by Baldev S. Gill, Chief Executive Officer
The boards of directors of the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) and Fraser Valley Real Estate Board (FVREB) have formed a Joint Collaboration Steering Group to explore the viability of a potential amalgamation between the two organizations.
Through this initiative, the group will evaluate whether streamlined operations, pooled resources, and consistent REALTOR® rules, tools, and services across board boundaries will be beneficial to you.
Your input will be fundamental to this process. We need to hear from you. What benefits do you see? What concerns do you have? What questions do you need us to answer so that you are ultimately prepared to make an educated vote at a member meeting?
This will be an open process with numerous opportunities for you to be heard and to get the information you need.
We’ll hold member meetings, host forums, conduct surveys and provide other engagement opportunities for you as this process unfolds. Over the next year or more, much of that engagement will, of necessity, be online.
While we’ve held amalgamation discussions a number of times over the decades, the leadership at both boards believe now is the time to act. Like many other industries, ours is vulnerable to disruption. We need to continually explore solutions that make us more agile, efficient, and innovative.
Though we were amongst the first boards in North America to talk about amalgamating, many others have gotten there ahead of us. In recent years, real estate boards have amalgamated in Québec, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan, and Ontario. There are numerous examples in the United States of real estate boards and MLSes merging toPostponement of the 2021 FVREB Conference & Trade Show create more innovative professional organizations to better serve Realtors and Brokers. In BC, the Okanagan Mainline and South Okanagan real estate boards also recently announced plans to explore an amalgamation.
For more information, click here to read this FAQ about this new initiative. If you have questions or comments to share, please email us at communications@fvreb.bc.ca.
Nothing is set in stone. We enter this process with goodwill, open minds, a collaborative approach, and a desire to put our Realtor community in the best position to thrive over the long term. We look forward to engaging with you and sharing our progress in the months ahead.
Sincerely,
 Chris Shields FVREB President |  Colette Gerber REBGV President |