Editor’s note: This article has been updated from its original version to include additional information and quotes from both CREA and TRREB.
QUICK HITS
- CREA is proposing to convert Realtor.ca into a standalone technology company.
- The association says the new company will still be controlled by CREA on behalf of its members, with the CREA board partners having a stake and an advisory board guiding the new board made up of real estate practitioners.
- TRREB has asked CREA to work transparently and democratically with its member boards and asked for a resolution to be put forward at the annual general meeting in April.
The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) is proposing a significant overhaul of Realtor.ca.
On Feb. 3, CREA Chair, Jill Oudill, sent all boards and associations a letter outlining a plan to convert Realtor.ca into a standalone technology company.
The letter, which was obtained and verified by Real Estate Magazine, states that the new company will have its own board of directors and CEO and will still be controlled by CREA on behalf of its members.
In the letter, the board explains that CREA’s board partners will have a stake in the new company, and an advisory board will guide Realtor.ca’s new board made up of “skilled real estate practitioners and leaders.”
TRREB asks for transparent, democratic approach
The proposal follows a letter from the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) addressed to Oudil, dated Jan. 29, which asked for CREA to work transparently and democratically with its member boards.
Kevin Crigger, past president of TRREB, says the purpose of the letter was to affirm that “Any movement forward with a plan that would change the status quo operation of Realtor.ca should be brought forward to member boards for consultation, input, feedback and ultimately a vote on the floor.”
TRREB asked for a resolution to be put forward at April’s annual general meeting (AGM) in Ottawa, which has the support of other member boards and associations, including the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver and the Alberta Real Estate Association.
Crigger says, “Certainly, there are opportunities within Realtor.ca to find ways to innovate and create revenue opportunities to enhance and further fund Realtor.ca. It’s our belief that at the core of that is a hundred per cent ownership retention by realtors.”
Involving partner boards and associations
Cliff Stevenson, immediate past chair of CREA, says the association always intended to involve partner boards and associations in the conversation.
“This was never going to be done without (their) involvement,” Stevenson adds. “We are just starting our communication and consultation with member boards.”
Stevenson wouldn’t elaborate on how the plan to turn the platform into a for-profit company has evolved, “I can’t get you the details with respect to our specific conversation, but this is an 11-year-old conversation,” he says.
“We learned lessons from our neighbours to the south with their sale of Realtor.com. It’s important for everybody to understand that this is not the sale of Realtor.ca.”
When asked if realtors would have to start paying for visibility on Realtor.ca, Stevenson said that’s never been on the table.
“The site was built by realtors for realtors, and it’s consumer-centric; it has to be for them to want to come back and use it as the trusted site. But this is not to make additional money off of the back members. Absolutely not.”
According to the national association’s website, Realtor.ca generated more than 5.7 million leads and had 121 million users in 2022.
Maintaining market share
“There are a lot of players in the portal space, and we’ve built something wildly successful and number one with respect to market share in the country. We know that there’s so much more we can do at this site.”
Stevenson said the revenue model for the new Realtor.ca is still to be determined, but the platform’s business sustainability will require further investment and expertise, as well as freedom from politics and bureaucracy.
Realtors’ concerns
Richard Silver, a former CREA board member and realtor, has expressed concerns about the potential impact of the change.
“The minute you change it and make it for profit, the agenda is to make profit,” Silver says.
Silver fears that converting Realtor.ca into a for-profit company could result in a return of ads to the platform and lead to unequal opportunities for agents, though he sees the potential for positive change. He supports the idea of member ownership and outsourcing of technology.
“If it’s for members and not shareholders, I’m all for it,” he says. “Let’s see the full draft of what they are proposing.”
Proposed resolution
In Oudil’s letter, the chair says the board is contemplating TRREB’s proposed resolution and its implications and promises to meet with every board and association to outline CREA’s vision for the platform.
Crigger affirms, “We certainly understand that CREA will be presenting a plan to membership. We certainly look forward to being a part of that process and really understanding what the proposal is, and we certainly look forward to CREA adding our motion to the agenda and having a very transparent, effective and useful AGM where business will be transacted.”
Jordana is the editor of Real Estate Magazine. You can reach her by email.
I’m not sure saying that CREA is going to “take realtor.ca private” is really accurate. That makes it sound like it’s a publicly traded entity, like Twitter before billionaire Boy Wonder took it private.
Realtor.ca is already private, owned by CREA. This is a change in governance structure, not public vs private.
