The business process behind managing real estate trust accounts has yet to catch up with the industry’s rate of innovation. The current method for managing trust accounts (numbering almost 1800 in British Columbia) requires a substantial amount of administrative effort from financial institutions and managing brokers. In addition, the deposits are difficult to forecast and account for at any one time, due to the fragmentation of trust accounts across multiple financial institutions and brokerages.
The Real Estate Foundation of British Columbia (REFBC) and the Alberta Real Estate Foundation (AREF) have partnered with Platform Calgary - whose goal is to empower and advance technology startups - to find efficiencies in western Canada’s real estate trust account process.
The first phase of the partnership will bring real estate industry partners together for a discovery workshop. Insights from the workshop will inform the design of an innovation lab. An innovation lab is a platform for industry to collaborate and experiment on new ideas that can be tested and iterated on quickly. The Real Estate Innovation Lab will convene around the central questions: How can we leverage people and technology to create a streamlined trust account process that is fit for the future?
The workshop is an opportunity for a variety of actors to collaborate on an industry wide challenge, while engaging with peers from across the real estate industry. Participants include:
- Real estate brokers
- Financial institutions
- Government
- Law firms
- Real estate foundations
By the end of the session participants will have:
- Explored barriers and opportunities for addressing the trust account challenge well
- Collectively explored what success looks like for a trust account workflow
- Collectively generated and reviewed solutions that are most suited for taking collaborative action
- Built a better understanding of how to collaborate as a group of diverse stakeholders by practicing a collaborative (lab) approach, exploring technology-driven solutions to support the modernization of the real estate trust account process
Facilitated by The Natural Step, the workshop agenda will include discussions, activities and lunch.
Agenda:
10:30 AM - Networking and Registration
11:00 AM - Introduction
11:25 AM - Exploring The Challenge (and Related Opportunities)
1:00 PM - Lunch (Provided)
1:45 PM - A Closer Look: Innovating the Trust Fund Workflow Challenge in a "Rapid-Lab"
3:45 PM - Short Break
4:00 PM - Priorities for Action
4:45 PM - Next Steps and Closing Remarks
5:00 PM - Workshop Close
Date: Monday March 2, 2020
Location: Morris J Wosk Centre for Dialogue, 580 W Hastings St, Vancouver, BC V6B 5K3
If you are unable to attend the Real Estate Industry Workshop, please pass the invitation onto your designate or appropriate contact(s).
