Over the past several weeks, there have been several concerning developments involving CREA with their approach to managing technology and their apparent desire to be more involved in the transaction process.

In April, we advised our members we would be attending the CREA AGM and voting against their REALTOR^®️ Cooperation policy. We did so, but were unable to prevent the motion from passing as it received 83 per cent votes in favor.

The Board of Directors is very concerned with the potential impact on your business and will be very active in championing a made in Alberta solution that addresses the concerns of our members with regard to both exclusive and coming soon listings.

We also continue to be troubled with CREA’s ongoing efforts to make REALTOR.ca a for-profit company with no member input on the first step – determining if there is even a business case to support the for-profit company concept. We are seeing efforts and communication that assumes the move to make REALTOR.ca a for profit company is a done deal.

I have been invited to represent CREB^®️ on the REALTOR.ca Task Force, and while I’m eager to engage in this work, the process so far has me in a state of unease. My intention is to continue to represent your interests in this important discussion about one of our key business tools and I will not hesitate to step up as the situation evolves.

The third concerning file that CREA is managing is the Openn Offers project that moved from a pilot project into full scale adoption, with no opportunity for input by real estate boards. CREA has chosen to partner with a third party whose commercial interests far exceed the member benefits their business solution offers. To put it in simple language – the Openn and CREA joint effort to bring transparency to the offer management process is contrary to how we do business in Alberta, and it does not solve any business problems for us locally. In fact, quite the opposite, if this project continues to be offered in Alberta, it will create real challenges for our members.

This is why we are working with AREA and the other real estate boards in Alberta to require CREA to remove this as an option for Alberta listings on REALTOR.ca. We are not satisfied with CREA’s efforts to insert themselves into the transaction, nor do we condone CREA’s decision to invest in Openn. Interested members can follow the situation with Openn and CREA by visiting Storeys.

We will continue to take our advocacy responsibilities on your behalf very seriously and will continue to update you on our progress. We hope our national association can pivot to a more engaging approach, one that respects the role real estate boards play in supporting your day-to-day business.