2022 ANNUAL REPORT
LETTER FROM THE CHAIRPERSON
The Saskatchewan REALTORS® Association has now surpassed its third year in business, and it has been one of the largest privileges of my real estate career to represent REALTORS® throughout Saskatchewan.
We have a Board focused on good governance and leadership with an especially keen focus on quality service to members. Our industry is one of the major economic pillars of our province, and we now have a solid foundation to unlock and surpass our potential and provide the leadership in organized real estate for which our province is known.
When I started this role, I had three main objectives in mind. Like many in a leadership position, I wanted to ensure my term made a difference to the membership. I focused on education and mastering our basics. Since I was the first Chairperson from the regions, I wanted to ensure we also focused on unifying our province and membership.
Education
In 2022, we improved our online education to ensure it was a quality offering. We also started offering Lunch & Learns and Coffee Breaks on topics of interest. As offerings increased, so did participation.
We also developed a team focused on your professional practice to support your efforts to learn more and continually improve. We created a new position of Practice Advisor with an experienced real estate practitioner available to answer any questions the membership might have about their practice’s challenges or opportunities.
We completely revamped our complaints process, now structured within the professional practice team. Through this improvement, we provided significant education to volunteers and staff involved in the process to ensure we could build trust with the membership. We also started our journey to have in-house certified administrators of administrative justice tribunals. We are now transparent with all decisions on complaints we process and tie our educational opportunities to those decisions so everyone can have the opportunity to learn from them.
Mastering Our Basics
We can’t innovate, try new things, and find efficiencies if we don’t master our basics. I have heard this many times in my conversations with members. If we offered any additional service, we needed to ensure we mastered our basics: listing services, forms, and lockboxes.
We implemented an annual process for form reviews and ensured this was segmented by expertise: residential, commercial, and farm. The Residential Forms Committee was launched, and the Commercial Committee enhanced its scope to include commercial and farm form revisions.
The listing audit service was reviewed and compared to practices across the country. The labour-intensive service of a goal of 100% audit went to a goal of 2-5%, paired with educational opportunities.
The lockbox system is currently under review. With our contract ending in early 2024, a decision is required in 2023.
Unifying Our Province
Our team has travelled the province this year. From Feedback Forums to Board Meetings, getting face time whenever possible has been essential.
I was particularly proud of our return to REALTOR® Recognition Night. We had more people attend in Regina than ever before, and we got back to basics in building relationships throughout the regions. No one builds relationships like REALTORS® do, and no one knows the pulse of their community better. I was pleased to see the recognition you all deserve and the old and new connections among us that evening.
Thank You
On behalf of the Board of Directors, I thank our departing Directors. Thank you to Henry Moulin for reminding us that education is an investment that should be highly valued, from members to Board Directors. Thank you to Sheri Willick, master of bylaws with a wicked corporate memory and my personal governance mentor. You leave behind a big void. I am privileged to have sat at a Board table with you and all our current Directors. And to our 2023 Chairperson, Jeff Stewart – I am excited about the future. Now that we have mastered our basics, it’s time to be bold, and I’m happy to be there for it.
Thank you to the membership of all regions of this beautiful province for your trust in me in 2022. It’s been a pleasure serving you.
Sincerely,
Avril Reifferscheid
2022 Chairperson
LETTER FROM THE CEO
The market is not showing any sign of slowing yet the challenges keep increasing for those looking to invest in our province: from becoming homeowners or investing in business and farm. With challenges comes opportunities, and the Association team is there to have your back so you can focus on your practice.
To provide a window of what 2022 looked like as your Association served you through a variety of issues, here are a few highlights for you:
- We surpassed the 1,600-membership threshold this year – we have a busy market.
- Increased media coverage by 97% year over year, with an average of three hits per week.
- Launched COMMX, our new commercial property listing platform, with over 200 users province-wide so we can promote investment in our province.
- Supported the Board in their first Risk Committee and analysis, identifying and looking to mitigate 28 issues of concern for our sector.
- We hired a Professional Practice Advisor, meaning we assisted with over 200 cases, with 16 going to a formal complaint process.
- Launched two task forces to complete a review of our MLS® Rules and review the PCDS Form.
- Increased Automatic Data Transfer (ADT) use from 15 to 48% year-over-year.
- Increased the number of Learning Hub course completions from 250 in 2021 to over 3,200 in 2022.
- Identified the gap in housing to meet 2030 growth goals: 94-140,000 housing units.
- Co-founded the Saskatchewan Housing Continuum Network.
