As one of my personal heroes, Dr. Jane Goodall, once said, “You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.”
What kind of difference do we at the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA)—our staff and volunteer leaders, alongside our partner boards and associations and incredible members across the country—want to make in the world?
We know our work together encourages, empowers, and enables REALTORS® in support of Canadian real estate journeys. We work for a policy and legislative environment that enables homeownership while acknowledging the importance of the entire housing continuum to communities and the Canadian economy. We champion REALTORS® through awareness, education, and furthering excellence in the profession. We support REALTORS® with competitive tools and technology, including REALTOR.ca.
In a nutshell, that is what CREA does. But why do we do it? And what value do we add to society through our work?
While CREA’s strategic plan outlines our mission, vision, and values, our 2022 Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Committee recommended adding a social purpose statement to align with emerging association governance best practices. A social purpose statement defines an organization’s, “reason to exist that optimizes its contribution to the well-being of people and planet.”
The committee’s recommendation was ultimately approved by the CREA Board, who agreed that associations like ours can and should play key roles in addressing social and environmental issues, and by doing so, we can enhance our own relevance, sustainability, and the value we provide to our members.
Last year, our 2023 ESG Committee engaged a leading purpose expert here in Canada, Mary Ellen Schaafsma of Purpose Pathways Consulting, to guide us through a comprehensive process to define CREA’s social purpose.
Developing CREA’s social purpose statement
We first reviewed CREA’s history, evolving strategic direction, and core competencies. Next, we facilitated workshops with our Board of Directors, our ESG Committee, board and association staff, CREA staff, REALTOR® members, external stakeholders, and partners. We had these stakeholders think about what CREA offers to the world, what the world needs, and the intersection between the two. We asked, how can we use our core competencies and assets to make the best possible impact for the benefit of our REALTOR® members and the world around us?
Several clear themes emerged from our consultation work. The most prominent themes were, perhaps not surprisingly, home, housing, and shelter.
We had many discussions about the differences between these terms. For example, our stakeholders noted that “home” is more than just a roof over your head. As REALTORS® know well, “home” fosters feelings of comfort, safety, and security. There was also a lot of discussion about how housing needs differ and how everyone deserves housing that is equitable, attainable, affordable, accessible, sustainable, resilient, and healthy.
It was clear from our consultations that REALTORS® know that housing is closely linked to so many critical issues in our society, including health, poverty, security, social equity, the environment, and climate change.
We also heard from our stakeholders that housing can be used as a mechanism to achieve what CREA and our REALTOR® members want to see and contribute to in the future, including more equitable, inclusive, and healthier communities.
We then took all the input we had gathered and distilled everything down into a draft social purpose statement. We tested the draft against standard purpose criteria and with a selection of stakeholders. The result of more than eight months of consultation and collaboration was the following social purpose statement for CREA:
“CREA opens doors to thriving futures for all, beginning with home.”
This statement acknowledges something our REALTOR® members know well: “home” is the critical foundation to achieving thriving futures. We’ve heard from several REALTOR® members that they have had an emotional reaction to hearing this statement for the first time, because it speaks to their hearts.
The statement is short and sweet, so it’s memorable. It’s aspirational—a big idea to strive for and the beginning of a long-term journey for our association and membership.
It is intentionally expansive and inclusive. When we say, “for all,” we mean all people, regardless of their backgrounds, identities, or financial circumstances. We recognize that equity-seeking groups, including Indigenous populations and racialized groups, face discrimination in society today. We want to help break down systemic barriers in the real estate industry and beyond.
We also developed four underlying narrative statements to build upon through our social purpose work:
First, we believe housing is a human right. All people should have equitable access to safe and affordable housing options that meet their needs, regardless of their financial circumstances.
Second, we believe home fosters human dignity and belonging. The feeling of “home” is important to people on a deep level.
Next, we believe a healthy environment is critical to a thriving future. This serves to highlight the importance of doing what we can to protect the environment and mitigate climate change, so that our homes and communities are as safe, healthy, and resilient as possible.
Finally, we believe collaboration is the key to unlocking positive change. We need to work closely with like-minded partners to help move the needle on the big social and environmental challenges of today and tomorrow.
I am pleased to report that our social purpose statement and underlying narrative were approved by CREA’s Board of Directors earlier this year. We have since started rolling out purpose training to our staff and developing purpose implementation, activation, and member engagement plans.
While REALTORS® will remain at the heart of everything we do, our new social purpose statement has already started to open up our thinking about what CREA, our partners, and our membership can do together to be the change we want to see in the world. We look forward to keeping you informed of our progress.
