2021 Annual Report
The SRA’s all new digital Annual Report has been created to provide membership and industry stakeholders an easy to absorb year-in-review summary of SRA’s achievements during 2021.
The SRA provides leadership and services that support over 1550 REALTORS® through technology, education, and advocacy. The lessons learned over the last two years from merging cultures, systems and practices, to listening and engaging more with the membership are showing benefits. Now, equipped with a strategic plan, a revamped governance model, a reorganized and engaged team, and a strong Board of Directors that places high value on constant education and learning, the SRA is well-positioned to be the influential leader and trusted resource providing powerful support to REALTORS® in Saskatchewan.
Year In Review
Keeping Calm and Carrying on with COVID-19
Our industry grappled with the constantly evolving realities of year two of the COVID-19 pandemic. Open houses continued to be paused for much of the year while real estate maintained its allowable-service status under the Government of Saskatchewan provincial health orders.
In March, the City of Regina experienced a major spike in COVID-19 cases that preceded another round of restrictions province-wide, and around this time is when the concept of vaccination passports fully entered the public lexicon.
REALTORS® continued to use Association-approved COVID-19 questionnaires to support clients in health screening, but soon enough, the Saskatchewan Government made proof of vaccination for public spaces, with exceptions, mandatory, along with masking. That remained the reality for the rest of 2021, and through it all, REALTORS® remained diligent, respectful, and professional while protecting the clients, the real estate industry, and our community.
From the 2021 Chairperson
As I reflect on 2021, I have now come to describe it with three words. Transition, foundation and courage.
Transition
When we entered the pandemic in 2020 – with the assumption that we would have one of the worst years on record – we certainly did not expect 2021 to be fully engulfed by COVID-19 and for the market to perform the way it did. If 2020 was busy, 2021 set new records, to everyone’s surprise.
In addition to the ever-shifting pandemic landscape, to say our Association had large leadership transitions is an understatement. We did however, have a Board that was singularly focused on its mandate to deliver results for its membership, no matter what. I believe that we delivered on that and we set a foundation that would ensure we continue to meet our potential.
Foundation
In 2021, we focused on building and drafting our very first strategic plan. While the process and timelines were arduous, the conversations were energizing. With the realities and accomplishments of the amalgamation behind us, we were finally able to look up and look out. To dream and plan for a grand vision that the membership deserves. To say we now have a blue print for the next three years brings me great confidence that we have set a solid foundation for which to invest.
Courage
I would like to thank my colleagues around the governing table who have courageously served their professional association during very challenging times. They have done so with a keen focus on good governance and excellence in member services. While the landscape was choppy at times, I can assure you that our discussions and our vision was anything but. I would serve any day beside these Directors who maintained a high bar, despite the challenges.
On behalf of the Board of Directors, I would like to thank our departing Directors. Thank you to Jordan Barry for always valuing a healthy tension at the governing table; Warren Vandenameele for pointing out the white elephants in the dialogue; Sarah McKinley for your broad perspective on our biases; and Tim Otitoju for continually bringing us back to excellence in governance. Thank you for your service to the SRA, to the real estate industry, and to our province.
Thank you to the membership for your trust in me in 2021. It’s been a pleasure serving you.
From the CEO
How is your business right now? How can we make your life easier? What can we do better?
Those were the three questions we asked when we called every single REALTOR® in the province. That’s over 1,500 calls in the matter of a week. It was a way to send out a message to say: we’ve heard you. We have genuinely heard you, and we want to hear more. Out with the amalgamation focus and in with the value to membership in everything we do; the red-carpet service.
We have spent quite some time digesting the numerous nuggets we’ve heard. Meshed with the six virtual town halls and the six in-person meet & greets across the province, we were able to take all that feedback and build the SRA’s first strategic plan. The plan that has us focusing on mastering our basics yet having us look up and look out more often.
Mastering Our Basics
Before we can grow, we need to know how to perform the basics well, and perform them well with the reality of a new entity. And perform them really well according to those we serve. No other metric matters.
Similar to how a municipality should focus on its core 3 to keep taxes low – waste, fire/police, roads – your professional association operates the same way. To keep your membership fees fair, we need to master our core 3: your listing systems, forms & lockboxes. Seems simple, but the focus on excellence is where we need to live when it comes to these services.
Looking Up and Out
No other sector has a pulse on the economy the way our professional network does. Over 1,500 professionals throughout the province are on the ground in their communities, knowing where investments are flowing and how, from residential to commercial transactions, before it hits statistical reporting.
Your association has an important role to play in making sure the real estate narrative is properly crafted for public and government consumption and well communicated. Our members serve the second largest pillar of Saskatchewan’s economy and we have a responsibility to make sure decision makers have it as top of mind when considering important policy decisions. Our strategic plan has a keen focus on not only being a strong voice for real estate, but a thought leader to help Saskatchewan be fiercely competitive in this post pandemic world.
