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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“Once again, Century 21 Canada is well represented on a global stage,” says president and CEO Martin Charlwood. “We significantly outperformed regions with bigger population counts and surpassed every goal we had, especially in a year that wasn’t the full return to normal we might have hoped for. Throughout the year our network was relentless and kept delivering that gold standard level of service of which we are so proud.”

In addition to high rankings for offices and teams, Century 21 Canada also had nine of the Top 21 Companies and six of the Top 21 Producers make the lists.

Jasbir Sandhu

“When you have passion, you do a good job and that’s what brought us to the global stage,” says Jasbir Sandhu, manager of the Surrey, B.C. office of Century 21 Coastal Realty.  “We represent a large brand, a leader in real estate, and what got us here was good service, good training and having knowledgeable agents out in the field, serving their community.”

The leaders of the Goodale Miller Team say the professionalism and integrity of their team members led them to be the No. 1 ranked team for the second consecutive year.

“Our team members are highly experienced in their craft,” say Brad Miller and Kieran McCourt in a news release. “Each one of them is an award winner on their own but collectively we’re so much more, and our collaboration gives us a competitive advantage. This is entirely a team award.”

In addition to teams and offices, Century 21 Canada had nine of the top performing companies, with Century 21 Leading Edge Realty in Scarborough, Ont. coming highest at No. 3 in the world. Six of the Top 21 Producers also represented Century 21 Canada, with Harpreet Khela from Century 21 Coastal Realty coming in highest at No. 6 worldwide.

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Martin Charlwood, president and COO for Charlwood Pacific Group, says Browne “has been an instrumental team member since she first joined our organization,  has served very effectively in several key capacities, so we feel very confident she will be really successful in this new role as president of RPM Canada.”

Browne began working in real estate when she joined Century 21 Dome in 1993. In 2005 the six Century 21 Dome offices in four cities were purchased by Conexus Credit Union. Browne became the provincial broker for all six offices in that region. In 2011 when Conexus Credit Union exited the real estate industry, Browne assisted with the selling of the brokerages to four separate existing C21 brokerages and invested in the Regina brokerage. She worked closely with the new ownership in Saskatoon during their transition and continued for many years after to strengthen the brand in both cities, the company says.

In 2013 Browne expanded into property management and built Real Property Management Professionals in Saskatoon. Because of her history with Century 21, she was connected with corporate headquarters for C21 and RPM, where she became the operations general manager under Chris Turcotte in 2019. She is now taking over his role as president. She will continue to report to Turcotte, who remains on the board of Real Property Management and will also focus his attention on Centum.

“Carla has already been doing much of the work as president over the past few months,” says Turcotte. “This formalization of her role is a natural evolution of the contributions and success she brought to RPM. I look forward to supporting her through the work we do together to support all our real estate brands.”

Browne says, “I have worked at all levels of RPM – from a start-up franchisee to corporate management, so I know how to navigate the challenges future franchisees might face. Teamwork, support, taking risks, always being ethical and, most importantly, caring about others are what I consider the secrets to success.”

One of the first items on her agenda is the launch of RPM’s new podcast, called Canada’s Property Management podcast. Hosted by Browne alongside Adrian Schulz, RPM director of technology, the podcast will discuss investing, managing and maximizing the value of real estate assets.

Browne sits on the Board of Directors with the Saskatchewan Landlord Association and holds the vice-chair position with the Board of Directors of the Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce.

RPM has more than 300 locations throughout North America.

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“We’ve spent the past few years focusing on the development of our technology and providing our agents with the best tools in the industry,” says U. Gary Charlwood, founder and executive chairman of Century 21 Canada. “We’re now ready to showcase our value to an expanded audience from coast to coast. The experienced team we’ve organized is very driven and ready to get started.”

Martin Charlwood continues as CEO and is also assuming the role of president as he continues his hands-on management of the day-to-day operations.

