Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) members have voted in favour of a fee increase and two-year special assessment aimed at tackling rising costs and legal bills.
The motions passed by a narrow margin at CREA’s annual general meeting in Ottawa on Tuesday: 58.6 per cent of votes were in favour of the cost-of-living adjustment, while the special assessment passed with 55.5 per cent of the vote.
Cost of living adjustment
CREA will implement a two per cent annual cost-of-living adjustment to member dues starting Jan. 1, 2027, with the increase remaining in place until the board determines it is no longer necessary.
In a previous interview, CREA CEO Janice Myers said dues, unchanged at $310 since 2013, have lost about $104 in real value per member due to inflation, adding that declining membership since 2023 “has had a significant impact on the budgets.”
CREA’s membership totalled more than 158,000 at the end of 2025, down from 165,000 at the peak just a few years ago.
Special assessment
A motion to introduce a two-year, $30-per-member annual special assessment was also approved, expected to raise about $9 million to cover litigation costs.
The move comes as CREA faces mounting legal expenses, with its legal defence fund depleted, $2 million already drawn from operations and another $2 million in costs forecast for 2026, following $4 million in 2024 and $1.8 million in 2025 tied to the Sunderland and McFall litigation and the Competition Bureau investigation.
CREA members voted down a similar $75 special assessment at the 2025 AGM.
CREA’s response
In a statement provided to Real Estate Magazine following the meeting, 2025/2026 CREA chair Valerie Paquin said, “We’re pleased voting delegates recognized our commitment to financial stewardship and supported our two important financial motions.”
“With a new strategic plan and the confidence of the Realtor community, CREA can continue to protect, defend and support our members and the clients we serve all across the country,” said Paquin.
‘They did the work’
Chris Guérette, CEO of the Saskatchewan Realtors Association, said her board voted in favour of both motions after seeing the effort CREA has made to pare its budget down.
“They went back last year and self-reflected and analyzed their financials,” she said. “What we saw today was (CREA) did the hard work, produced results, and I think they had just enough of the membership that was supportive of that to cross the finish line.”
Guérette said she is bracing for some pushback from SRA’s members in Saskatchewan about having to pay more at least for the next two years, because “I never assume that a hundred per cent of our members will be happy with a particular decision,” she said.
On contributing to the legal defence fund, she said many agents are aware of how litigious the industry can be, so “knowing that our future will be a little bit stronger is comforting.”
Courtney Zwicker is a digital reporter and associate editor for REM. Based in Atlantic Canada, she has over a decade of experience covering daily business news.
Very disappointing. Though not surprising. Apparently TRREB delegates voted against the proposal among the 42% opposed.
ORE has substantial surplus funds. Were they shareholder driven organizations, retention of surpluses would be allowed AND shareholders could demand in all the ways they have available the capital be used to advance value not protect from the boogeyman the corporation creates from its own lack of sound decision making. As it is we members, the shareholders of the accrued surplus, have no direct say. And that is why the dues can increase when the organization has over $30M in the bank.
Time to switch to being a regular corporation – this not-for-profit structure is out-of-time and out-of-place for own biggest local board and (here too) the national association
Agree with Robert.
Commented on the February REM article about the proposed increase. From the remarks then, much is the same.
Much of ORE financial governance falls short of beneficial use of capital or operational income. Plus or minus the combined 2% dues increase and the two year special assessment represents about $10M, and that is 1/3 of CREA’s present $30M surplus. Think about the CREA budget at $60M and recognize it holds 50% of its annual costs for just in case. Not sound management, even if the surplus is “identified” as a collective of component needs…none of which are solitary needs if you are wiped out by legal or other causes. $30M is not a required amount and it is completely contrary to the Income Tax Act whether CRA enforces it or does not.
CREA dues had not increased since 2013. Was there no inflationary pressures in that period – no because, as Garth Paley notes, membership increased to fund any operational costs. AND also those increases fed an ever increasing retained earnings/surplus. Exactly where is the good governance in that approach: change the bylaws to make the Board responsible to member registrants across the country and not to member board associations to decide if CREA needs a dues increase…..who is exactly running the ship.
As a member of CREA, individual REALTORS® do not have standing in voting on matters. While traditional for these types of organizations, not having agency in your own destiny, direct agency, is a serious problem when it is you who pays the piper because others say so.
Good news is CREA seems to have eroded about 30% of its surplus held in 2022 down to $30M from $43M. Then again, what was the business activity and how was it managed that actually required such dramatic use in 2023 and 2024?
No direct agency and say over ones fate is not a good model for long term beneficial results. And ORE is proving that ever more often.
CREA membership has gone up from 109,000 in 2013 to 158,000 in 2025, at $310 per member, their revenue has gone up over $15,000,000 in that time.