession and defending and protecting our interests with government authorities,” says St-Jean in a news release. “We can now speak with a united, credible and consistent voice to better address the issues facing our profession.”
Bégin says: “The real estate industry is evolving and we believe that by coming together we will go further and raise awareness of the real estate broker profession among the public.”
The QPAREB says it will try to support professional activities throughout the province.
“Our goal is to offer our members all services under one roof as well as a dynamic associative life. Our success depends on strong regional representation and listening to the specific needs of real estate brokers, regardless of their geographic area,” says Vidal. “We are more representative and we promote synergy between the different regions while meeting local needs.”
In June 2018, the Chambre immobilière de Saint-Hyacinthe ceased operations. Its members are now QPAREB members. In December, member brokers of the Chambre immobilière de la Haute-Yamaska voted unanimously in favour of the dissolution of their board on Jan. 31, in order to join the ranks of the new association.
