This week, the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) announced the launch of its Canadian Realtors Care Award 2025. The award recognizes the long-lasting impact of realtors nationwide who dedicate their time and efforts to charities and causes important to them.

Nominations are now open to recognize a realtor who has played a vital role in lifting their communities. The recipient of this year’s award will be announced at CREA’s Annual General Meeting on Tuesday, April 8, 2025.

10th anniversary of the award

To celebrate the award’s 10th anniversary, the recipient will receive a $10,000 contribution to their charity of choice in their honour.

Latest recipient and past nominees

Since 2016, 10 realtors from five provinces have received the award, including 2024’s recipient, Kelly Byers of Woodstock, Ontario.

“It feels awesome to know that we are able to do so much for our community and for those who are struggling,” says Byers. “And it’s pretty cool to see how many realtors step up year after year.”

The award has also helped highlight the many stories of realtors across Canada who give back through their own charitable endeavors. Past nominees include Crystal Hung of Vancouver and Chris Dunlop of Toronto.

Nominations for the Canadian Realtors Care Award 2025 are open until Sunday, December 1, 2024. Learn more and nominate a realtor here.

Today, Kelly Byers, realtor and salesperson from Woodstock, Ontario, was nationally recognized and celebrated for her charitable contributions by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), through its Canadian Realtors Care Award.

Byers was announced as recipient of the award at CREA’s Open Forum & AGM, and a $5,000 donation was made in her honour to her charity of choice, the London Health Sciences Foundation’s Stem Cell Transplant Patient Assistance Fund.

Launched initiative that collected over 250,000 pounds of food for those in need

Her contributions include 14 years of supporting those dealing with food insecurity throughout Oxford County and fundraising for and supporting the relocation of a family of Syrian refugees to Woodstock.

“We were thoroughly impressed by Kelly’s ability to rally her fellow realtors around countless charitable endeavours, but especially the Realtors Care Food Drive, which has collected more than 250,000 pounds of food since Kelly first launched the initiative,” says Phil Moore, chair of CREA’s Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Committee.

“The immense, positive impact that Kelly Byers has had on the lives of so many members of her community is truly inspiring.”

Byers’ inspiration and journey

Byers has been motivated to seek out and help meet the needs of her community thanks to her parents, who were both avid volunteers.

In 2010, she helped the Woodstock Salvation Army food bank by asking her brokerage colleagues to help canvas their community for food bank donations. After a successful drive, she involved her local real estate association, the Woodstock Ingersoll Tillsonburg and Area Association of Realtors.

Now, 14 years later, more than 100 volunteers participate in their annual Realtors Care Food Drive to support Salvation Army food banks across Oxford County.

“It feels awesome to know we’re able to do so much for our community and for those who are struggling. And it’s pretty cool to see how many realtors step up year after year,” Byers comments.

A life-changing diagnosis and community support

Last June, Byers received a life-changing leukemia diagnosis and paused her charitable efforts. Since then, her community has rallied around her and her family.

“If you’ve encountered Kelly, she’s learned everything about you. She’s probably gone out of her way to help you,” says close friend Kristy Hons. “No one wants to see anything like this happen to anyone, but I think it’s especially awful when things like this happen to the best people.”

Byers put a call-out for needed blood donations that family, friends and realtors were ready to help with. Her kids recruited their friends for the Kids Against Leukemia Bale Sale and raised almost $20,000 for the Sunnybrook Hospital Foundation, where Byers received care at the time.

Photo credit: CREA

It’s no secret REALTORS® are trusted experts in their communities. With this expertise often comes an understanding of a community’s needs, and REALTORS® across Canada are taking action to meet these needs. Now is your opportunity to recognize someone whose actions have created an outstanding, positive impact for their community.

The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) is now accepting nominations for the Canadian REALTORS Care® Award 2024, proudly presented by REALTOR.ca. Each year, this award recognizes a REALTOR® whose charitable accomplishments have created lasting change in the lives of others.

