Every month, REM is committed to sharing Realtor moves, brokerage conversions and other notable announcements from the industry. Send your news to editor@realestatemagazine.ca with the subject line “The Real Deal” by the 26th of every month to be considered. Unedited photos are also welcome; please ensure they don’t include branding or other graphics. 

Industry moves

Royal LePage celebrates new addition

In brokerage news, Royal LePage welcomed its newest addition, Royal LePage Hometown Real Estate, in Alberta. Led by Jean-Luc and Shaylie Lamoureux, the team specializes in residential, recreational, farm, and commercial properties across St. Paul, Elk Point, Bonnyville, Smoky Lake, and Mannville. 

Re/Max President Realty expands in Brampton

Re/Max President Realty has opened a second office in Brampton, Ont., near the Mount Pleasant GO Station. The new office offers state-of-the-art facilities designed to foster collaboration and innovation for agents. President and Broker of Record Garry Bhaura says this expansion underscores the company’s commitment to growth and excellence. 

Century 21 Masters broadens reach across Alberta

Century 21 Masters has expanded its operations with offices in Edmonton, Calgary, Airdrie, Drumheller, Strathmore, Stony Plain, and St. Albert, reaching over 50 communities across Alberta. The leadership team includes 2024/25 CREA chair James Mabey, Geneva Tetreault, and Bob Sheddy.

Living Realty joins Keller Williams

Living Realty, a Markham-based brokerage with 550 agents, is transitioning to Keller Williams (KW) as KW Living Realty. According to a company press release, the brokerage, which has reached over $1.1-billion in sales since 2023, will officially rebrand on Mar. 3. David Wong has been named team leader, while Kelvin Wong will serve as operating principal. 

Sutton Group welcomes Kings Cross franchise

Sutton Group has introduced Sutton Group Kings Cross, a new franchise serving King City and Newmarket, Ont. Led by Marc Cioffi, a detective sergeant in his local police force, the brokerage focuses on real estate solutions for first responders. Previously operating as Kinsby Real Estate, the partnership with Sutton includes plans to launch a national first responder program. Cioffi, who transitioned to real estate in 2023.

Re/Max Hendriks Team Realty aligns with Re/Max Hallmark

Re/Max Hendriks Team Realty has joined forces with Re/Max Hallmark, the world’s largest Re/Max brokerage. Led by industry veteran Jerry Hendriks, the brokerage will continue to service Ontario’s Niagara and Hamilton regions. 

Century 21 Assurance Realty Ltd. expands Into Creston, B.C.

Century 21 Assurance Realty Ltd. has expanded its operations to Creston, B.C., through a merger with the long-standing Century 21 Veitch Realty. The Veitch family has worked in real estate for over five decades in the region. Scott and Shannon Veitch will continue to play key roles in the Creston office. With this addition, Century 21 Assurance Realty now operates offices in Kamloops, Salmon Arm, Vernon, Kelowna, Castlegar, and Creston.

Announcements and notable mentions

Canadian leaders on the SP 200

Phil Soper, Royal LePage President and CEO, has ranked as the top Canadian leader on T3 Sixty’s Swanepoel Power 200 (SP 200) reaching number 12 on the prestigious list. Chief Operating Officer of Royal LePage, Carolyn Cheng, has also been named for the sixth year in a row (#141). Other notable Canadian leaders on the list include TRREB CEO Jon DiMichele (#53), Re/Max Canada President Christopher Alexander (#55), Century21 President and CEO Martin Charlwood  (#57) and CREA CEO Janice Myers (#161)

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Recently Canadian Olympic soccer player Emily Zurrer transitioned from full-time player to a real estate agent for Century 21 Assurance Realty in the Okanagan. But after retiring, Zurrer says she wasn’t sure how she’d fill the void in her life soccer had left.

Emily Zurrer

“It is hard to emulate the emotional excitement and passion of playing in front of 50,000 fans or at an event like the Olympics,” she says. After meeting her future husband Taylor Atkinson at a good friend’s wedding, new career possibilities began to blossom. As the couple continued dating, her partner showed her his property investment portfolio. This led Zurrer to become  curious about the real estate industry.

“After retiring from soccer, I thought it would be quite a challenge for me to find something else to match the level of passion soccer had represented in my life. As I started to get into real estate investment sales myself, it seemed like getting my Realtor licence was a natural fit.” After obtaining her licence and an interior design diploma, it wasn’t long before she was working as an agent in the residential market.

From left, Emily Zurrer, Christine Sinclair and Karina LeBlanc celebrate the bronze medal win at the 2012 London Games.