In Closing
I cannot close the year without thanking Gord Archibald, interim CEO during the first half of 2021. Gord was a quiet force, anchoring the value of excellence in member service with the team in everything that we did.
The association is also powered by an impressive team. They have gone through a heavy amount of transition and change but have demonstrated resilience and commitment.
And thank you also to the SRA Board of Directors who keep us at our best. It is truly an honor to serve you and to serve this sector.
2021 Board of Directors
THANK YOU TO OUR COMMITTEE MEMBERS
For all that you do, thank you!
Imagine a world where everyone is selfish of their time and talents. Where would we be then? At the SRA, we count ourselves lucky to have a pool of selfless and talented people who dedicate their time in service of our industry.
For those who stepped up to take on leadership roles in our Association on different committees in the past year, THANK YOU! We are forever grateful to your contributions. Your time and knowledge moved the meter from good to better. We look forward to working even harder to get that meter to best.
COMMITTEES IN NUMBERS:
4 Board Committees
7 Operational Committees
59 REALTOR® Leaders
2021 Committees
Board Committees
Audit Committee
Governance Committee
Nominations Committee
Ownership Linkage Committee
Operational Committees
Commercial Committee
Discipline Committee
Government Relations Committee
MLS® Standard Forms Committee
Professional Standards Committee
Saskatchewan REALTORS Care® Committee
Saskatchewan Technology Committee
A New Strategic Plan (2022-2024)
To get from one place to another efficiently and successfully, a map is required. Our Board of Directors, Association Leadership, and Stakeholders worked hard and conscientiously to provide a clear map to direct the future of our Association. We are proud to present Saskatchewan REALTORS® Association’s first ever Strategic Plan.
With this plan as our guide, our Association is positioned to maximize our potential in representing and serving you, our members.
VISION:
Influential leader and trusted resource providing powerful support to its REALTORS®.
MISSION:
Provide leadership and services that support REALTORS® through technology, education and advocacy.
VALUES:
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Respect: We work and present ourselves with respect and dignity.
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Trust: Built from honest, effective communications and follow-through.
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Inclusivity: Relationships are everything to us and we make sure we embrace perspectives from all walks of life and business.
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Professionalism: Our members’ needs and best interests are the heart of all our outcomes and standards.
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Innovative: We will not only understand our markets and members’ needs, we will be ahead of it and provide solutions.
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Integrity: We are reliable and dependable in getting it right for each other.
Member Services
Serving The Province, One REALTOR® at a Time
In 2021, we welcomed 135 new REALTORS®, an increase of 72 compared to 2020’s member intake. We also welcomed 12 new brokerages, 6 new brokers, 82 new assistants, 42 new broker admins and 35 new business partners. The SRA is 1,558 members strong and counting.
Virtual Discovery Meetings were held in six regions across the province, as well as six additional in-person Meet & Greets in Saskatoon, Regina, Moose Jaw, Swift Current, Estevan and Prince Albert in order to gather Member feedback and input on the future of real estate and how SRA can further support it’s membership.
Education & Professional Standards
CUSTOMIZED & CONVENIENT LEARNING FOR REALTORS®
SRA’s mission is to “provide leadership and services that support REALTORS® through technology, education and advocacy.” Educating REALTORS® is part of our DNA.
SRA has been operating in a pandemic world. Public health restrictions have forced SRA to find new ways of connecting with and educating our REALTORS®. It has also provided us with the unique opportunity of quickly adopting technology, allowing us to successfully launch the SRA Learning Hub.
In only a few short months, we have seen an impressive increase in course completions with a total of over 250 courses completed since September. And we are just getting started.
The SRA Learning Hub offers educational resources available to our members, across the province, 24/7 through courses, articles, and webinars, including Lunch & Learn sessions. We have included a section covering some highly requested technical tools training, courses on REALTOR® best practices, and most recently, added the Launch Your Future course, SRA’s Member Course. This course, created with new REALTORS® in mind, is also a great refresher for our seasoned professionals and is available for you to access at your convenience.
LAUNCHED THE SRA LEARNING HUB
Innovation & Technology
LEADING OUR INDUSTRY THROUGH TECHNOLOGY
In 2021, the SRA Information Services team focused heavily on improving the quality and accuracy access to MLS® Listing data. The desired outcome is to strengthen the quality of data in the tools our members rely on, improve our ability to facilitate members’ access to third party tools, and to create an overall satisfaction in our technology amongst our members.
The work on the Persistent Unique Property Identifier (PUPID) database has garnered attention from regional boards, our national association and a national brokerage. We have presented our solutions to the CREA Technical Peer Group, and have provided consultation with CREA on the SRA methodology in addressing the Property ID issue faced by numerous regions.
