This June, the Foundation's Board of Governors met to hear from the applicants to our Investment Grant program and award funds.

We awarded $1,265,560 to 9 incredible projects that are helping to strengthen Alberta’s real estate industry and benefitting Albertans. Check out our latest Investment Grant recipients and learn about their projects:

The Space We Create: A Banff Housing Story

The Aster development is a unique and innovative approach by a municipality to address its affordable market housing challenges. "Studio North, who collaborated with LOLA Architecture on the design-build of the Aster, filmed and documented the process from project conception to completion."Studio North, who collaborated with LOLA Architecture on the design-build of the Aster, filmed and documented the process from project conception to completion. The resulting documentary will provide audiences across the diverse real estate landscape—planners, developers, municipalities, real estate professionals, and others—with the opportunity to examine and encourage similar approaches to affordable housing in municipalities across Alberta and further afield in Canada.

Research, Development and Demonstration of Sustainable Greenhouses for Urban Communities in Cold Climates

This project explores "integrated greenhouses," which are community and house-attached greenhouses incorporated into existing or future buildings. The research aims to provide insights for urban and rural, residential and commercial real estate on integrating agri-food production into winter city environments. By examining options for growing food at home or nearby in urban settings, the project seeks to educate the real estate industry and its consumers on the benefits and feasibility of incorporating greenhouses into residential and commercial properties.

Enabling Housing Choice in Northern Alberta Communities

This project aims to drive long-term policy change in Alberta’s rural real estate industry by addressing the policy, bylaw, and process barriers faced by realtors, housing developers, and municipalities.

Recognizing the need for equipping municipalities with the proper research, tools and guidance for amending/updating potentially restrictive zoning bylaws, this project will enable partner communities to take positive steps forward on adopting permissive zoning bylaws that accommodate a greater diversity of housing types to meet their residents’ needs. Additionally, this work builds on the research from the original Enabling Housing Choice (EHC) project, addressing challenges in northern Alberta and supporting efforts to create a wider variety of housing options in rural communities.

Landowner’s Resources for Energy Development

Evaluating property potential for revenue generation is crucial. Real estate professionals must understand Alberta's evolving policy landscape and the options for hosting energy development projects on land. A thorough understanding of the associated risks, benefits, and obstacles is essential. This project aims to create an updated, easily accessible resource repository for real estate professionals and clients, including individual and commercial property owners.

A More Comprehensive Education for New Commercial Real Estate Brokers in Alberta

This project focuses on the continuous improvement of two prerequisite courses for commercial real estate licensing in Alberta: Fundamentals of Real Estate and Practice of Commercial Real Estate, formerly offered by RECA. The updated courses will cover newer and broader themes, including diversity, equity, and inclusion in the commercial real estate industry, practical success strategies in brokerage, interpreting new zoning requirements, and the linkages between commercial real estate and economic development.

Advancing Seniors Supportive Living Through a Rural Lens

The project “Advancing Seniors Supportive Living through a Rural Lens” aims to bring awareness to real estate professionals and the public about the critical need for affordable and senior housing in rural areas.

As the population ages, the demand for housing that accommodates the unique needs of seniors – such as accessibility features, single-level living, and proximity to healthcare services – grows, especially in less accessible rural locations. This education is essential for realtors to effectively serve this segment of the population, ensuring that seniors have the option to age in place within their communities comfortably.

Improving Conservation of Nature on Private Lands: Targeted Research and Awareness-raising

Conservation easements are legal agreements restricting land use to protect its conservation values. To date, these easements have conserved over 500,000 acres across Alberta.

As farmers and ranchers retire and sell their land, real estate professionals must understand the complexities of these easements to assist buyers and sellers. This project will help bridge the existing knowledge gap in the industry, providing a better understanding of these easements.

Housing Law Information Project

The Housing Law Information Project (HLIP) is intended to be the best source of easy to understand, accessible, and accurate legal information in Alberta about:

• landlord and tenant matters
• condominium matters and
• home buying and ownership matters

The program will continue to provide vital information to Albertans online, in print, and in person.

Administrative Justice Program Research

The Administrative Justice Program, run by AREA, enforces professional standards among real estate professionals. Previously, each real estate board had its own local dispute panel, but smaller boards struggled to find unbiased jurors. AREA began providing dispute services to these smaller boards several years ago. In Calgary and Edmonton, administrative justice can be handled by either AREA or the local board.

This project will examine the administrative justice processes within CREB, RAE, and AREA, aiming to understand the challenges, perceptions, and issues. It will gather feedback from participants and general members to identify potential improvements.

Explore our Projects page for more Foundation-funded initiatives.