Free program helps introduce high school students to a career path in commercial real estate
CBC
An Edmonton-based program that helps introduce racialized high school students to the world of commercial real estate has expanded its reach to Calgary.
Andrel Wisdom, co-founder of the REET Institute, says his goal is to create more diversity in commercial real estate spaces, so he's helping lead a program to connect students with mentors and education.
"What we try to do is create this program that gives an immersive experience into commercial real estate so that people can, from a young age, have an opportunity to plan and strategically get themselves involved in the space," Wisdom said in an interview with CBC Radio program, The Calgary Eyeopener.
Wisdom says the program opens the doors for young people to "intentionally find the space," introducing them to new career avenues they haven't explored before.
"I think the story for a lot of commercial real estate professionals is that they end up just falling into the industry."
The REET Institute says the free, eight-week program specializes in "introducing BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Colour) high school students in Edmonton and Calgary to commercial real estate."
Participants will attend both virtual and in-person classes and workshops, plus network with professionals in the field.
And there's also an opportunity for students to compete for prizes. Upon completing the course, students will get a chance to present commercial real estate pitches to a panel of industry experts to showcase what they've learned.
The REET Institute launched its first iteration of the program just over two years ago in Edmonton. The program has now expanded, and saw its third cohort of Calgary students over the weekend.
Yorgi Ingabire is a Grade 12 student from Edmonton who recently participated in the program.
"I've always known I wanted to go into business, but I was never sure exactly what area of business I was going [to go] into," said Ingabire. "Once I did the REET Institute, I was like, 'OK, real estate might be a good opportunity.'"
He'll be graduating this year, and plans on heading into a post-secondary business program with a few other friends who have also taken the REET Institute's two-month course.
Ingabire added that students also got the opportunity to learn more about the financial components of real estate.
"We talked to a banker and he was like, 'This is how much of a loan I can give you, you need this much money,'" he said. "It became more real, and that made it so much more fun."
More than 1,000 Maritime Electric customers are without power after high winds blew across the Island Friday night into Saturday.
The Supreme Court of Canada is deliberating a case that could shape the way sentences are handed down in cases where both the offender and victim are Indigenous, which some Nunavut lawyers say could have ramifications for the Inuit-majority territory.
A man barricaded in a former church in Welland, Ont., was taken into custody early Saturday, nearly 24 hours into a standoff that began over a fence dispute.
Peel police are investigating after a Friday night shooting in Mississauga left one person dead, police said.
Another busy construction season has come to an end in London, and the city is already looking ahead to next spring when a slew of new projects are expected to begin.
Prime Minister Mark Carney has begun to lay out publicly what he sees as boundaries when dealing with China, as his government wades into a new relationship with the economic giant.
Ferry crossings are cancelled and over a thousand households are left without power Saturday morning, due to high winds and severe weather conditions.
Tens of thousands of Nova Scotia Power customers are waking up without power on Saturday morning after high winds and rain hit the province on Friday night.
Statistics Canada is reporting a population decrease last quarter for New Brunswick — its largest quarterly decline since the 1970s, according to an economic development consultant.
Residents clapped, danced, sang and cried in the Anishinaabe community of Kitcisakik this week when the lights were finally turned on for the first time.
A man is suing three members of a Winnipeg family and a real estate broker he alleges used his intellectual disability to financially exploit him through property deals in Canada and India, leaving him out hundreds of thousands of dollars.
When Stephanie Gamble watched her mother model the first dress she made, smiling wide and walking an imaginary runway, she knew that was what she wanted to keep doing in her life.
'Tis the season for cuddling on the couch with a cup of hot chocolate and watching holiday movies. And for people in B.C.'s Interior, that can increasingly mean seeing their home communities on display.