Congratulations to our Rental Housing Awards 2021 Winners and Finalists!

On May 4, 5 and 6, CFAA recognized the winners of its sixth National Rental Housing Awards Program. The winners included leading rental housing providers and suppliers.

CFAA thanks the many applicants, and judges, who made the CFAA Awards Program possible.

CFAA Awards Presentations

Day 1

Featuring: New Product or Service, New App, Best Product or Service (2018-2020), Suppliers Council Member, and Rental Housing Provider.

Day 2

Featuring: Property Manager, On-Site Employee, Resident Manager, Off-Site Employee, Rental / Operations Manager and Association Achievement.

Day 3

Featuring: Marketing Program Excellence, Renovation, and Rental Development.

Please join CFAA in congratulating this year’s CFAA Rental Housing Awards recipients:

Winner

Wyse Renovation Water Submetering Solution by Wyse Meter Solutions

“The sophistication of the Wyse Renovation Water Submetering Solution demonstrates WYSE’s ability to take ground-breaking technology and apply it to innovative uses in the utility/expense reduction space.”

Finalist:

  • Customer-facing digital user interface and expanded insurance product offerings by ZipSure Insurance Brokers Ltd.

Winner

SuiteSpot TRIMM™ Enhanced Property Operations Package by SuiteSpot Technology

“SuiteSpot’s TRIMM™ Enhanced Property Operations Package is a bold new addition to the mix of disruptive apps entering the apartment management space. Its easy-to-use interface and multilingual platform are a welcome nod to the increasingly diverse demographics served by Canada’s rental housing industry.”

Finalists:

  • Coinamatic CP Mobile App by Coinamatic Canada
  • GrydPark by Gryd

Winner

Wyse Renovation Water Submetering Solution by Wyse Meter Solutions

“With sustainability in mind, utility use and analysis is top of mind now more than ever.
Wyse Meter Solution offers flexible contracts across Canada that include financial reporting and assessment data that is easy for landlords to use.”

Finalist:

  • Inspector App by Property Vista

Winner

Wyse Meter Solutions

“The judges were impressed with Wyse’s full cycle approach, ensuring the benefits of their actions are experienced by all stakeholders including not only the Wyse corporation, but also residents, rental housing providers, their employees, and the environment. The triple bottom line focus demonstrates how WYSE leads, with People, Planet, and Profit at the core of their strategy. while taking into account all stakeholders, Wyse’s industry-specific focus sets Wyse apart from the competition, demonstrating what leaders in our industry can achieve for the benefit of many parties.”

Finalist:

  • ZipSure Insurance Brokers Ltd.

Winner

Hazelview Properties

“Hazelview Properties is leading by example with a holistic approach to community support and engagement. They have created a program to support rent payment, food provisions and mental health for their residents. Hazelview’s commitment to care truly shone through!”

Finalists:

  • Greenwin Corp.
  • Skyline Living

Winners

Drewlo Holdings and Greenrock Real Estate Advisors

“Drewlo’s unique rent-to-own program is a creative solution to the challenges renters face when seeking to transition to home ownership, and it rewards tenants for their loyalty. It is a Win-Win for Drewlo’s residents amid the current housing market!”

“Greenrock thoughtfully created a tenant support program that overturns many of the “standards” in property management, by retracting some AGI’s and using LMR towards current rent payment. All to support their residents in the midst of the pandemic. A very creative solution!”

Finalists:

  • Hollyburn Properties
  • X Living

Winner

Karolina Bagienski of Skyline Living

“Karolina’s can-do attitude and willingness to go the extra mile to overcome challenges set her apart. Karolina handled a large acquisition in a market far away from her company’s head office, in an extremely short-staffed situation. Karolina overcame numerous obstacles, built a great team and achieved significant success for Skyline Properties.”

Finalists:

  • Marc Blanchard of CAPREIT
  • Marlene Wilson of Killam Apartment REIT

Winner

Alex Bjork of Deveraux Group of Companies

“Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, Alex has been there for her residents. She has always taken the time to help her residents. Alex was able to direct residents in the right direction to access government assistance programs. She also created flexible payment plans that served the residents and her company.”

Finalists:

  • Grace Evans of CAPREIT
  • Susan Pribicevic of Greenwin Corp.
  • Robin Taylor of Killam Apartment REIT

Winner

Alex Falcon of Greenrock

“Not only did Alex shine for his customers through this pandemic, but he has also risen to the occasion to help and support his teammates. When one of his colleagues became ill, he was first to step up and help his fellow superintendent by taking over all of his duties.”

Finalists:

  • Maria Moreira of Hazelview Properties
  • Rose Sekaric of Greenwin Corp. (a joint submission with Hanard Investments Limited)

Winner

Kevin McIntosh of Skyline Living

“Kevin has shown exceptional commitment to his personal growth, and to the contributions he had made to his organization. He has a unique skillset that combines both practical on-site experience with strategic thinking. Kevin has a long list of accomplishments, including: vacancy strategies, utility consumption reduction, revenue maximization and helping tenants receive assistance. Kevin has also shown a deep understanding of tenant needs. His contributions have brought real and lasting change making his company more efficient and competitive.”

