The Empire Club of Canada
Thursday, May 25, 2023
The Empire Club of Canada Presents:
Housing Affordability and Supply: How Governments Can Help
With interest rates at the highest levels in more than a decade, Canadians are facing real challenges in the housing market. All levels of government can help ensure the dream of homeownership remains available to Canadians. We’re going to talk about how.
Join the Empire Club for a panel discussion with Lauren van den Berg, CEO and President of Mortgage Professionals Canada; Doug Porter, Chief Economist at BMO Financial Group and Tim Hudak, CEO and President of OREA on this issue that impacts all Canadians.
*The content presented is free of charge but please note that the Empire Club of Canada retains copyright. Neither the speeches themselves nor any part of their content may be used for any purpose other than personal interest or research without the explicit permission of the Empire Club of Canada.*
*Views and Opinions Expressed Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the speakers or panelists are those of the speakers or panelists and do not necessarily reflect or represent the official views and opinions, policy or position held by The Empire Club of Canada.*
Tim Hudak is the CEO of the Ontario Real Estate Association, Canada’s largest provincial real estate industry association representing 96,000 REALTORS®. He joined OREA in 2016.
With a passion and voice for championing the dream of home ownership, Tim came to OREA following a distinguished 21-year career in politics, including five years as Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario.
In his role, Tim has focused on transforming OREA into Ontario’s most cutting-edge professional association at the forefront of advocacy on behalf of REALTORS® and consumers, and providing world-class conferences, standard forms, leadership training and professional guidance to its Members.
Under his leadership, the Association has attracted some of the most influential people to speak at their conferences, had historic wins in advocacy, including the passage of the Trust in Real Estate Services Act (TRESA) in 2020, and demonstrated strong thought leadership in the real estate industry.
As part of his work at OREA, Tim was named one of the most powerful people in North American residential real estate by Swanepoel Power 200 for the last five years. In 2021, he was also named to the Government of Ontario’s new Housing Affordability Taskforce, which will explore measures to address housing affordability and job creation.
Tim is married to Deb Hutton, and together they have two daughters, Miller and Maitland. In his spare time, Tim enjoys trails less taken on his mountain bike or hiking shoes as well as grilling outdoors.
Douglas Porter has over 30 years of experience analyzing global economies and financial markets. As Chief Economist at BMO Financial Group, he oversees the macroeconomic and financial market forecasts and co-authors the firm’s weekly flagship publication, Focus. Mr. Porter manages the team that has won numerous forecasting awards. Most recently, his team took the #1 spot in the StarMine Awards for Most Accurate Forecasters for Canada in 2022. Also, Douglas led the team to a #2 ranking for Top U.S. Forecaster among 53 global firms in the 2022 Focus Economics Survey.
As a respected commentator on economic and financial trends, he is regularly quoted in the national press and often interviewed on radio and television.
Douglas’ career began at the Bank of Canada; then, before joining BMO, he held the positions of Economist and Country Risk Analyst with other Canadian financial institutions.
He has been a member of C.D. Howe’s Monetary Policy Council since 2008 and serves on the Investment Management Committees of the Bank of Montreal’s Canada Pension Plan and Western’s Endowment Fund.
Douglas Porter, CFA, earned a Master’s degree in Economics from the University of Western Ontario.
Elaine Taylor is a trailblazing leader in the Canadian housing industry with over four decades of experience. Currently serving as the President of Mortgage Alliance, she became the first female president of a national mortgage network/brand and was inducted into the Canadian Mortgage Hall of Fame in 2022.
Elaine held various leadership positions in both the real estate/relocation industry and mortgage industry and has been an active member and leader on the industry’s associations’ boards and committees. She also coached many industry members and through her leadership and mentoring, she has inspired and paved the way for many women to become leaders in the industry as well.
Elaine’s extensive career in the industry began in residential real estate relocation, where she built her reputation on hard work and strategic thinking. In 2005, she joined HLC (part of CIBC) as a Sales Leader, where she quickly put together and led a strong team of mortgage agents. She is credited with helping pilot CIBC’s first mortgage retail specialist group, which expanded the bank’s market penetration and diversified its origination channels. Elaine recognized the potential and value of monoline lenders to support the broker market, which led her to join MCAP in 2007, where she spent the next 16 years of her career.
As a senior leader on MCAP’s executive team, Elaine championed broker-lender partnerships and was the architect of MCAP’s broker strategy. In 2022, Elaine took another leap in her career by joining the M3 Group and became the President of The Mortgage Alliance network, which has over 3000 mortgage professionals across Canada under its full-service and affiliate models.
Elaine has been involved in many of the mortgage industry’s associations and groups, including serving as a Director for Mortgage Professionals Canada (MPC), where she was elected to represent MPC members in Ontario in 2016. She went on to become MPC’s third female Chair in 2019/2020, leading the association through unknown and unprecedented challenges during the COVID pandemic. Elaine also held key roles at AMBA, the MPC Foundation Board, MPC Committees, and was a founding member of Women in the Mortgage Industry (WIMI).
Elaine’s passion for the mortgage industry and her commitment to advocating for it have driven her to tirelessly and cooperatively work to bring about both small and significant wins, contributing to the evolution of the industry and broker community. Her core values of team building, collaboration and hard work have helped her lead and inspire others to focus on growth and achievement.
Her contributions to the industry have not gone unnoticed, and she has received numerous accolades and awards for her leadership, including the Women in the Mortgage Industry (WIMI) Award of Recognition, was a three-time CMP Woman of Influence recipient, and was inducted into the Canadian Mortgage Hall of Fame in 2022.
Elaine Taylor is not only a successful businesswoman but also an avid traveler who enjoys travelling with family and friends, as well as exploring new places in the family’s motorhome. She also loves acquiring gadgets especially kitchen appliances and in her downtime, she enjoys watching sappy movies and TV shows. As with many of us, she also enjoys great food and is a fan of shopping at COSTCO (who isn’t?).
Lauren started in federal politics in Montreal and built her career in the world of association management, Lauren has extensive experience in member relations and governance, advocacy, events, and the development of revenue-generation models for growth. She joined Mortgage Professionals Canada from Restaurants Canada, the national association advocating for a competitive and dynamic restaurant and foodservice industry in Canada. She was responsible for navigating the government relations and public affairs units through the COVID-19 pandemic and secured significant support for restaurants from both federal and provincial governments. Lauren has an M.A. in Public Policy from Carleton University in Ottawa and an Hons. B.A. in Economics and Political Science from McGill University in Montreal.
In her free time, she volunteers on several notable boards, including serving as vice-chair of VentureKids Canada. She also volunteered with the CJPAC Women in Politics Mentorship Program.