Realtors in Kingston, Ont. cast their vote again last Thursday to decide whether they would form a single entity with their peers across Eastern Ontario.
While more people voted in favour, the proposal was defeated because it did not meet the required two-thirds approval.
“With an unprecedented number of members in attendance, we could not be prouder of the engagement of our membership,” said Mary Ambrose, president of the Kingston and Area Real Estate Association (KAREA).
The members voted on the proposed amalgamation with the Ottawa Real Estate Board, Renfrew County Real Estate Board, and the Rideau-St. Lawrence Real Estate Board.
Of the 420 votes cast, 238 (56.6 per cent) were in favour and 182 were opposed, said Ambrose’s statement.
“We respect the decision of our members and remain committed to working collaboratively to strengthen our Association and support (Realtors) in delivering professional, informed service to their communities. We recognize the importance of ongoing dialogue about how best to serve our members’ evolving needs and to ensure the long-term sustainability and success of our industry.
“We thank all members who participated in this important decision and extend our appreciation to everyone who contributed time, energy, and ideas throughout this process.”
A special meeting of KAREA was held after its members did not reach the required number of votes in March to move forward with an amalgamation of neighbouring boards.
Of the nearly 300 votes in the first vote, 163 (55 per cent) were in favour of the amalgamation, failing to reach the 66 per cent majority required to pass.
Seeking strength in numbers
Jason Clarke, with the Jason Clarke Real Estate Team, part of LPT (Listing Power Tools) Realty in Kingston, voted last Thursday for the amalgamation.
“I’ve experienced it on different boards and in different parts of the country. When it’s not unified, it just creates islands. It’s better to have everything united—it just makes business easier. You can sell more homes, and the customers get the most for their homes,” he said.
“That’s the reality. Whenever you’re making it more restrictive or harder, you’re just making it harder to sell homes. So I think it would’ve been a positive move to go ahead and do that.
“I was surprised. They’ve done it twice now, and both times the majority voted for amalgamation—but a majority isn’t enough.”
Carrie Brunet, a realtor with RE/MAX Finest Realty in Kingston, also voted in favour of the amalgamation.
“I just think in the future we’re going to need it. Because we’re all on our own right now. Kingston’s kind of on its own. Eventually, we’re going to have to amalgamate with somebody, so why not do it now, rather than wait until we’re forced to?”
Anne Caldwell of Royal LePage ProAlliance Realty in Kingston, said she, too, was in favour of the amalgamation.
“Mostly for reasons that were shared—basically, more of us equals a bigger voice. The sharing of information across the board, across different regions, is helpful. Especially for agents who don’t live within city limits. They’re servicing people in the Kingston area, but also maybe closer to Ottawa, because they live an hour between both places,” she said.
“I didn’t really look at all of the information that came to us over the last few months about this, but I think—I wasn’t opposed to the change. It does seem like all of the boards are growing. It just seems like every other sector of industry is doing this, so why not real estate?”
Caldwell said there seemed to be a lot of conflict among members over the issue when the first vote came up.
“I don’t know, for some reason I really thought it would’ve passed this time around,” she said.
Where did the idea come from?
In June 2024, members of the Kingston, Ottawa, Renfrew County and Rideau-St. Lawrence boards learned of a plan for regional integration, spearheaded by a task force made up of representatives from the four Eastern regional real estate boards.
The proposal focused on enhancing professional services, increasing advocacy, and better positioning members to meet evolving industry demands and opportunities.
In December 2024, each of the regional boards of directors gave tentative approval to a proposed amalgamation, pending affirmative voting results by the members of each board.
The Ottawa and Renfrew County boards voted in favour of the merger.
The proposed amalgamation would create the third-largest real estate association in Ontario.
Cornwall and District Real Estate Board proposed the amalgamation to its members, but formally withdrew from the process before it went to an official vote.
Mario Toneguzzi is a contributing writer for REM. He has more than 40 years of experience as a daily newspaper writer, columnist, and editor. He worked for 35 years at the Calgary Herald, covering sports, crime, politics, health, faith, city and breaking news, and business. He now works on his own as a freelance writer for several national publications and consultant in communications and media relations/training. Mario was named in 2021 as one of the Top 10 Business Journalists in the World by PR News – the only Canadian to make the list.
