On Tuesday, November 15, 2016 the BCIT School of Business Fall Scholarships Awards Ceremony was held at the Willingdon Church in Burnaby. REIBC was invited to present the Bob Mikitka Memorial Award. Executive Officer, Brenda Southam was pleased to present a cheque in the amount of $887 to this year’s recipient, student member Dustin Kuzik.

Student members Chloe Hamelin, Hayden Ferrill, Lucas Raynor, Brittany Co, Richard Taunton, Isaac Foord and Chase Westersund were also recognized by others at the event.

Rodney Sytsma graduated from the BCIT Real Estate Association in May 2016. During his tenure in the program he served as the VP Finance for the BCIT Real Estate Association. He has since begun his career in commercial real estate at CBRE as a Research Analyst. He is expected to transition into a brokering position by Q3 2017.

Rodney was drawn to this industry for opportunities that are affordable to those willing to work hard and make sacrifices. He thrives on constantly growing his market knowledge and industry insights to provide value in an ever-changing marketplace.

One of Rodney’s goals is to earn a trusted reputation in the industry based on his integrity, knowledge, and determination in an ever-changing marketplace.

I started my career quite early because my Dad was a contractor and I spent much of my youth hanging around construction sites. I attended UBC completing the Bachelor of Commerce in Real Estate and have worked in various sectors of the real estate industry ever since. I am currently the President & CEO of the Land Title and Survey Authority of BC - and pretty recent in the role; I started at the end of January 2016. In this role, I learn about a different facet of the real estate industry and serve various stakeholders and customers in an organization that plays a critical role in the successful functioning of the real estate market; and the people are fun too!

My current goal at the LTSA is that I’d like to see the real estate industry and public make use of the ParcelMap BC.

It’s a province-wide, electronic map of active titled and surveyed provincial Crown land parcels that is available now (at no cost) through my LTSA Enterprise and my LTSA explorer. All regions in BC will be covered by ParcelMap by June 2017; we have just begun the process to reimage the electronic filing of land title applications to improve the customer experience.

I am from a large family! I have seven brothers and sisters with just over 9 years between the oldest and the youngest. I am right in the middle, so I guess you could say I’ve learned coping skills from a young age! Every year I do an “adventure trip” in the outdoors. This year, I went Kayaking in Haida Gwaii! Other years’ adventures included multi-day hikes, mountain climbing, cycling etc. Anything that gets me outside and is physically challenging makes me smile! And, I have a goal to consistently break 95 at golf!

After graduating from BCIT with a Diploma in Landscape and Horticulture I worked briefly for the BC Ministry of Forests at the Skimikin Forestry Nursery near Salmon Arm. I relocated back to the Coast and started with the Agricultural Land Commission. My role as a Research Officer brought travel throughout the Province and the responsibility of providing technical support to the Commission in their adjudication of Agricultural Land Reserve non-farm use and exclusion applications.

Around this time I started part-time studies at SFU working towards my Bachelor Degree in Geography. However, wishing to further expand my educational and employment opportunities I took a 10-month leave of absence from the Commission and completed both an accelerated Diploma in Business Management (specialty Marketing) and the Canadian Securities Course.

I rejoined the Land Commission and returned to SFU (part time); got married in 1990 and completed my degree in 1991. I left Commission in early 1992 and started my career with the City of Burnaby. I initially worked as a Use Coordinator but transitioned to the management of their diverse and extensive commercial and residential real estate portfolio. In 2006 I completed my Diploma in Urban Land Economics (Property Management) through the Sauder School of Business.

I have held my RI designation for more than 10 years and still love real estate and my job with the City. Unfortunately, my husband passed away in 2006 when our son was 10. He is now 20 and a business student. He shares my love of travelling and classic rock music and has given me a great appreciation for baseball – his other passion. Now if I could just interest him in gardening!

The REIBC continues to receive updates on the great wishes that are being granted by
the Make-A-Wish Foundation of BC & Yukon as a result of many charitable donations, including dollars from REIBC's Charity Golf Tournament. We received the following email from it's CEO Ross Hetherington.

Dear Friends of Make-A-Wish,

Yancy’s wish to travel to Iceland came true because of you!

Each wish that you help us grant carries the wish child and their family from a place of uncertainty to a place of hope.

Here is Yancy’s Circle of Joy wish story with our heartfelt gratitude for helping us share the magic of a wish with so many inspiring kids throughout our province.

It is our hope that you will share it with your groups, teams, employees & friends.

We grant wishes because wishes change lives. We could not say ‘yes’ to so many inspiring children without your support. From all of us at Make-A-Wish, but especially from our wish kids, thank you for helping us share the power of a wish®.

Ross and the Make-A-Wish BC&YK Team

For over 3 years REIBC has been involved with the BC Law Institute and their work on stratas. The following is the latest of consultation papers they have created. If you are interested in commenting on Complex Stratas please use the links below to make your comments.

Consultation Paper on Complex Stratas:

The British Columbia Law Institute began work on the Strata Property Law Project–Phase 2 in summer 2013. This consultation is the second published during the project. It deals with three legal devices for addressing concerns raised by complex stratas: (1) sections, which allow for the creation of mini strata corporations; (2) types, which allow for the allocation, to specific strata lots, of expenses paid for out of a strata corporation’s operating fund; and (3) phases, which allow for the development of strata properties in segments over an extended period of time.

Have Your Say!

The consultation on Complex Stratas will remain open until 15 January 2017. There are two ways to participate: complete our short Summary Consultation or weigh in with greater depth using our Response Booklet.

Download document (3184 KB)

The British Columbia Law Institute is pleased to announce that Brent Olthuis of the Vancouver law firm Hunter Litigation Chambers has joined the BCLI Board of Directors as a Member at Large.

REIBC congratulates Mr. Olthuis and wishes him well.