Finalists:

  • Donna Leblond of Sifton Properties
  • Heather Yamasaki of BentallGreenOak (Canada) GP Ltd.

Winner

Shelly Poulin of Hazelview Properties

“Shelly has stretched hard this year to find innovative solutions during a year filled with difficult challenges. She led the creation, launch and execution of tenant support programs that supported over 800 residents. She also led the national strategy for tenant and employee communications, while the health guidelines and government directions constantly changed. Shelly’s commitment to tenants and her fellow employees during the pandemic is admirable, and her energy and passion are contagious.”

Finalists:

  • Anuradha Bandara of CAPREIT
  • Laurissa Janssen of Deveraux Group of Companies

Winner

COVID-19 Response by LandlordBC

“The LandlordBC campaign looked at education and public interest over revenues for Landlord BC. Allowing free access to education programs, for all BC rental housing providers, will serve to improve the quality of property management in the short term and the long term. In addition, LandlordBC’s work with legal professionals to help landlords and tenants is not only a business solution, but also a positive public relations move.
CFAA congratulates Landlord BC for creating this wide-ranging and far-reaching program.”

Finalists:

  • Influencing Government Policymaking  by the Investment Property Owners Association of Nova Scotia
  • Campaign to end eviction suspension in Saskatchewan by the Saskatchewan Landlord Association

Winner

#GreenwinIsStillHome by Greenwin Corp.

“Greenwin understood the impact of the pandemic and created an innovative, virtual platform, giving their residents an opportunity to engage with one another. The events were interactive, fun and supported a community, not just apartments.”

Finalists:

  • Virtually Anything by Deveraux Group of Companies
  • Rent.Save.Own by Drewlo Holdings

Winners

250 Oakland Avenue by BlueStone Properties Inc. and

Black Friday Event by CAPREIT

“BlueStone was able to lease up the entire building before occupancy, with a simple yet well executed campaign using no financial incentives. Pre-leasing the entire building before occupancy resulted in incredible ROI.”

“CAPREIT had the most simple yet innovative campaign, leveraging the retail “BlackFriday” concept for leasing existing rental stock over the slow season. The small investment resulted in an incredible ROI.”

Finalists:

  • Hollyburn Gardens by Hollyburn Properties Limited
  • Carrington View Apartments by Skyline Living

Winner

Arts Residences by Hazelview Properties

“The judges were really impressed with the creativity used in the design of the renovations for the Arts Residences, and also the way hazelview dealt with the challenges they faced during renovations. They paid homage to the history of the building, as well as creating a very modern look and feel.”

Finalists:

  • 71 Thorncliffe Park Drive by Starlight Investments
  • Seaside Plaza by Hollyburn Properties Limited

Winner

The Westminster by Southwest Properties

“The Westminster project refreshed and enhanced the building while maintaining its vintage feel and historic spirit. The use of repurposed hardware and materials was creative, original, tasteful and sustainable.”

Finalists:

  • 35 Greenbrae Circuit by Starlight Investments
  • The Torontonian by Shiplake Properties

Winner

Seacrest Apartments by Starlight Investments

“We chose this renovation as the winner because with the permitting requirements, the turnaround time for 15 units was remarkable; the moderate cost was impressive considering the need for electrical work correcting a number of issues from previous unit splitting. As well, the final design was very pleasing.”

Finalists:

  • 2010 St. Johns Street by CAPREIT
  • 21 Parkland Drive by Killam Apartment REIT

Winner

Gateway Towns by North Prairie Developments Ltd.

“We were impressed that North Prairie pre-leased 100% during Covid19. Allowing tenants to use 15% of their rent as equity to purchase any North Prairie home is a great incentive (especially with high house prices and mortgage stress tests).
The townhome style is unique, and makes smart use of space, (with an oversized garage and large balcony), while addressing energy efficiency (including low water usage landscaping, and a smart watering system for grass). Cameras keep tenants accountable for exterior water usage and for garbage/waste.”

Finalists:

  • Luna at Aurora by Deveraux Group of Companies
  • Hollyburn Gardens by Hollyburn Properties Limited

Winner

The Lonsdale by Hollyburn Properties Limited and

Lillian Park by Shiplake Properties

“Both The Lonsdale (Hollyburn Properties Limited) and Lillian Park (Shiplake Properties) are impressive rental housing projects.
The urban design of The Lonsdale ties the structure in with its surroundings, and the amenities are second-to-none.
Lillian Park’s clever suite design and geothermal resident-controlled heating and cooling set the lead in our industry.”

Finalists:

  • Viridian West Fourteenth by BentallGreenOak (Canada) GP Ltd.
  • Helio by Sifton Properties