Technical Support Tickets – resolved 911
MLS Dept. Listing Infraction Tickets – 610
General Inquiry Tickets resolved – 749
Additionally numerous projects and tasks have been executed to further our strategic vision including:
- CREA DataLoad being moved in-house to the SRA
- Foundational development work to launch COMMX
- Mandatory Neighbourhood requirement implemented in North Battleford (utilizing the PUPID database)
- IntraMatrix™ with Pillar 9 providing SRA members with access to all of Alberta (excluding REALTORS® Association of Edmonton) MLS® Listings (as well as providing Lloydminster members access to SRA listings through Pillar9)
- WEBForms cleanup – housecleaning updates on 57 forms along with the work required for launching #350 and #375 as standalone data input forms with WEBForms Automated Data Transfer (ADT) Functionality – better known as the “Upload Listing” button.
- Improvements to streamline internal systems to build efficiencies is serving our members.
Government & External Relations
ADVOCACY IN ACTION
The complex matter of access, affordability, and availability of houses across the housing continuum dominated public and government discourse for much of 2021. The major federal political parties all had housing platforms and media across the country covered stories about bidding wars and the high cost of housing. The real estate industry saw one of, if not the best markets on record. The SRA worked in partnership with the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) to advocate to the federal and provincial governments, and the message from us was clear – the greatest issue the housing market will face is supply.
Advocacy efforts were focused on education. Emphasizing that real estate is a local issue, and to remind all levels of government that Saskatchewan is not the same as Ontario or British Columbia, and the measures needed in those provinces would not have the same impacts in our towns and cities.
Some of our key advocacy work to date included:
- Supporting CREA’s recommendations around housing supply and infrastructure, a national housing roundtable and affordability and debt reduction. Association Government Relations Committee members (with 9/12 Saskatchewan Members of Parliament), continue to shape some federal policy around housing including incentives to convert empty office space into housing.
- Written submissions outlining the Saskatchewan perspective on prairie housing realities were sent to key federal cabinet ministers including: Minister of Housing, Ahmed Hussen; Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, Dominic Leblanc; Minister of Immigration, Sean Fraser; and Minister of Prairie Economic Development, Dan Vandal.
- Asking Saskatchewan Minister of Justice and the Attorney General, Gord Wyant, as well as Finance Minister, Donna Harpauer, whether the province had any intentions of increased regulation for the housing market. They communicated that there is nothing on the horizon.
- Requesting the City of Regina’s property tax rate be reduced for its 2022 budget.
- Successfully lobbying the City of Saskatoon Council to refrain from limiting all gatherings in Saskatoon, which would have prevented REALTORS® from doing their job and serving the community.
A GST/PST PRIMER FOR MEMBERS
A LETTER TO DR. SHAHAB
LAUNCHED REAL ESTATE MATTERS GR BLOG
REPRESENTED SRA IN OTTAWA – PAC DAYS
PRESENTED TO REGINA AND SASKATOON CITY COUNCIL’S
PRESENTED A STATEMENT TO THE LIBERAL HOUSING PLAN
REALTOR® Engagement
REACHING REALTORS® IN THE FOUR CORNERS OF SASKATCHEWAN
In 2021, the SRA Team connected with our members by travelling to six districts to host Meets & Greets, making 1500+ phone calls to say “hello and how can we help you,” and by publishing the SRA Perspective from a monthly to a weekly cycle.
SWITCHED TO WEEKLY NEWSLETTERS
PARTICIPATED IN CREA’s GREAT CANADIAN ROAD TRIP
(VIRTUAL TRADE MISSION)
ENHANCED MONTHLY STATISTICS REPORT
Market Statistics
The SRA provides members with access to monthly market statistics. We constantly strive to improve the process and presentation of this valued information and are pleased to have unveiled a new look for the statistics part-way through 2021.
The monthly report for Saskatchewan was revised in partnership with Economist Ann-Marie Lurie from the Calgary Real Estate Board who created fresh, streamlined, and detailed statistics packages for 24 cities/towns and over 100 neighbourhoods.
We produced a 2021 market forecast and took a chance at glancing into a crystal ball to predict the future of Saskatchewan’s real estate market.
We also successfully made mandatory neighbourhoods a reality in Matrix™ for the City of North Battleford.
2021 Sales by Region
Annual Provincial Market Statistics Summary
– 32.3%
– 15.9%
+ 6.4%
+ 24.14%
+ 7.4%
(Year Over Year Comparison)
Financial Statements
The 2021 fiscal year was the second fiscal year impacted by the pandemic, and the second year of operations for the SRA. While total expenses were maintained year over year, revenues increased by almost 10%. The increase was largely attributed to an increase in membership numbers, and by listing fees due to record numbers experienced in the Saskatchewan real estate market. This resulted in a surplus from operations of $734,000.
An analysis of financial reserves was conducted in the last quarter of 2021 to determine their necessity and sufficiency. According to the anticipated needs of each reserve, gaps were identified, and part of the surplus was approved by the Board of Directors to ensure key reserves would receive contributions, in particular the operational and building reserves. As a result of the surplus in the current year, it was determined that the Association would provide a fee holiday for members in 2022.
With MNP LLP as the member appointed auditors, your 2021 Board of Directors is proud to present the 2021 Financial Statements.