- Supported our members as they entered over 30,000 listings.
- Maintained over 11,700 lockboxes throughout the province.
- Defended affordability with the City of Regina’s plan to bring in residential sprinklers
- Had your back when the government provided a 10-day notice period during the holidays to bring in a foreign buyer ban on housing. Your Association was the first in real estate to communicate the detailed breakdown for you.
- Conducted six Feedback Forums throughout the prince, with four more in March 2023.
- One month holiday fee putting $215,000 back in our members’ pockets.
- Delivered the first State of Real Estate conference.
I cannot close the year without thanking Avril Reifferscheid, 2022 Chairperson. Avril’s leadership is fierce and quiet all at once. She was the leader required to master our basics, and I am very fortunate to have worked so closely with her. I am also thankful I have the opportunity to serve a Board that values healthy tension, thought leadership, and growth.
An impressive team also powers the Association. They have proven resilient and know how to pivot. They are served by a senior leadership team that impresses me daily. Thank you to Jacqueline Zabolotney, our Chief Operating Officer, who leads them by standing behind them, in the shadows, and always with passion.
Sincerely,
Chris M. Guérette
Chief Executive Officer
2022 BOARD OF DIRECTORS
ASSOCIATION COMMITTEES
2022 was an incredible year for our committees. The Association strengthened the internal process for all committees, leading to a productive and engaged year for all.
Thank you to the 76 REALTORS® who dedicated their time to serving the greater REALTOR® community. It is your leadership and consistent effort that make our Association shine. We are extremely fortunate to have a talented pool of REALTORS® willing to serve.
Board Committees:
Audit, Governance, Nominations, Ownership Linkage, Risk
Operational Committees:
Commercial, Discipline, Government Relations, Professional Standards, Residential Forms,
Saskatchewan REALTORS Care®
Task Forces:
PCDS, MLS® Rules
STRAGETIC PLAN
2022 – 2024
The Association embarked on its very first Strategic Plan in 2022, which was envisioned and developed by the Board of Directors, Association Leadership, and Stakeholders.
Our Strategic Plan makes it clear that we want to continue growing as an organization. This past year has been a significant step in that direction – here are just a few of the highlights:
- We hosted two large inaugural events: REALTOR® Recognition Night and State of Real Estate. These events gave you a chance to build relationships in person with professionals and stakeholders in your province, as well as members of our team.
- We increased the quantity and quality of education offerings -including high-quality webinars that you can watch from anywhere!
- We were the first in the country to upgrade to Matrix™ 11 – a new version of our core software. This will allow us to bring you new features and services at a faster pace.
- We partnered with Habitat for Humanity to highlight REALTORS Care® week, with an eye toward bringing more eyes on the organization and helping them find success in raising awareness about their efforts.
REALTOR® ENGAGEMENT
In 2022, we welcomed 167 new REALTORS®, an increase of 32 compared to 2021’s member intake. Additionally, the Association welcomed:
- 10 NEW BROKERAGES
- 4 NEW BROKERS
- 54 NEW ADMIN ASSISTANT
- 25 NEW BROKER ADMIN
- 31 NEW BUSINESS PARTNERS
Activity in the area of REALTOR® Engagement spans efforts to increase engagement with Brokers, demonstration of the value of a REALTOR®, enhanced unity, and promotion of REALTOR® activity and achievements.
To increase engagement with Brokers, your association has held Monthly Broker Council Meetings to connect Brokers throughout the province while providing relevant and timely information for business operations. To enhance communication with this membership segment, we introduced a newsletter in September dedicated to Brokers Members.
To promote the value of the REALTOR® profession, the association lobbied to have the Government of Saskatchewan proclaim November 14-20 as REALTORS® Week in Saskatchewan. This was the first declaration of its kind for the REALTOR® community. The proclamation was announced and advertised during REALTORS Care® Week in November.
EDUCATION &
PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS
Education and professional standards evolved in 2022 by adding the Professional Practice Team, including a Professional Practice Advisor and focused training with Committee members and staff. The Professional Practice Team’s main objective is to focus on developing and integrating supportive strategies but also to be a place for Saskatchewan REALTORS® to access a sounding board that assists them to thrive in their professional practice.
Since forming, the Professional Practice Team has created an education funnel that allows them to gather relevant and timely education topics and determine the method of delivery to REALTORS® throughout the province. Sources contributing to this funnel include the annual membership survey, monthly broker council meetings, feedback from our practice advisor, and MLS® compliance reporting.