Brian Rushton remains EVP operations and reports directly to Martin Charlwood and co-ordinates the efforts of the leadership support group.

Tracy Bartram remains EVP and CFO for the Charlwood Pacific Group as well as Century 21 Canada.

Chiyoko Kakino

Chiyoko Kakino has been announced as vice president, brand expansion, Western Canada. “Chiyoko is taking her passion for the brand and sharing it across Western Canada, which has been identified as an important region for the brand to continue to grow,” says C21 in a news release. “Chiyoko has been the one of the chief architects of the brand relaunch as vice president of marketing for the past six years and will continue to influence marketing projects throughout the organization.”

Leigh Kjekstad

Leigh Kjekstad has been named senior director of marketing, communication and events. She has been with the company for more than four years and has specialized in public relations, marketing and events. In this new role, she will oversee marketing and communications and will organize C21’s annual conference and awards events.

Todd Shyiak

Todd Shyiak is now vice president, national network development. He has been with the company since 2013 heading up the operations department and will continue to help current franchisees with their recruiting and retention strategies, the company says. He will also identify strategic merger and acquisition opportunities within the industry for the existing Century 21 network.

Gary Zalepa has been named vice president, brand expansion, Eastern Canada. “Gary has long been a source of information and advice for our brokers and he will now share his knowledge with a new generation of potential franchisees from Ontario to Newfoundland. Gary’s background is of a Realtor and broker, so he is well positioned to set up future franchisees for success,” says the release.

The timing of the restructuring is, in part, due to the retirement of long-serving members of the C21 staff, the company says. Vice president of corporate services Barbara Fromm retired after being with the company for more than 40 years. Director of meeting and events Carol Hughes, who was with the company for 38 years, chose to take early retirement at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bartram says the groundwork that Fromm and Hughes laid throughout their tenure has allowed the transition to a new chapter for the company to go smoothly.

Martin Charlwood says: “Starting in 1975 my father, our chairman, laid the foundation of real estate franchising in Canada in the real estate brokerage industry and we have spent the past four-plus decades continuing to make our mark.  My leadership team will continue to be the gold standard in the industry and our value package remains the best, bar none.”

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The annual awards recognize the top 21 Century 21 companies, offices, teams and producers by sales production in the entire Century 21 System worldwide, which comprises 147,000 sales representatives operating in 13,000 offices across 84 countries.

Toronto sales rep Mark Li of Century 21 Leading Edge Realty earned the title of No. 1 Century 21 Producer in the world by units. He also ranked No. 11 in the production by gross closed commissions (GCC) category (No. 2 by production in Canada).

Sarah Toop of Century 21 Creekside Realty in Chilliwack, B.C. ranked No. 7 globally for production by GCC; Toop also topped the rankings of the Canadian leaderboard as No. 1 in production by GCC and No. 5 by units.

The Goodale Miller Team, from Century 21 Miller Real Estate in Oakville, Ont. came in at No. 1 in the teams category. “Our team has worked incredibly hard over the past year and achieving this global recognition is a validation of the dedication and professionalism of our team members,” says broker and team leader Brad Miller.

Long-time award winner Ken Yeung of Century 21 Kennect Realty lead the Top Team by Units in Canada, proving Toronto continues to be a hot spot for real estate around the world.

Century 21 offices and companies in Canada dominated the global rankings, with 10 of the top 21 offices ranking in the Top 21, and seven of the Top 21 companies.

“Canada’s real estate market proved it was resilient, despite strong headwinds at the start of 2020,” says Martin Charlwood, vice chairman and CEO of Century 21 Canada. “This past year once again confirmed that owning real estate is very important to Canadians as many people have really assessed their surroundings with purpose, to determine where and how they want to live, especially given the recent circumstances brought about by the global pandemic.”

Charlwood says the rankings reflect how hard Canadian franchisees and Realtors work. “We make up fewer than 10 per cent of the Century 21 agents in the world yet dominate the global rankings. Our network continues to make us proud in how they deliver excellent service to clients from coast to coast.”

