Leave a comment

2011 Conference Coming to Toronto

by John Dickie, CFAA President

Residential landlords from across Canada gathered in Vancouver in June for the CFAA 2010 Canadian Rental Housing Conference, presented by the Canadian Federation of Apartment Associations.  The conference was blessed with a great turnout, interesting speakers and a keen audience.

Besides the valuable information presented at the sessions, the conference was an opportunity for Canada’s rental housing investors to come together, exchange news and make deals.  In addressing the delegates, Tom Schwartz, CEO of CAPREIT announced, “Today CAPREIT has 1,960 rental units in British Columbia, but we are seeking to acquire more. I hope that in two years, I can stand at this podium and tell you that we have 3,000 units in BC.”

The conference brought together over 170 senior executives, real estate investors, property managers, hands-on owners, lenders, industry suppliers and energy consultants to discuss important issues in Canadian rental housing.  Delegates could choose between two streams of sessions, one geared to senior executives and rental housing investors, and the other for more hands-on issues.

The theme of the first day was Energy and the Environment, including topics such as energy market regulation, smart metering, energy price outlook, electricity and fuel saving measures, new energy technologies and financial evaluation of energy savings. Delegates heard from speakers such as CAPREIT’s Mark Kenney, Effort Trust’s David Horwood, Hollyburn Properties’ Paul Sander, Minto’s John Stang and Boardwalk’s David McIlveen, as well as speakers from the British Columbia Energy Ministry and BC Hydro.

On the second day, speakers such as Tom Schwartz, Scott Ullrich, CEO of Gateway, David Goodman, Cameron Muir, chief economist at the BC Real Estate Association and Robyn Adamanche of CMHC spoke about the economy in 2010 and 2011, multi-family sales and the CMHC Rental Market Report for April.

Scott Ullrich, Rob Hunter of Devon Properties, Bonnie Hoy, Darren Slind of JD Power & Associates, Derek Lobo, Richard Brown of My Ideal Homes and Darren Henry of GottaRent spoke about attracting and satisfying tenants and Internet marketing.  

Along with Rob Hunter from Victoria, Andrew Smith from Washington DC, reviewed issues in maximizing ancillary revenue.

Day two also included Cross Canada Round Up, about new municipal and provincial legislation, highlighting common ground, warning of possible issues to come and providing answers landlords can use with governments.

At the end of each day, breakout sessions allowed delegates to get up close and personal with the speakers.  “I really enjoyed the discussion groups,” said one delegate.  “It allowed people to focus on what was important to them.”

The conference provided numerous networking opportunities, including meal breaks, networking breaks and a reception and dinner.  

The feedback from the delegates has been very positive.  “Without exception, speakers were very knowledgeable,” said one delegate. “I really enjoyed the theoretical presentations followed by real examples that have been implemented,” wrote another.

CFAA is extremely happy with how the conference turned out.  Now CFAA staff is hard at work organizing next year’s conference.

In June 2011 the CFAA Rental Housing Conference will come to Toronto.  Keep reading Canadian Apartment Magazine for updates or visit CFAA’s website at www.cfaa-fcapi.org.

CFAA thanks Canadian Apartment Magazine, media sponsor for the 2010 CFAA Rental Housing Conference.

John Dickie is the president of the Canadian Federation of Apartment Associations. The CFAA represents the owners and managers of close to one million residential rental suites in Canada, through 17 associations across Canada.