Those interested in nominating a candidate may do so by completing the Canadian REALTORS Care® Award nomination form. Any member of CREA, in good standing, who isn’t a member of CREA’s board of directors or its Environmental, Social, and Governance Committee can be nominated.

CREA is asking nominators to send in inspiring stories of REALTORS® who go above and beyond to make an impact. Nominators will need to complete the nomination form, providing a history of the REALTOR®’s charitable work and highlighting the positive difference this REALTOR® is making in their community.

Alongside the nomination form, nominators need to submit at least one letter of recommendation obtained in the past year from a representative of a registered charity supported by the nominee. They also need to include at least one piece of supporting documentation which can be but is not limited to media coverage, photographs or social media posts.

Since 2016, nine REALTORS® across five provinces have been honoured with the Canadian REALTORS Care® Award. Whether their impact was made through transformative volunteering, advocacy, fundraising or philanthropy, every recipient has embodied the REALTORS Care® spirit.

The 2023 recipient, Dale Devereaux, has been finding ways to support the city of Red Deer, Alberta, since moving to the community in the 1980s. Devereaux partnered with the Red Deer Food Bank to feed close to 30,000 central Albertans over the past 25 years, through his “Feed a Family at Christmas” campaign. He also played a key role in bringing a Ronald McDonald House to his community — finding the land the house now sits on and helping to raise a staggering $12.1 million in 15 months for the facility’s construction.

• Devereaux was one of 48 REALTORS® nominated for the 2023 award. Through the new REALTORS Care® Spotlight series, CREA has and will continue to share the impactful stories of some of these nominees, including:
• Chris Dunlop, of Toronto, Ontario, who has led multi-million-dollar capital campaigns for local youth centres, all while motivating his brokerage to become a national leader in fundraising for the Royal LePage Shelter Foundation.
• Brenda MacKenzie, of Halifax, Nova Scotia, who founded “A Home for Everyone”, to support the city’s unhoused population, over a decade ago. She now uses the non-profit to help families in need find and finance a safe place to call home.
• Rose Iannacchino, of Niagara Falls, Ontario, who spends countless hours creating access to healthy and affordable food for the most vulnerable members of her community, as the volunteer co-executive director of GROW Community Food Literacy Centre.

The recipient of the Canadian REALTORS Care® Award 2024 will be announced at CREA’s Annual General Meeting, in April 2024, and their story will be shared across the country. In addition to receiving national recognition and coverage, CREA will donate $5,000 to the recipient’s favourite charity.

Each nominee may have the opportunity to have their impact featured as part of next year’s REALTORS Care® Spotlight series. Nominees asked to be featured will be contacted by CREA’s REALTORS Care® team, in early 2024.

Nominations must be submitted by 4 p.m. EST on Friday, December 1. For full details, and to nominate a deserving REALTOR®, go to REALTORSCare.ca/nominate.

The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) is announcing that nominations are now open for the Canadian Realtors Care Award 2024, presented by Realtor.ca. 

The annual award celebrates and acknowledges the efforts of realtors who have made significant contributions to their communities.

Since its inception in 2016, this national award program has recognized nine realtors across five provinces. 

2023 recipient 

Last year’s recipient was Dale Devereaux of Red Deer, Alta. His volunteer efforts include partnering with the Red Deer Food Bank, where he helped provide meals to nearly 30,000 Albertans through the “Feed a Family at Christmas” campaign. Additionally, Devereaux played a pivotal role in bringing a Ronald McDonald House to his community, actively participating in the search for an ideal location and helping to raise a remarkable $12.1 million within 15 months for the construction of the facility.

Submitting a nomination

To submit a nomination, you will need to provide a thorough history of your nominee’s community work, at least one letter of reference from a registered charity and supporting documentation, such as (but not limited to) media coverage, photos or social media posts.

The recipient of the Canadian Realtors Care Award 2024 will be unveiled at CREA’s Annual General Meeting scheduled for April 2024. This recipient’s favourite charity will also receive a $5,000 donation. 

All nominations must be received by Dec. 1, 2023, at 4 p.m. EST to be considered. Click here to learn more about the award and nominate a realtor.