The statistics are gathered and released by Century 21 International. The Century 21 Global 21 Awards based on the 2020 calendar year production.

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He worked for Western Airlines (now Delta) and CP Air (now Air Canada) and before the age of 30 he was holding executive positions in the Canadian airline field. His career was taking off and he was satisfied in his work but he wanted to pilot his own ship, so to speak. He had a desire to do more. “I wanted to go into business for myself,” he says. “I wanted to do better.”

Turns out, he did better himself. The Vancouver-based entrepreneur is founder and executive chairman of Century 21 Canada, which has more than 9,000 system members in nearly 400 offices in 272 cities. He also heads the family-owned Charlwood Pacific Group (CPG), which includes Century 21 Asia-Pacific; Uniglobe Travel International; Centum Financial Group, which is a national network of independently owned and operated mortgage broker firms; and Real Property Management Canada. Together, these companies have more than 1,800 franchise locations with more than 24,000 support staff in over 65 countries, making it one of Canada’s largest international franchise systems.

Martin and U. Gary Charlwood (Photos by Darla Furlani)

Charlwood’s entrepreneurial dream began to take flight when he attended a task force on travel that made him think of possible layoffs or mergers in the airline industry. He realized he didn’t want to hang his hat on those future possibilities. He considered going into the insurance business but that didn’t appeal to him. Instead, he used three months of personal savings to live on and earned his real estate licence. In his 10th week as a real estate agent, he sold his first house. After that, his new-found vocation began to soar. “I went on a tear and sold 115 houses in the next 15 months,” he says. Soon, he was making five times his annual salary as a director of consumer affairs with Canada’s largest airline company.

He became 50 per cent owner of a Vancouver real estate firm and grew it from six salespeople to nearly 60. After buying out the other 50 per cent he was approached by Century 21 International in 1975 and he and a partner were offered the master franchise for Century 21 Real Estate Canada. By early 1976, a few months before Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak started a company called Apple, U. Gary Charlwood was on his way to realizing his ultimate dream. He later he bought out his co-founder and was in the process of building Century 21 Canada into one of the largest real estate companies in the country.

On the eve of celebrating the company’s 40th anniversary, Charlwood was asked why his enterprise became so successful. Without hesitation, he names several factors, including being innovative, having a good product, and using a team approach to his business. “There are a number of reasons for our accomplishments but when we first started we were the only trainers in the industry,” he says. “There was a story going around in the early days that one large real estate company would tell its recruits, ‘Why don’t you go to Century 21 to get trained and then come work for us?” He adds: “That was a long time ago; we’re all good competitors with each other now.”

As Charlwood speaks on the phone, gazing out the window from his Vancouver home at the spectacular view, with his 193-lb. American Mastiff by his side, he emphasizes that his family-run firm has a team approach to business and discusses how he has always nurtured this family context.

“We have been very fortunate over the years to have a phenomenal group of people working for us and it is this team spirit that has played an important role in our successes,” he says. “I have always treated all of the people who work in our organization as though they were partners. Everybody plays an integral role and contributes to the whole firm. If one person fails, it has an impact.” He notes that the team spirit of his corporate staff is especially “key to me” and acknowledges there is “longevity in management” at the firm. Feedback has always been an important component in his approach to business and he points to his annual Chairman’s Circle when some 80 of his top franchisees meet to discuss various topics of interest to the Century 21 brand, including, “What’s happening in the marketplace that could impact us; what do we need to do to stay on the leading edge; and what new technological platforms do we need to pursue beyond what we are already doing?”

As the first franchisor in the industry to span coast-to-coast in Canada, Charlwood takes great pride in pioneering and paving the path for others to follow and he likes to think he played a role in “professionalizing” the industry. The titan of the real estate industry is generous with his praise of those who’ve helped him along the way — including some deceased executives — and current key players, such as his two sons: Martin, who is vice chairman and CEO of Century 21 Canada and president and COO of parent company CPG; and Christopher, an executive director of the firm who sits on various boards and is involved in the strategic planning and financial aspects of the organization.