Zurrer compares playing on a professional soccer team to being a real estate agent: “The harder you work the better you do. Many of the skills you develop on and off the field in professional soccer are transferred into your job as a real estate agent, like discipline, a never-say-die attitude, organization, a kick-butt work ethic and patience.” She says she never gets too high or too low, which is a vital attribute for an athlete – dwelling on a bad performance won’t help in the next game. Instead she is all about learning from her mistakes.

Zurrer grew up in Vancouver but at four years of age she spent about six months in Scotland while her dad was racing stock cars. Ever since she first kicked a soccer ball it was her dream to play pro and later represent Canada. Zurrer says that even though her dad loved hockey and played it regularly, it’s her mother who passed on the persistence and determination genes.

She played soccer at the highest levels all through her childhood and by 18 was selected to play for the University of Illinois, where she studied advertising. At 16 she was invited to try out for Canada’s National Team program, and her first major senior tournament was the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Her first Olympics is a memory she will never forget.

“It was absolutely overwhelming! The energy on and off the field was electric,” she says. Canada lost to the USA in the quarter finals.  “It was a real close match and I remember the game had to be stopped for over two hours because of a terrible storm. The USA won in double overtime.”

After graduating, Zurrer played for her first pro team in Germany. She says although she was initially intimidated and nervous, “over all it was a great experience.”  Once the season ended all of Team Canada’s players moved to Italy where they stayed in a hotel for eight months, vigorously training for the World Cup at a soccer field next to the hotel. In 2011 Canada played its first game in the World Cup of Soccer in the host country Germany against the German national team. There were over 75,000 fans in attendance, the most people to ever watch Zurrer play.

“Standing in the tunnel you could hear a dull roar of German fans chanting. The Germans beat us and we never advanced. It was definitely the lowest point in my career.”

Next stop was Sweden, then back to Canada’s national team for the 2012 London Games, where Canada won a bronze medal. Unfortunately Zurrer pulled her hamstring before the tournament and had been rehabbing intensively for weeks. She sat out the first game and started game two but shortly into the match she felt something snap. At that point the London Olympics were over for her. After that Zurrer played one last season for Seattle for the newly formed National Women’s Soccer League. She retired from international soccer after the 2015 FIFA World Cup.

As her career came to an end, Zurrer’s life markedly changed. She married Atkinson, a helicopter engineer, then lived in Shanghai for two years before moving back to Canada two years ago.

“We had a choice to make. I wanted to move back to Vancouver Island and my husband wanted to move to Kelowna,” she says. “In the end, he won and we moved to Kelowna and now I’m happy we did.”

Recently Zurrer watched Canada win gold against Sweden at the Tokyo Olympics. She was on the edge of her seat cheering for the team she’d belonged to for the last decade.

“I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel watching the game but I just burst into tears at the end of it. I was so happy for many of my former teammates. It was such an incredible thing for our country and for the future of the women’s soccer because so many young girls would be watching.”

Now Zurrer says she is thoroughly enjoying the challenges of transitioning to real estate. She says one day she would like to give back to Canadian soccer by perhaps coaching kids. But in the meantime she’s pregnant and says she can’t wait for her baby boy to come out kicking.

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The Century 21 System collectively raised more than $2.5 million for the charity. Since the inception of this philanthropic partnership in 1979, the network’s independent franchisees and affiliated sales reps have raised $129 million.

In Canada, despite all the challenges of the pandemic, the system raised $452,730, exceeding its fundraising goal of $210,000.

This year, 13 of the Top 21 fundraisers in North America are Canadian firms. Here they are with their North American rank, and the money they raised:

3. Century 21 B.J. Roth Realty, Barrie, Ont. $94,945
5. Century 21 Leading Edge Realty, Markham, Ont. $39,090
6. Century 21 Heritage Group, Richmond Hill, Ont. $37,902
7. Century 21 Dome Realty, Regina $35,369
9. Century 21 Executives Realty, Vernon, B.C. $26,177
11. Century 21 Heritage House, Woodstock, Ont. $24,059
12. Century 21 Bamber Realty, Calgary $18,593
13. Century 21 Fusion, Saskatoon $17,484
14. Century 21 Assurance Realty, Kelowna, B.C. $15,399
15. Century 21 Bachman & Associates, Winnipeg $15,364
19. Century 21 Westman Realty, Brandon, Man. N/A
20. Century 21 Miller Real Estate, Oakville, Ont. N/A
21. Century 21 Foothills Real Estate, High River, Alta. N/A

Special recognition of the achievements of the Top 21 companies, and all other Century 21 network companies who raised funds for Easter Seals in 2020 will occur throughout the year at virtual (and hopefully live events) as well as on the Century 21 System internal and external communications channels, the company says.