I agree, Tim. We’ve made the update. Thank you.
If is working why change it.
CREA needs to stop trying more schemes.
Realtor.ca is a trusted site because it doesn’t have outside sources of advertising. Realtor.ca only purpose is to serve realtors needs. We don’t need to set up another board to manage Realtor.ca doing this will require more funds to pay the salaries of the personnel managing it.
Why do we need this split of the services?
is this too much work for CREA’s current board?
I 100% oppose the idea of changing REALTOR.CA to a “por profit” modele.
Right on Rosa!
It was just a matter of time before this plan was concocted.
It is well known by anyone with knowledge of NAR that US Realtors complain rather loudly and often that NAR uses realtor.com to make them compete for their own listings by selling advertising space and farming territory to the highest bidders because it has become solely a for profit entity that cares not one whit for the membership it exploits.
Considering that 160,000 Realtor members have already ceded any control they have over CREA to 65 voting boards, CREA now wants to strip the boards of those rights so as to create schemes fully funded by the hapless members to be kept completely out of their control like this revived tech co., which it tried to secretly do years ago until the boards stepped in and said no, or the latest cockamamie plan to disallow members from taking exclusive listings.
I’ve little doubt CREA’s board and other industry/investor persons behind this latest scheme haven’t been actively and quietly lobbying board directors with offers of grandeur and visions of riches to get them to back this. But here too, this is one decision that calls for a vote at the Realtor level and if not the boards do have the power to squash this one too.
And what do they pan on doing with the reserves accrued in thename of the members, fund their LLCs? farm it out as a bonus in year one to the shareholders?
Hopefully, TRREB when it forged an alliance with Geowarehouse, saw the writing on the wall and has been preparing to distance itself from CREA and will create a better listing portal searchable by the consumer.
I doubt the perpetual real estate directors would find CREA viable without the 70,000 paying members from the country’s most important real estate province to fund their boondoggles.
NAR lost control of realtor.com a long time ago, isn’t costar or some giant conglomerate buying it now? How else does a real estate portal make money? Buy selling ads to agents. If we loose control now we loose it forever
Why? Why? Why? We do not need more change! The system is working well. I think this is a bad idea! Sometimes change is necessary, Sometimes it causes problems. What is really driving this desire to change things at CREA? Still slightly confused as to the benefits if it does happen?
What is in it for the Realtors who do the legwork and are the actual force behind realtor.ca?
As agents and brokers we already own and control realtor.ca. The idea to split it off even if we still control the board is the exact opposite direction we need to go.
Break it out and on 10 years it will be private owned but not by CREA.
Our local board had its own mls in-house staff. It decided to use a USA based mls system and now we pay significant mls monthly fees over and above our board fees.
The argument will be the board can reduce your fee if it is sold as they will receive an agreement or funding – DUH – there is no free lunch.
Keep it under the general board and ensure we have a good team of tech professionals and put this idea into the round filing basket.
Kudos for them thinking outside the box but this is not a good idea and I don’t support it
Don j-I totally agree with you!
I can see a new user fee coming down the pipeline in a short time. If this happens I see no use for CREA at all.
I agree this is about getting total control of Real Estate funds from Canada. As soon as somebody have control of real estate funds they will just increase costs for Canadians. Totally unfair.
I think the proposal makes a lot of sense and if it reduces our costs and keeps us ahead of the competition, it’s a viable direction. And respect to realtors competing for advertising on the site. Why don’t we just make a rule that says no realtors can advertise and it’s all outside parties like louvers home, inspectors lawyers, etc
Healthy and aware conversation herein — Congrats REM Mag
Wow…. I am now a retired Realtor (30 plus years) and cannot believe you are even contemplating this! I remember CREA arriving and asking the members if we would be willing to pay an extra 10 dollars per year to keep our realtor site free of ads( I believe it may of been called mls.ca )
They did this for a couple of years and we overwhelmingly supported the 10 dollar increases. Reason they stated for this was to keep our site clean looking, professional and THE ADS OFF!!!
Now you are saying the opposite, WHY? I understand that realtor.ca needs some assistance to become even better….yet to sell off or make monies on the backbones of the Realtors that invested in you and our site is just plan wrong. Also who is going to be allowed to advertise?I believe you are creating a big mess and the site should not be a money maker.
I agree 100% . With over 30 years and still working I have built a great business on realtor.ca
Clean with no advertising, just MLS listings.
Buyers don’t want advertising!
