The annual voyage to Parliament Hill is always an experience to behold – this year was no exception.

In the tailwinds of significant political leadership change, both nationally within the Opposition Party of Canada, and also here at home for the Government of Alberta, CREB^®’s Government Relations Team (GRT) journeyed to the historic steps of the House of Commons for the Canadian Real Estate Association’s (CREA) annual Political Action Committee (PAC) Days, from Oct. 16-18.

As a local board, the bulk of CREB^®’s government relations work is focused on municipal advocacy (civic government), but we also engage provincial MLAs and federal MPs to support advocacy priorities set out by AREA and CREA.  As a result, CREB^®’s GRT has an important role to play in advocating at all three levels of government on behalf of CREB^® members.

Industry collaboration is critical to our collective success. In the case of PAC days, CREA takes point to develop a national platform and talking points to support key recommendations to the Government of Canada. This structure then allows GR reps from across the country to speak with one voice as they sit down with MPs to discuss the issues and proposed solutions.

We know it’s true, but one of the messages we heard echoed at several points throughout the various sessions this year was that government relations work is a long game, and progress is often measured in inches, not feet. This is the nature of the work, and so the job at PAC Days is truly about moving the ball further up field, so that we can drive toward bigger results over the long-term.

This year, our collective focus was to advance two key recommendations, including proposing that the federal government take a lead role in convening a permanent national housing roundtable, bringing together federal, provincial/territorial, and municipal authorities, along with builders, real estate professionals and civil society organizations.

The roundtable is intended to serve as a catalyst to identify, explain, and promote initiatives to incorporate sustainable principles and best-practices of housing development into all aspects of government and society.

Our second recommendation was to leverage infrastructure funding to incentivize provinces, territories, and municipalities to stimulate revised zoning laws, speed up planning and approval processes, increase density of housing, propel innovation, activate the conversion of distressed properties, expand social and affordable housing and provide infrastructure in the right place at the right time.

We know that investments in infrastructure are being made through streams like public transit, green infrastructure, community culture and recreation, and rural/northern communities. The request now is for the federal government to go a step further and add clauses to these agreements to create new housing that is indexed to population growth, which we also know will expand supply and help address housing market needs across Canada.

The core recommendations aren’t too complicated, but when considering the task of mobilizing teams of GR reps across the country to deliver the message consistently, it’s really an amazing feat that says a lot about our industry and the commitment and capability of our member volunteers and staff.

CREB^®’s team from the GRT (aka “the CREA PAC travel team”) who journeyed to PAC Days were nothing short of outstanding. Together, our group met with eight MPs in a cross-section of meetings over two days, in between attending CREA’s GR sessions and connecting with fellow GR reps from across the country. A big thank you to this team of member volunteers for representing CREB^®’s GRT and the wider CREB^® membership. Stan Matlashewski, Wendy Morrow, Hong Wang, Christine Richard, Chris Matlashewski and Christian Twomey, your contributions are moving the ball up field and driving us toward the goal line.

With connections made, we have set the stage for deeper conversation with local MPs, which means additional opportunities to reinforce key messages delivered at PAC Days.

Through our outreach work and subsequent distribution of YYC Real Estate – we are well positioned to keep the momentum going and reinforce the critical role that real estate plays in our economy and community. A job well done GRT PAC team.

Alan Tennant
CREB^® President & CEO