Advancing DEIA Through Shared Learning in 2025 and Beyond
CREA’s key takeaways.
Executive orders issued in 2025 by the U.S. federal government have rolled back diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racism (DEIA) initiatives across many American workplaces, schools, and public institutions. These developments have sparked important conversations in Canada about how and why we define, protect, and advance these values in our own organizations and communities.
Why does it matter?
Recent findings from The Diversity Institute demonstrate that inclusion continues to drive innovation, performance, and organizational resilience. With Canada’s increasingly diverse population, DEIA is not something to shy away from.
At the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), we see this moment as an opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to fostering a diverse, equitable, inclusive, and anti-racist environment for our employees, volunteers, and members. We view DEIA work not only as a strategic imperative, but as a core responsibility of a national association that represents a diverse membership of REALTORS® serving an equally diverse Canadian population.
CREA continues to take meaningful steps to advance DEIA through collaboration, shared learning, and accountability.
Supporting the REALTOR® association community
Launched in 2024, CREA’s DEIA Community of Practice brings staff from boards and associations across the country together who are working to build more inclusive workplaces, leadership structures and member services.
In 2025, CREA partnered with Canadian DEIA consultancy, CultureAlly, to deliver a four-part national workshop series tailored to the needs of this community.
What CREA has been learning
Each session was designed to support boards and associations in building inclusive practices across leadership, operations, and member engagement. The series offered space to reflect on emerging challenges, explore practical strategies, and strengthen DEIA capacity at both individual and organizational levels. While the sessions explored big-picture themes, they also offered practical tools and ideas that can be adapted to a variety of organizational contexts.
Here are CREA’s key takeaways from each session.
Why DEIA matters in the current political climate
The first session explored how DEIA is being framed and debated in today’s public discourse and how association leaders can stay grounded in their long-term commitments. Common sources of DEIA backlash were discussed, as well as strategies to build understanding and support across leadership teams, staff, and members. For example, the group discussed how integrating DEIA into strategic planning, rather than treating it as a standalone initiative, can help embed inclusion into long-term priorities and foster shared accountability.
Key Takeaways
- Integrating DEIA into strategic plans strengthens alignment and resilience.
- Framing DEIA as values-driven work—not politics—helps sustain engagement.
- Ongoing education and dialogue build understanding and reduce polarization.
Unconscious Bias
This session focused on the everyday ways bias shows up in the workplace: from hiring and performance evaluations to team dynamics and communication. The group explored practical ways to recognize and interrupt bias, such as regularly pausing to reflect on their own assumptions before making decisions, creating psychologically safe environments for open dialogue, and involving diverse voices in hiring and evaluation processes.
Key takeaways
- Everyone has biases; progress comes from awareness and action.
- Reflection and empathy are critical tools for addressing bias.
- Creating psychologically safe spaces helps people learn and grow together.
Inclusive Leadership
The third session explored what inclusive leadership looks like in practice, and how it can strengthen both team culture and decision-making. The group was introduced to the “6 Cs” of inclusive leadership, each offering a lens to lead with greater intention and inclusivity: commitment, courage, cognizance, curiosity, cultural intelligence, and collaboration.
Practical applications included seeking out perspectives that differ from one’s own, ensuring all voices are heard in meetings, and modeling openness and curiosity in moments of disagreement. These principles helped frame inclusion as a leadership skill and offered tangible ways to lead with more awareness, adaptability, and intentionality in day-to-day work.
Key takeaways
- Inclusive leadership is active. It requires courage, curiosity, and consistency.
- Listening deeply and inviting diverse perspectives leads to better decisions.
- Modeling inclusion builds trust, engagement, and team effectiveness.
Building Inclusive Organizations
The final session turned from insight to action, with a focus on embedding inclusion into governance and long-term accountability. The group explored how governance practices—like board and committee composition, onboarding, and policy reviews—can help reinforce inclusive values. Participants also considered how DEIA can be embedded in member-facing work, from communications to event planning, and how organizations can integrate accountability through evaluation frameworks, ongoing learning, and alignment with strategic priorities.
Key takeaways
- Embedding DEIA into governance ensures inclusion is systemic, not symbolic.
- Accountability requires measurement, transparency, and continued learning.
- Aligning DEIA with strategy and operations sustains long-term impact.
These sessions offered more than tools or tactics. They solidified our belief that DEIA strengthens our organizations and member engagement, shapes internal culture, reflects our values, and supports the communities we serve.
Looking ahead to 2026
DEIA isn’t about reaching a finish line; it’s about ongoing learning, intentional action, and long-term commitment.
As we move into 2026, CREA remains committed to supporting this work, both within our own organization and across the REALTOR® association community. A follow-up roundtable session is planned for January where Community of Practice members will have the opportunity to share what they’ve learned and explore the challenges they’re currently navigating.
CREA is proud to be continuing this work and moving forward, together.
If you’re a board or association staff member interested in joining the Community of Practice, we’d love to hear from you. The next session is Wednesday, January 28, 2026. Please reach out to Abbey Unsworth (aunsworth@CREA.ca), CREA’s Sustainability and Social Impact Specialist, to get started.