Expanding on the traditional Lunch and Learn format, the department now offers Coffee with CREA sessions that allow members to collectively pose questions relevant to their business operations directly to the subject matter expert. One of the key topics covered in this new format was Legislative Changes to Foreign Ownership in Canada. This session was recorded and lives on the SRA Learning Hub, where educational resources are available to our members across the province 24/7 through courses, articles, and recorded webinars.
Learning Hub course completions have climbed from 250 in the last quarter of 2021 to 3,218 in 2022. New Member Course completions are monitored, and new REALTORS® are now supported through the completion and onboarding process.
In 2022, the Professional Standards Team received almost 200 calls from members and the public to discuss professional practice issues. Sixteen of those amounted to formal complaints. This is an increase of 75% year-over-year – likely due to the enhanced complaints process, which has increased trust and transparency. All files and decisions can now be reviewed on the member portal for educational purposes.
INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY
Leading our industry through technology.
In 2022, the Innovation and Technology team focused on elevating service levels in all areas of technology from implementing a new platform to track support and garner intel from our members’ concerns to revising the MLS® listing review process. Through the implementation of support tracking, the Association consistently receives a satisfaction rating of 96% or greater.
The technology team continued their work on the development of the foundational layer of the Persistent and Unique Property Identifier (PUPID), providing a high degree of location accuracy, specifically in the cases of rural properties, and in turn, enhanced search results. This development is a critical building block that will allow for potential future additional property data layers. The Association was also proud to have been the first in Canada to upgrade to the latest version of Matrix™, in preparation for a completely mobile friendly Matrix™ launch in late 2023.
The Association also joined the Real Estate Standards Organization (RESO), where we actively sit on two of RESO’s working groups, whose goals are to create a universal language of data to ensure all REALTOR® technologies integrate seamlessly.
In addition, the Association launched two important taskforces: Property Condition Disclosure Statement (PCDS) Taskforce, and the MLS® Rules Taskforce. Both taskforces were a result of an immediate need within the Association and are intended to complete their work in 2023.
MLS® Listing Review
Our members entered 30,029 listings, down 2105 listings from 2021. In June, the Association moved away from the tiered audit model (reviewing 100% of listings and requiring document submission for all listings) into our new listing review model. Following the transition to a new listing review model:
- 13,087 listings were entered, 43.6% of the total listings in 2022
- 572 listings were reviewed, 4.4% of listings
- 1427 discrepancies were identified in those 572 listings, an average of 2.49 errors per listing
- 258 listings were uploaded without either comments or photos or in some cases both
Top errors:
- Input Error (inconsistencies from document to system): Garages/Parking
- Document Error (contractual errors, not matching or missing, found on the listing contract): Possession
There were also 201 listings that had no errors!
GOVERNMENT &
STAKEHOLDER RELATIONS
In 2022, the Association made exceptional strides in moving closer toward its goal of being the respected and trusted authority for real estate in Saskatchewan. Here are a few highlights:
- Lobbied the provincial government to proclaim the first ever “REALTORS® Week” in Saskatchewan. As the province’s second-largest sector by GDP, the Government of Saskatchewan dedicated an entire week to recognizing the good work of our members.
- Presented at Regina City Council advocating against a proposed motion that would require all new residential buildings in the city to be equipped with automatic sprinklers, a motion that was soundly defeated 9 to 1 and received significant media coverage.
- Supported CREA’s recommendations to convene a national housing roundtable and leverage federal infrastructure funding to incentivize provinces and municipalities to revise zoning laws, expedite planning and approval processes and invest in social and affordable housing.
- Met with 13 Members of Parliament at PAC Days in Ottawa, including the Shadow Ministers for Housing and Red Tape Reduction. “Housing is a national issue that requires local solutions:”
- Hosted a housing roundtable with Shadow Minister for Housing, MP Scott Aitchison, alongside Deputy Premier and Minister of Finance, Donna Harpauer, Minister of Social Services, Gene Makowsky, Mayor Sandra Masters, and numerous business partners and local leaders.
- Renewed partnerships with Chambers of Commerce, combined business groups and local leaders across the province.
MARKET WATCH
Your Association continues to provide members with access to monthly market statistics. We consistently strive to improve the process and presentation of this valued information and continue building on the new and improved look unveiled in 2021.
Our partnership with Ann-Marie Lurie, Chief Economist with the Calgary Real Estate Board, remains strong. Ann-Marie continues to be available to our members, often fielding questions and providing insights that help you, as REALTORS®, conduct business.
