In Canada’s north, it’s cold enough by Halloween that trick-and-treaters are already in snowsuits.

Bundling up in layers is de rigueur for adults and kiddos alike. “If you look good, you’re probably cold,” quips Kim Knutson, who’s been president of the Northwest Territories Association of Realtors (NWTAR) for the past four years. 

Knutson is pleased to report that recently, the NWTAR succeeded in its push to be upgraded to membership in the Canadian Real Estate Association as a territorial association. This carries more voting clout than its previous designation as a local association member. 

“Now we get two votes at the annual general meeting,” says Knutson. 

 While that doesn’t sound like much, it’s double what it was.

Here’s the thing. The real estate association for the NWT has under 25 members across less than a handful of brokerages, according to Knutson. Among the latter is the Re/Max office she opened in the capital city of Yellowknife several years ago. 

 

Population, prices, and housing market challenges

 

The reality is that all three of Canada’s northern territories have extremely low population density. The NWT, home to about 46,000 people (half of them in Yellowknife), lags behind the Yukon but ahead of Nunavut in terms of numbers. NWT is not in danger of overcrowding any time soon, except in its homeless shelters, which are reported to be in dire need of long-term solutions. 

Averaging around $540,000, home prices in the NWT are high, as is the cost of living. (Knutson recalls her alarm at receiving a $700 heating bill her first month in Yellowknife).  Inventory is low, often coming up against issues including land rights claims and restrictive government policies. But the housing market overall is doing well and is currently reasonably balanced, in Knutson’s observation.   

“There’s a lot of opportunity, like an old frontier town. There’s a young, active community. It’s a great place to raise kids.” 

 

Unique homes and remote realities

 

The homes themselves can be unique and full of character, she adds. “There’s a lot of modular/trailer housing; a lot of military coming and going; a lot of young people trying out the North; a lot of new Canadians. We don’t have cookie-cutter neighbourhoods.”

There are plenty of far-flung settlements, and among the challenges facing agents is selling homes in remote communities they’ve never seen, Knutson explains.        

In her role as NWTAR president, occasional conflict is unavoidable. Late 2023 was particularly newsworthy for the pint-sized association in this regard. It got slapped with a Competition Bureau ruling and entered into a consent agreement to resolve concerns around anti-competitive membership practices stemming from denying membership to licensed agents who wished to compete remotely in the NWT.

Explains Knutson: “We had a mandate that agents had to live in Yellowknife to sell real estate here. We rectified that quickly. We’d thought we were protecting the integrity of our industry.”  

 

Collaborating with Alberta

 

In helping the association move forward from this setback and modernize practices, Knutson believes that one of her best decisions was reaching out to the much larger neighbouring Alberta Real Estate Association (AREA) for assistance and collaboration. 

“They’re now our executive officer. We have access to their vast library of courses and education, and are updating bylaws and adapting their forms.” She expects there will be member pushback but she’s undeterred.  

“Our forms are from the 1990s. We really need to up our game.”

Limited by size, NWTAR previously struggled with managing bylaws, professional development, ethics complaints, impartial disciplinary processes, strategic planning and the like. Now it mirrors Alberta’s processes, explains Knutson.

“We’ve accomplished so much.”

She considers herself a progressive leader and is grateful for the helping hand of the Alberta association’s Kate Bailey, who now provides NWTAR’s executive officer services. “She’s the wind beneath my wings.”

Responds Bailey: “Kim has led with clarity and professionalism.”

 

Personal journey and resilience

 

Initially from Vancouver, Knutson has lived in Yellowknife for almost 30 years. A grandmother of two, she has no plans to leave. In her early days there, though, she was overwhelmed with homesickness. She began to appreciate NWT more (“such a lovely sense of community, such magical bright blue skies”) once she began a federal government job in IT support. 

She’s worked in real estate for the past decade (“I was 50 when I started”), doing her best to hold steady through both personal hardship and turbulent times.

In a move that could have been disastrous, she launched her Re/Max office in Yellowknife two weeks before the pandemic hit. (“If I’d known what was coming, I’m not sure I’d have gone ahead. I was running on adrenaline.”) She waited, using the downtime to get her systems in place. 

Several months later, her husband died suddenly from a burst aneurysm. “Due to lockdown, I couldn’t even go on the Medevac with him.” 

This horrendous experience woke her up to the realization that “all these things can be lurking under the hood.” From this sprang her philosophy about the importance of a life/work balance, which she’s managed to carry forward with her.

“Real estate can drag you through the wringer. I don’t have a sales quota for my agents. We’re not here to take over the world.”

Her advice to women in the business: “Stop being afraid to be in leadership roles. We don’t give ourselves enough credit for the knowledge we have.”

And for one and all, she has this tip. “Get your hardest tasks done early in the day so they don’t get ahead of you.”

As for her final observation on the Northwest Territories, it’s this:

 “I’m pretty sure we’re all vitamin D-deprived.”