By Jeremy Davis
With under two weeks remaining in 2025 and a new year on the horizon, it’s time once again to recap some of this year’s highlights of the Winnipeg Regional Real Estate Board and its over 2,500 Members.
This year, the Winnipeg Regional Real Estate Board sponsored public events and met with elected officials from municipal and federal governments, members of their public service, and related stakeholders to underscore the value of increasing home supply, improving the permitting system, prioritizing infill housing development, and building the necessary infrastructure to support communities. Our advocacy aims to reduce impediments to residential and commercial real estate development while helping to instill the conditions where Manitobans can continue to access and afford the dream of homeownership.
In February, the Winnipeg Regional Real Estate Board hosted its annual Market Insights event virtually, which brings together national and local industry experts to gain insights into economic and real estate related trends, results and forecasts. We welcomed keynote speaker, Derek Holt, Vice President and Head of Capital Markets Economics in Toronto, for a national economic outlook and forecast with respect to inflation and interest rates. He was joined by Shaun Cathcart, Senior Economist for the Canadian Real Estate Association, for a national housing outlook, and Sean Kliewer, Senior Vice President - Colliers International, for his perspective on the Winnipeg commercial real estate landscape. The event closed with my recap of the residential real estate market in the Winnipeg Regional Real Estate Board’s market region, along with a forecast for 2025.
In March, Michael Froese was announced as the 2025-2026 President of the Winnipeg Regional Real Estate Board. A REALTOR® of 18 years and a broker of 14 years, Froese grew up in a family familiar with real estate as his dad held leadership roles at the Manitoba Real Estate Association and the Canadian Real Estate Association. Froese became Managing Partner in 2015 and in 2019, won the Brokerage of the Year Award for Royal LePage across Canada.
Founded 39 years ago in 1986, the Citizens Half of Fame honours individuals who have brought recognition to Winnipeg or have made outstanding contributions to the quality of life and development of the city. The inductee’s achievements may be local, national or international in scope, and each inductee is honoured with a bronze bust of their likeness in the Citizens Hall of Fame at Assiniboine Park. This year, Dr. Catherine L. Cook was recognized in August for her significant contributions to Indigenous health and leadership in Indigenous health, healing and reconciliation in Winnipeg and across Manitoba for over four decades.
At the end of October, Marina R. James was honoured for her 9 years of leadership as the CEO of Winnipeg Regional Real Estate Board, while Crystal Hollas was appointed the new CEO. Hollas brings over 19 years of experience with the Winnipeg Regional Real Estate Board, a law degree, deep institutional knowledge of the Board’s operations, and Member relations. She has experience working closely with Brokers, on Member-to-Member professional standards hearings and arbitrations, resolving conflicts, instructing re-licensing and real estate education courses, and championing directions with the Manitoba Securities Commission.
As part of the Winnipeg Regional Real Estate Board’s ongoing efforts to create awareness on advocacy efforts and issues, the Real Estate Market Matters column in the Winnipeg Regional Real Estate News is where advocacy issues and topics related to real estate are considered. This year, columns covered REALTOR® Ally Beauchesne being honoured with the 2024 Community Service Award, City of Winnipeg zoning amendments for infill housing development, the Canadian Real Estate Association’s (CREA) advocacy for the federal election, the appointment of the City’s new Chief of the Winnipeg Police: Gene Bowers, tariffs and Canadian real estate, what you need to know to qualify for a mortgage, things to know when planning to buy a cottage, a mid-summer lake country real estate market update, how real estate contributes to economic growth and development in Winnipeg and the surrounding areas, commemorating the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, the Government of Canada’s Build Canada Homes initiative, the Manitoba REALTORS® Shelter Foundation build with Habitat for Humanity Manitoba, True North charting the course for downtown Winnipeg’s transformation, CREA’s Political Action Committee (PAC) Days in Ottawa, the City’s proposed 2026 Budget Update to the 2024-2027 Multi-Year Budget, the City setting the trajectory for economic and population growth, and finally, this week’s wrap-up of 2025.
Thanks for reading in 2025, and next year, I look forward to bringing you more interesting information relating to advocacy and the important activities conducted by the Winnipeg Regional Real Estate Board.
Have a great holiday season and see you in 2026!
Jeremy Davis is the Winnipeg Regional Real Estate Board’s Director of External Relations & Market Intelligence.