My concern is the limited function of the CREA site will now be loaded with marketing ads for services. This would only make it more unpleasant for the public to use and push them to other private sights that are doing a much better job. I would once and for all like to see TRREB and all boards merge together and create an OREA province wide service. One for member and one for public. Our most valuable asset is our data/information we got to stop giving it away and buying it back. CREA’s latest scandalous idea to restrict the public from listing exclusively is proof enough that our associations don’t have our industries best interest at heart.
Hardly a surprise to anyone that CREA finally made this move after members voted down a dues increase of $60.00 ( divided over three years – $20.00 per year) at last year’s CREA AGM with part of those funds assumed going to invest in REALTOR.ca, despite the plea’s by many boards to pass the motion.
REALTOR.ca is the crown jewel of organized real estate and in order to remain competitive, REALTOR.ca or any tech company needs substantial, and consistent financial investments to maintain their competitive edge. Having a separate board will also ensure timely decisions and improvements.
Most importantly is the fact that CREA still maintains ownership, unlike what happened south of the border with NAR selling off REALTOR.com and the subsequent disaster that has followed that decision.
The fact that it’s a for profit now is no different than some board(s) in Canada who have already opted a “for profit” status in order to grow and progress their list of value added services.
It doesn’t retain 100% ownership, even if it retains a majority stake it is now a for profit company with feduciary duties to its shareholders, all of them, which means profits. NAR did the exact same thing with.com, sold an interest and was majorly shareholder, now they own zero and Rupert Murdoch owns it. The politics they want to avoid by creating a different company is that it won’t be at the mercy of members. We will regret I promise you.
It’s about money. This is a horrible idea. One just has to look at our neighbours and Realtor.com to see how bad it is.
Do not approve this, by any means.
We are braindead if we give up even a small percentage of ownership in realtor.ca, I can think of 100 different ways to generate revenue from it without giving up an ownership steak. The way this reads is that they got caught doing this without members knowing let alone voting on it.
Probably a bad idea but I’m willing to hear CREA out.
What I’m super interested in though, is WHAT triggered TRREB sending the letter January 29th?
Indeed. Let’s hear the facts of that story.
First the stupidity around exclusive listings and now separating the company?!?
Here is a solution for the geniuses at the CREA board…
How about :
1) you create a national REALTOR voting system on any new major changes
2) you partner up with many private data companies and portals which provide value for its members
You become more relevant and respected when you listen to your members and integrate to modern private companies…
A public inquiry should be made before any more brilliant ideas are presented. Perhaps the board is compromised
According to the national association’s website, Realtor.ca generated more than 5.7 million leads and had 121 million users in 2022.
Pls help me understand the above statement in your article ….
1. 5.7 million leads – When you term them as leads believe you are referring to the enquiries. How many of these enquiries turned out to be leads or transactions would be a better stats to consider.
2. 121 million users – What percent of these users are in Canada ?
3. How competitive is Realtor.ca to other piggy back apps/sites like House Sigma when it comes to its use and contents ? Will this new proposed change put us ahead of the tech curve used by other private sites/apps?
There are many examples of membership associations in Canada that own and operate separate subsidiaries that deliver members services to their members through a different governance model. While these entities technically use a for-profit governance structure, this doesn’t mean the entity has to be a “profit-maximizer”. Most, of them mandate them to maximize “Member Value” rather than profits. Association-owned subsidiaries can balance the revenue opportunities against the member benefit, while operating in a faster, more efficient manner. The reality is Realtor.ca is competing against a number of other real estate portals who will over time take viewers away and onto other competitive platforms. This move makes sense to allow Realtor.ca to respond quickly to competitors, rather than having to wade through the politics of 65 member Boards and wait for a vote at an AGM that may be months away.
Why else would anyone invest in it but for profit
Polling is so easy & cost effective! I fail to see why CREA can’t create or find an effective polling site that will easily & quickly get valuable feedback from the membership… if they actually want it! Check it out and set one up for this issue. It is already apparent by what has been said so far that there is not an appetite to split REALTOR.ca off so why not get a much wider response by sending each individual member a poll regarding this, then publish accurate results to us all?
Next step MLS and Boards losing not-for-profit status…..after all it is a business operation.
Next step MLS and Boards losing not-for-profit status…..after all it is a business operation.
When MLS.ca was switched to Realtor.ca I told a lot of members this had an end goal. Here we go! I have been pushing my board VIREB to create our own system in association with VREB here on the Island separate from Realtor.ca, and forgo sharing any of our data with the MLS. I am a huge proponent of this! Big time!!!