The elder statesman also speaks fondly of the now-retired Don Lawby, who joined Century 21 in 1976 as a sales associate and rose to become its president in 1988. Charlwood likes to tell Lawby, “You joined me as a private and left me as a general.” Credit is also given to Brian Rushton, current EVP, “who joined as a franchisee and, with his brilliant humour and inspiration, guided us on the technology front.” Tracy Bartram, EVP and CFO for the parent company, is touted for her skills in the finance, legal and corporate services departments.

Charlwood concedes that without people who “do what they do and do it well” he would not have reached the pinnacle of success that he now enjoys. Notable among his many career highlights is being the first Canadian to be inducted into the International Franchise Association’s Hall of Fame and the American Society of Travel Agents Hall of Fame. In 2016, Charlwood Pacific Group was also recognized with the Canadian Franchise Association’s Hall of Fame Award.

A former marathon runner and an active swimmer, Charlwood says he enjoys his life and has no plans to retire. When asked to describe his current role with CPG, he says he sees himself essentially as a strategist. “I am the composer: I help Martin write the music and he conducts the orchestra.”

When Martin was asked about his father’s metaphor he said he is not surprised by the reference because his dad is a musical aficionado. He confirms that the two do work in concert together, with the senior Charlwood working on long-term strategy while Martin works closely with the senior management team “to help fine-tune that long term strategy and to execute on the short term and midterm must-do’s.”

Martin says he and his brother, Christopher, knew at an early age they’d like to follow in their father’s footsteps. When his brother was 14 and Martin was 12, their father was in the process of founding Uniglobe Travel International and he asked their advice in choosing the brand’s logo. “We were captivated; hook, line and sinker,” says Martin, while adding their father never “badgered or pushed us to get us into the travel or real estate business.” When the boys were not in school, Gary would invite them to his business meetings where the young lads would sit at the back of the room soaking up what was being discussed.

“His business philosophy was and is to teach people for themselves, not by themselves.” Martin adds, “He set up a structure on how to run Century 21 and Uniglobe, and in my early days in the business it was all about learning from the system and the individuals within that system that he created, rather than learning from him, directly. That came later when he and I worked more closely together when I became president of some of the divisions.”

Martin describes his father as kind and caring to those around him and says he always recognized his father’s leadership skills. “He was always the coach of the soccer team when we were growing up and people just gravitated to him,” he says. “He always had –and still has– very creative and valuable things to share with people. And he sure can hold an audience.”

Martin, who graduated from the University of British Columbia in 1990 and has worked in nearly every facet of the family business, is an inveterate traveler, passionate snow skier and boater, has a healthy appreciation of wine and is a partner in Trim Wines in Calif. As he prepares to take over the reins of the company one day, Martin says he shares the same business philosophy as his father and adheres to the team member collaboration style of business. “If we can’t have a good time with someone and enjoy their company over dinner, we’re not sure we can work or do business with them.” He adds that he and his father share three tenets of business practice: empower people to get the job done; give them the resources to get it done; let them get on with it.”

When asked about the future of Century 21, Martin outlined a few pillars of growth: “Recruit more agents and brokers to our Century 21 brand and increase the number of homes that we help our customers buy and sell through the brand.” He maintains it is also important to help the broker network grow their individual local business through acquisitions and/or mergers of other brokerages in their local marketplace. He adds that the company will continue to refine their industry leading work in the digital world, especially as it relates to marketing real estate on the Internet.

In a salute to his pioneering businessman father, Martin adds, “We have always viewed ourselves as a ‘thought leader’ and plan to continue as such.”

On a more personal note, Martin says this of his father and his family, including the Century 21 family: “We make sure to enjoy the ride that life provides us and make sure to take advantage of all the opportunities that come knocking on our doors.”

