From left: Co-founders Michel Beauséjour and Ann St Dennis; CEO/team leader Donna Dalonzo and administrator Mario Picotte.
Two former real estate board executive officers have opened the first Keller Williams Realty office in Quebec.
KW Urbain in Montreal was launched by Anne St. Dennis and Michel Beauséjour. St. Dennis was CEO of the real estate board in Victoria and Beauséjour held the same position in Montreal. They also worked together at the Greater Montreal Real Estate Board for 10 years, with Beauséjour at the helm as the CEO and St. Dennis as manager of communications, industry relations and legal affairs.
The move by Keller Williams took roughly three years of planning, as the Austin-based corporate head office familiarized itself with the language laws and the Quebec brokerage act.
“We saw the immense potential of opening a real estate franchise in Quebec that is completely broker-centric, learning-based and treats our brokers like partners, to the extent that we share profits with our brokers and have open books,” says Beauséjour.
He says that before Keller Williams was ready to commit, its principals had to better understand the cultural, language and legal aspects of Quebec.
Aside from the complexities of a different culture, the move into Quebec meant a major investment for the company for the translation required to ensure that Montreal brokers had the same fundamental tools and training as elsewhere.
Even the name, KW Urbain, was fundamental to the opening success of the first franchise in Quebec, Beauséjour says. It was chosen to be respectful of Quebec culture and to reflect its downtown location, in the heart of Montreal, at 1100 rue University.
St. Dennis and Beauséjour say they are planning for more expansion in Quebec in the coming years.
“Our business backgrounds and neutrality, since we didn’t come from any other franchise, are seen as a real plus to Keller Williams Realty,” says Beauséjour.
The first hire for KW Urbain was its CEO/team leader, Donna Dalonzo, who from 1997 until 2002 co-owned six Montreal Re/Max real estate franchises.