The monthly market stats are a vital tool in advancing a strategic goal of the Association – controlling the provincial narrative on real estate. We continue to make great strides on this front, with 156 media story highlights and mentions in 2022 – a 97 per cent year-over-year increase!
– 11%
– 7%
– 12%
+ 0.3%
+ 1%
You will notice a significant year-over-year change in the benchmark home price when compared to 2021. Benchmark home prices reflect a typical home to ensure price movements better reflect market activity. Over time, the typical home evolves and the MLS® Home Price Index follows suit to ensure the data remains in line with modern housing trends. As of June 1, 2022, the benchmark price was recalculated based on a modern typical home.
STATE OF REAL ESTATE
In October, our Association hosted the inaugural State of Real Estate conference at Prairieland Park in Saskatoon. From insights into the current state of Saskatchewan’s economy and housing market, to conversations surrounding purpose-built rentals, housing shortages and red tape reduction to promote future development, State of Real Estate had a session for everyone.
Despite weather challenges, nearly 300 attendees from across the province joined us at our first flagship event, including government MLA’s, other elected officials, and municipal planning staff. State of Real Estate offered five sessions with guests from the Royal Bank of Canada, the C.D. Howe Institute, Regina and Saskatoon Region Home Builders’ Associations, the Saskatchewan Landlords Association, and numerous local leaders, including Mayor Sandra Masters.
Network Formed to Support Housing in Saskatchewan
In May, we were pleased to form the Saskatchewan Housing Continuum Network (SHCN), a partnership between five associations that promote a healthy housing continuum as the cornerstone of Saskatchewan’s competitive edge.
The five founding partners include the Saskatchewan REALTORS® Association, Habitat for Humanity Saskatchewan, The Regina and Region Homebuilders’ Association, the Saskatoon and Region Homebuilders’ Association and the Saskatchewan Landlord Association.
View the Association’s News Release HERE.
On May 17, the Saskatchewan Housing Continuum Network (SHCN) released its first report: Saskatchewan’s Current Housing Continuum. The report highlighted that upwards of 141,500 housing units need to be built in our province in the next eight years to meet projected population increases.
It’s no secret that affordability is a key ingredient to our province’s success, and the lack of available homes for sale in Saskatchewan has, in many regions, become the market’s main issue. Therefore, the SHCN felt it was imperative to understand the reality of the Saskatchewan housing supply and start preparing to avoid some of the challenges currently being experienced across the country.
The creation of this report allows the major players in our industry to deliver a clear, consistent message that can be delivered to elected officials and policymakers across the province. With an ambitious growth plan targeting 1.4 million residents in Saskatchewan by 2030, it is critical that those who influence public policy are aware of the challenges we will experience if housing doesn’t grow at the same pace.
View the Association’s News Release HERE.
GOVERNANCE
The Board of Directors is committed to continually improving how they govern. In 2022, they developed a skills matrix and performance evaluations. A gap analysis was then produced to determine how to improve the collective strength of the Board. The Association also participated in a pan-Canadian governance assessment within the real estate community to better understand where our governance model and practices fit when compared to others of similar size and scope. The majority of elements assessed demonstrated the Association were fitting within the category of best practices or higher.
The Board also embraced a risk management framework for the first time in 2022 by creating a Risk Committee reporting directly to the board. This is to assist in ensuring general stewardship and oversight of the Association’s risks and risk mitigation functions. They reviewed and weighed over 25 risks in the industry and approved a mitigation strategy for the top 10 risks with the potential of impacting the success of the Association or real estate in Saskatchewan.
The most impressive result was the 75% voter turnout for the Board election process this year, breaking every record and demonstrating engagement is still high within the membership.
2022 AUDITED
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
The 2022 Audited Financial Statements indicate that it was a year of mastering the basics to set a foundation for growth, innovation, and efficiencies. Revenues were stable, even considering the membership fee holiday in June, which put approximately $215,000 pack in our members’ pockets. The North Service Centre operations gained recurring revenues by shedding 25% of Association space and bringing in a new tenant. Meanwhile, expenses remained relatively stable, with increased conference and general meetings due to the return of in-person events, yet remaining below budget. The financial results also demonstrate exceeding budgetary expectations by surpassing the net income target by 129%, which puts this Association in a healthy position to negotiate new technology contracts in 2023.
MNP LLP audited the 2022 Financial Statements, and the Board of Directors is proud to present them. Overall, the financial statements show a solid financial position for the organization, with continued room for growth in the future.