By Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) and RFS Consulting

We need your voice

The evolution of the real estate industry in the wake of the pandemic is closely tied to the impacts of remote work. Our project focuses on research and communication on a wide variety of emerging topics related to remote work, such as those mentioned above.

We need your help to ask the right questions – and start hearing the answers. We are looking to connect with real estate professionals willing to share how telework has impacted their business, their approach, and their views.

Please join the research team at SAIT on Tuesday, November 22 from 3:30 pm to 5:30 pm for refreshments and a conversation on the impacts of remote work on the real estate industry in Alberta. Your opinion matters!

Please RSVP by November 20, 2022 to Alexandra Kodyra at Alexandra.Kodyra@sait.ca.

Identifying local trends around remote work in Alberta

There is an old chestnut in real estate (presumably from a lovely chestnut tree in a large backyard near a good school): it’s all about ‘location, location, location’. To which we would like to add: location (of your work).

As we all know all too well, telework (aka work-from-home, remote work, hybrid work) took root during the many waves of the Covid pandemic. In 2021, Statistics Canada reported that 32% of Canadians were working from home and a full 80% were interested in continuing this practice post-pandemic.

The shift to telework is a relatively new phenomenon and it is still uncertain to what degree it will become the norm, so we are hoping to identify some local trends and best practices happening in Alberta to inform future planning or sales strategies. At this point in time, determining the right questions to ask is as important as looking for answers.

That’s why SAIT and RFS Consulting set out to research the impacts of telework on the Alberta real estate industry. Earlier this year, we were fortunate to be awarded funding from the Alberta Real Estate Foundation for the Telework Impacts on the Real Estate Industry in Alberta project. It will investigate changes taking place in Albertan communities as more people work from home post-COVID with a focus on commercial & residential real estate market trends and related implications to suburban areas and downtown cores.

Why this research

Whether you are camp ‘telework’ or camp ‘get back to the office’, what seems clear nearing the end of 2022 is that telework is here to stay in some hybrid form. Telework is a hot topic as employers across Alberta struggle to strike the right balance between offering staff flexibility while fostering in-person relationship building.

And of course, where people work has a direct – and deep – impact on the real estate industry. It changes what companies and residents are looking for in homes and offices. It changes the customer-base of businesses in the downtown core and the amenities needed in suburban and urban communities. For real estate professionals, there are both challenges and opportunities.

If you have any comments or questions please contact Melanie Ross at Melanie.Ross@sait.ca.

This project was funded in 2021 as part of the Foundation’s one-time 30th Anniversary Legacy Grant Program: Telework Impacts on the Real Estate Industry in Alberta