Julie Risi, Justin Risi, Vivian Risi and Michelle Risi own the Your Community Realty and Connect Realty labels and recently broke their partnership with Canadian-owned Royal LePage.RE/MAX Your Community Realty
At a moment of rising global tension, one of the country’s largest real estate brands is playing the Canada card as part of a strategy to keep more than 1,000 realtors from jumping ship to a U.S.-based company.
The Risi family, which owns Your Community Realty and Connect Realty labels, moved last week to break its partnership with one of Canada’s largest national real estate brands, Royal LePage Real Estate Services Ltd., (with more than 20,000 realtors) and instead join the American-owned Re/Max Canada banner, (with more than 25,000 realtors).
The move could be a response to a market facing a severe downturn in the number and value of home sales transactions. But Royal LePage chief executive officer Phil Soper made it political – and even a little personal – in a video posted online last Thursday in which he urged Your Community/Connect’s 1,200 agents to stay with Canadian-owned Royal LePage.
“I’ll be honest: I struggle to understand why, in today’s political and economic climate, any Canadian business owner would choose to align with an American brand,” Mr. Soper said in the video posted on YouTube.
In an interview, Mr. Soper said that the re-election of Donald Trump, with his aggressive talk of making Canada the 51st state, awakened national pride in this country, and that the “Buy Canadian” spirit extends from grocery and liquor stores to real estate companies.
“Our research shows Canadian consumers – at least before Trump 2.0 – paid very little attention to branding of a real estate agent; they chose agents based on who they were, not the real estate company,” said Mr. Soper.
He said that sentiment is shifting now, and while there are a number of U.S.-owned real estate brands operating in Canada, from Century21 to eXp, Re/Max is both the largest operator and perhaps the most American.
An ad from Royal LePage released in 2025 in response to U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs and references to Canada as the '51st state'.Royal LePage Real Estate Services Ltd.
“Their logo is red, white and blue: It’s rah-rah America. That never used to be a detriment. I think even before Trump 2.0, Canadians were souring on that,” said Mr. Soper.
Royal LePage Canada, founded in 1913 in Toronto, is owned by Bridgemarq Real Estate Services Inc., which is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange but is part-owned by Brookfield Asset Management, which lists on both the TSX and the New York Stock Exchange.
Re/Max, which was founded in 1973 in Denver, has offices in more than 100 countries and is also listed on the NYSE.
Don Kottick, president of Re/Max Canada, said part of the appeal for former Royal LePage broker-owner Vivian Risi and her children to move Your Community and Connect Realty brokerages over was the international focus of Re/Max, including access to the U.S. market where Royal LePage does not have an operational presence. But he rejected the idea that the switch is somehow a knock on Canada.
“I did expect a strong response; I didn’t expect it to get as nasty and as personal as it got,” said Mr. Kottick, who was born and raised in the Toronto region and was an executive at Royal LePage in the past.
Royal LePage’s CEO has appealed to patriotism after one of the company’s large brokerages decided to leave and join U.S.-owned Re/Max.Royal LePage Real Estate Services Ltd.
“Every single one of Re/Max’s franchise owners are Canadian. I’m Canadian,” said Mr. Kottick, adding that Mr. Soper had no grounds to suggest that Re/Max doesn’t understand Canadian real estate. “It’s not really a professional reaction. … It’s almost like an act of desperation and it’s really sad that’s his reaction.”
Realtors inside Ms. Risi’s companies seem torn by the way the switch happened. Plans were largely secret until the news exploded on social media on last week.
“I have a team of 30 agents within that brokerage, I think overall it’s been a mixed bag of feedback,” said Tyler McClay, who is so far staying with Re/Max.
He said Mr. Soper’s video “rubs me the wrong way.” But he also said he’s been fielding dozens of headhunting calls by brokerages looking to lure him away. As to the question of whether Re/Max is perceived as an American company, he said that’s just “a talking point and a distraction.”
Meanwhile, long-time realtor Sandra Jackson is one of a trickle of realtors who have left Risi-owned brokerages since the switch.
“I do not regard moving us realtors from Royal LePage to Re/Max as a lateral move,” said Ms. Jackson, who within a day of hearing the news swapped back to Royal LePage with Estate Realty Ltd. She’s one of about 20 realtors who have left Risi companies in recent days, according to records from the Real Estate Council of Ontario.
The president of Re/Max Canada rejected criticism from Royal LePage's Phil Soper, suggesting the move by Your Community Realty and Connect Realty was simply a sound business decision.Royal LePage Real Estate Services Ltd.
Ms. Jackson said she asked her top five clients what they thought of Re/Max and most identified it with the U.S. More generally, Ms. Jackson said she has never found what she regards as the culture of Re/Max to her liking: “I don’t want my name attached to it.”
According to some who stayed, part of the pitch from Re/Max was its commitment to investing in and employing new technologies, such as artificial intelligence.
Adam Nadler has been a realtor for a decade and is one of those staying. He said he found Mr. Soper’s appeal to nationalism “regrettable.”
“I don’t feel like I’m betraying Canada because my broker is changing. I’m all of the sudden not a patriot? That’s a ridiculous notion,” Mr. Nadler said. “At the end of the day, business is business.”
Mr. Soper remained unrepentant on his message and on his continuing fight to get some of the 1,200 agents to switch back to Royal LePage.
“It hurts when even one of the flock flies away, so when a whole bunch of them will, it gets you motivated,” he said.
Editor’s note: Captions describing Royal LePage advertising creative incorrectly said they were developed in response to the departure of Your Community Realty and Connect Realty labels, which had been Royal LePage partners, and incorrectly described the ads as new. The ads, released in 2025, were created in response to U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs and references to Canada as the "51st state". The article incorrectly stated that Royal LePage is part of Brookfield Asset Management. It is part-owned by Brookfield.