by G. Sax, Head of Communications, RESO
This week’s interview is with Éric Charbonneau, President at Centris in Montréal, Quebec. We chatted about the Canadian perspective of what RESO should be working on right now, maintaining excitement and a sense of purpose during a lengthy career, and the decades-long lack of NHL Stanley Cups by teams from Canada. Enjoy!
Q1: Centris has been consistently represented at RESO conferences for many years, out ahead of the curve for non-U.S. representation, including recently helping with RESO’s Working with Real Estate – Canada (RED-CA) course. Why is it important to you to support RESO data standards, and do you see a critical need that RESO should be addressing right now?
Éric: Obviously, it is super important for us to have standards. Collaboration is very important and valuable. For us, it’s a philosophical point of view. Brokerages must collaborate for their clients to buy and sell homes. As an organization, we should practice what we preach. If you’re not doing that, there’s something critically wrong at the heart of your organization.
If you want your mandates to move forward, you need to get involved. Criticism is fine, but you shouldn’t only criticize if you are not really participating in positive outcomes. At Centris, we find that collaboration enables our growth.
There is also a practical component to our collaboration. As a country, the industry in Canada is one-tenth the population of the U.S. If we’re going to expand our technology business, we have to get involved in net-positive outcomes. We have to do it for real, not just talk about it.
A critical need that we see for RESO is international expansion, and I think that you are on the right path. International standards are very important for us, because we’re in Canada, plus we have customers in Europe, the Caribbean and the U.S. Not just being North Americentric is super critical to get standards implanted throughout the world.
I can understand why people who are very focused on their specific markets would question this, given that all real estate is local. It’s good that people challenge that, and we might even agree with some of this notion.
But on the standards side – that’s most important. I don’t know why anyone would disagree with expanding the standard. I would prefer that an organization like RESO takes a leadership role. There might be hits and misses, but it’s better to try than not try at all.
Q2: You have been at Centris for nearly 20 years and involved with MLSs and real estate boards for 35 years. That’s a long time. What keeps you excited and motivated from day to day at this point in your career?
Éric: It went by just like this [snaps finger].
I have been lucky enough to be able to create my own job and future in this industry, and I still feel like I’m building. If the time comes when I don’t feel like I’m building, I will quit. And I’ve never been scared of quitting. If you’re afraid of quitting, you are probably operating from a place of comfort or in a holding pattern.
If you’re in a mode where you are trying to succeed, it will propel you forward. Take some risks, move the needle, lean on your role models and then build your own model.
From my first day on the job, I was asking, “What’s next?” Building, building – that’s what motivates me. We built the number one business-to-consumer portal in our world. We build product bridges to other provinces and countries. We are aggressive in building the customer journey of the future, and we believe that we can support consumer and industry success into the future.
Companies like Zillow have similar roadmaps built with consumers in mind. Conceptually, we believe that we have something different. And “different” is better than “better.” If we’re building the same thing, what’s the point?
So we are in expansion mode into more European and North American markets. We have built two great solutions, and we hope that others will use them. More revenue equals more success for everyone!
Q3: Adding to the indignity of Team USA winning a gold medal vs. Canada in the 2026 Winter Olympics, no Canadian team has won the coveted Stanley Cup since the Montréal Canadiens hoisted it in 1993. Will the Montréal Canadiens, or any Canadian team for that matter, ever win the Cup again, and if it is not the Canadiens, could you imagine yourself cheering for any Canadian team to win it?
Éric: Yes, at the end of the day, I would cheer for another Canadian team. Montréal has the best chance in the near future. Edmonton is right there, but after two years in a row of losing the Stanley Cup final, they are at make-or-break time.
Like with any company, what makes a difference is the leadership, and I believe that the Montréal Canadiens have the leadership right now. We may have fallen just short in 2026, but we’re winning the Stanley Cup by 2029!
Three Questions is a lighthearted interview series that features real estate industry professionals, their businesses and how they interact with real estate standards.