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Century 21 Assurance Realty in Kelowna, B.C. recently reported the largest MLS real estate deal in history in the Okanagan, when the Kirschner Mountain development in Kelowna sold for $22 million.

Mark Boppre, a long-time Realtor and Max Carbone, owner of Century 21 Assurance Realty, co-listed the property in late 2019. They marketed it across the country during the pandemic and attracted several out-of-province prospects, including the eventual buyer, who is from Manitoba.

Brothers Allen, Don and Gordon Kirschner owned the project. Their father bought 640 acres for a ranch in 1958. The Kirschner Mountain development was established in 2003 by the Kirschner Family, who completed the first four phases of single-family lots by 2019. The remainder of the property is slated for residential and commercial mixed-use development. “We’re excited to see what the future holds for Kirschner Mountain and are extremely proud our family is part of the heritage and legacy of our community,” says Allen Kirschner.

“The C21 Assurance Commercial Group is proud to have brokered this historic deal on behalf of the Kirschner family,” says Carbone.

Association of Interior Realtors CEO George Greenwood says, “Transactions such as this are proof that demand for property in Kelowna and the surrounding communities where our members work in is growing at remarkable rates.”

Century 21 Assurance Realty has 72 residential and commercial agents in the Kelowna area.

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“Dean’s positive leadership, Okanagan knowledge, coaching skills and business development talent will add even more value to our Realtors, their clients and our brokerage,” says Max Carbone, co-owner of Century 21 Assurance.

In 2008, Desrosiers started his career in the real estate profession and quickly rose to become a top producer, the company says. He joined Century 21 in 2012 and became licensed as an associate broker. In 2016, his team of four agents placed 13th in sales for C21 in Canada and third in B.C., behind teams with twice as many agents.

Prior to his real estate career, Desrosiers was a sales, marketing and business development executive. He has over 30 years of experience in international biotechnology, training, education and real estate. He has worked in highly regulated medical/dental industries for world leading organizations since graduating from the University of British Columbia.

He also coaches and conducts training seminars on a regular basis for Realtors and real estate investors across the Okanagan.

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Century 21 B.J. Roth Realty in Barrie, Ont. was the No. 1 fundraising company for the sixth consecutive year.

Rounding out the top 10 fundraisers were C21 Foothills Real Estate, with six Alberta offices; C21 Bamber Realty, Calgary; C21 Dome Realty, Regina; C21 First Canadian, London, Ont.; C21 Leading Edge Realty, Markham, Ont.; C21 Green Realty, Mississauga, Ont.; C21 Bachman & Associates, Winnipeg; C21 Assurance Realty, Kelowna, B.C.; and C21 Fusion, Saskatoon, Sask.

More than 1,100 individual C21 brokers and salespeople contributed to this year’s effort.

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Przybyl served as managing broker for Century 21 Bachman & Associates in Winnipeg for the past 11 years. She has been a real estate professional for 26 years.

Przybyl is a past president of The Manitoba Real Estate Association and of the Winnipeg Real Estate Board. She was elected MREA Education chair in 2015.

“Her long-time commitment to education has enabled her to be a catalyst for change in real estate education in Manitoba with the implementation of numerous enhancements to the professional education and relicensing programs,” the company says in a news release.

“Przybyl will continue to advocate for real estate licensing education in Kelowna.  With pending revisions and the new industry rules in B.C., Przybyl is committed to ensuring that CREA and the BCREA play an integral role in equipping Realtors with the knowledge and tools needed to understand the changes and corresponding regulations,” the company says.

“I look forward to building upon the professional and community work of my predecessor, Myrna Park, and am fully committed to working in harmony with the local real estate boards and associations in B.C.,” says Przybyl.

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“Since we arrived, we’ve spent time with Myrna, Ken, staff and our Realtors. We have seen first-hand what a great culture and system they have created,” says Max Carbone.

“Over the last couple of years, we have travelled across Canada to find the best place for us to live,” says Anna. “We considered economic conditions, the amazing outdoor activities and a great climate. For us, Kelowna has the perfect conditions for a work-life balance and is where we want to call home.”

The Century 21 Assurance team will continue its Vision 25 strategic marketing plan. It provides a marketing support system for agents including professional photography, social media co-ordination and graphic design capabilities.

Prior to moving to the Okanagan, the Carbones ran a strategic planning service that helped leaders and teams improve performance and deliver positive results. They have experience in sales, sales management and leadership in real estate, and media and finance with leading firms.

Brian Rushton, executive vice president, Century 21 Canada, says: “They have such an interesting background and the skills they bring to Kelowna will no doubt set them up on the road to success. To strengthen our brand even further, we’re pleased the former owners plan to continue with the brand for years to come.”

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