I can totally see TRREB detaching from Realtor.ca and creating its own public website funded by the members.
CREA sends a ton of useless surveys to its members. Why not survey the membership regarding the proposed change?
Buyers look to many site that overshadow RE.ca. Sites like HouseSigma topple RE.ca
This is the thin edge of the wedge. Why is this Toronto centric? What about the rest of Canada. However, if this happens with or without a vote from members then members should be able to share in the profits or receive dividends.
The members will be the very source of the said profits.
Realtors will be charged for having their name and number attached to their own listings in order to receive calls.
10 years ago CREA tried to slip this identical move by membership just before the Not-for-Profit rules changed.
I find it amazing they didn’t mention this in the article? I believe there was a robust debate on REM back then over this and the result was CREA failed as members across the nation demanded their local Board vote NO!!!!
CREA is afraid of TRREB and CENTRIS today even more than back then and this is a clear move to protect CREA staff wages and pensions which we all should assume will embrace former presidents and directors of the board into their wings.
Why is CREA silent on why CENTRIS doesn’t give CREA access in CREAstats?
Why do none of the cities or mls systems in Quebec get a tab on the national website?
When exactly did CREA convince LSTAR and RAHB to finally join the Benchmark Price and why did those boards refuse to participate from 2013-2019?
Does CREA not understand REM’s Archive the most robust database of CREA’s history?
CREA understands right now it has the least average experienced member in it’s history. At no time in the past has the average member been this ill informed about how the MLS works, what the MLS was designed to do and why preventing CREA from gaining any more control over our businesses is just BAD BAD Business.
Finally CREA has never informed YOU the member about your rights under the now current NOT-for-Profit rules that govern you membership rights in CREA, rights they tried to remove when they first attempted to make realtor.ca an “Independent TechCo”.
Ask your current MLS system president to supply you a copy of that 10 year old attempt and demand you see the paperwork CREA provided to your local MLS about it.
Did you Know as a member of CREA today as a result of members rejecting this exact same attempt years ago that YOU are legally entitled to One Share Ownership of realtor.ca. DYK if YOU personally disagree with this new Independent TechCo CREA is required to pay you what your One Share is worth?
Why didn’t CREA mention this? Why didn’t their lawyers clarify if this statement is correct or wrong?
Do they think the OGs of the past don’t care about the future of the industry?
Why are Remax, Royal Lepage, etc silent? Do you not think it is possible their silence is derived from a deal CREA is implying will be cut once approval is made?
How many non-Royal Lepage brand users were ever aware that before the DDF Royal Lepage had a special deal with CREA where Royal Lepage and ONLY Royal Lepage had a special url to realtor.ca only for Royal Lepage and no one else.
Maybe I am making all this up but I see above PED, Robert Ede, Omer and I suspect Don J. so maybe you can ask them if CREA tried this once before and lost the vote a mere two months before the not-for-profit rules changed?
Very interesting timing, when our local board just moved forward a required flat fee for MLS annually regardless of how many you list or not. Guaranteed income and likely a good way to claim the most value brought forward if each local board gets a piece based on MLS fees produced in an new ownership.
For profit or not for profit is at times tongue and cheek when you can simply keep raising salaries until there is no profit.
Unfortunately I don’t trust why as an industry we would move towards giving up anything a pure profit driven corp like Costar would want. Our value is what we all bring when we work together as an industry. If we need to upgrade the site, then charge more for the listings to be displayed to cover the costs, but keep it owned by the industry that built it.
👏👏👏. They say it’s not for sale, what do you call selling shares of a for profit company? I’d call that selling, how dum do think we are?
The proposal is alarming. MLS is based on a cooperative industrial perspective, that many very wealthy entities in the US are ideologically opposed to. We have to be extremely careful that we do not create a vulnerability for the competition bureau to enforce access or a market vulnerability that will permit takeover. It seems to generate high risks for very few benefits. Why not follow up with Lorne Tuplins’s suggestion on an initial survey to see if there is any appetite among members for such a proposal.
When MLS.ca was switched to Realtor.ca I told a lot of members this had an end goal. Here we go! I have been pushing my board VIREB to create our own system in association with VREB here on the Island separate from Realtor.ca, and forgo sharing any of our data with the MLS. I am a huge proponent of this! Big time!!!
Realtor.ca is being sued by Realtor.com for copying their platform