Dennis McCloskey

Dennis McCloskey is a contributing writer for REM.

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“The real estate industry is now global, so it’s more important than ever for international buyers to easily find and connect with Canadian Realtors and their clients’ properties,” says Martin Charlwood, vice chairman and CEO, Century 21 Canada. “Every one of our Canadian listings is positioned in front of international buyers and Realtors on this website. It’s a powerful tool for our agents to show clients how they get the most exposure for their property.”

The enhancements include:

• Mobile responsive design
• On property details pages, images will open in a new viewer and showcase homes in a large photo gallery
• Searching by metro areas such as Sydney or San Francisco will now include results for surrounding cities that make-up the metropolitan area
• Hebrew, Arabic and Urdu have been added for a total of 18 languages supported on the site
• As well as providing individual Realtor search functionality and webpages, customers can now search for teams.

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“We wanted to ensure an exceptional, effortless online experience for every home buyer or seller. In response to these demands, our Realtors can now create their own personalized, mobile-friendly website in just a few clicks,” says Martin Charlwood, vice chairman and CEO, Century 21 Canada.

As well as being accessible on any device, the new design offers:

• A high-quality photo gallery.
• Simplified property information right at the top of listings.
• In-depth property features, map and directions, commute time and Walk Score are readily available in a simple scroll or click.
• Convenient buttons to contact, share, save and print stay top of page as visitors scroll.
• Visitors can get preapproved for a mortgage in just 15 minutes, right on the website, through sister company Centum Canada.
• Contact and property search are front and centre on sales reps and company websites, so consumers can take the actions they want, immediately.
• Website options such as blogs, social media feeds, eNewsletter signups and more.

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Century 21 operates in 78 countries with more than 100,000 sales professionals working in 6,900 offices. Century 21 Canada members topped global charts with their sales results in 2015.

In the Global21 multi-branch rankings, Century 21 Leading Edge Realty in Markham, Ont. finished fifth. In 12th place was Century 21 Heritage Group in Thornhill, Ont., while Century 21 Percy Fulton in Toronto was 19th.

In the single-office rankings, Century 21 Percy Fulton was third, followed by Century 21 King’s Quay Real Estate, Markham in fourth; Century 21 Coastal Realty, Surrey, B.C. in seventh; Century 21 Leading Edge Realty in eighth; Century 21 People’s Choice Realty, Toronto in ninth; Century 21 Miller Real Estate, Oakville, Ont. in 12^th; Century 21 Atria Realty, Richmond Hill, Ont. in 13^th; Century 21 First Canadian, London, Ont. in 14^th; and Century 21 Bamber Realty, Calgary in 15^th.

The team rankings were: Goodale Miller Team, Century 21 Miller Real Estate, second; The Stephen Tar Team, Century 21 Leading Edge Realty; 11^th, The Sylvia Houghton Team, Century 21 Leading Edge Realty, 13^th; and The Sean Roland Team, Century 21 Percy Fulton, 18^th.

In the individual category, Ken Yeung of Century 21 Leading Edge Realty finished fourth (by production) while Michael Melnychuk, Century 21 A.L.L. Stars Realty, Edmonton was 11^th by production.

From coast to coast, Century 21’s top salespeople received the red carpet treatment at gala and awards events recently. The annual national tour brings together top Century 21 producers, teams, offices and companies to celebrate their success and network.  The gala was hosted in seven local markets including Vancouver, Moncton, Toronto, Montreal, Winnipeg, Regina and Calgary early this year.

“Building relationships drives success in real estate. That’s why it’s always been so important in our eyes to ensure senior leadership visits each market to recognize and shake hands with as many of our members as possible. We hold these events every year to show our appreciation for the incredible work they do,” says Martin Charlwood, vice chairman and CEO.

Charlwood, executive vice president Brian Rushton and founder and executive chairman U. Gary Charlwood were at select locations to present the awards.

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