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Alberta Online Encyclopedia

Grande Prairie Real Estate Board

The Grande Prairie Real Estate Board serves over 250 REALTORS® in the Peace Region including Grovedale, Manning, Hythe, High Prairie, Peace River, Fairview, Beaverlodge, Sexsmith, Valleyview, and Fahler. The Board is located in the City of Grande Prairie, the economic capital of the Peace Region. The Grande Prairie Real Estate Board’s website can be accessed here.

When the board was officially incorporated on April 17 th, 1963, it was known as the Peace River District Real Estate Board Co-operative Listing Bureau. At the time, Grande Prairie had just become a city and a new oil refinery was bringing prosperity to the region. With economic prosperity having come to Grande Prairie, the city’s real estate professionals, along with the real estate professionals in surrounding areas, began to look for a way to gain recognition and respectability for their profession. A group of real estate professionals met on June 26, 1962 at the York Hotel in Grande Prairie, with Paul Evashkevich chairing the meeting. They began to organize the Peace River District Real Estate Board, modeling it off the Edmonton Real Estate Board. On October 19, the first general meeting was held and the board members were elected with Paul Evashkevich as president, R.F. Swanston as vice-president, and G.R. McKie as Secretary-Treasurer.

The Peace River District Real Estate Board was not official until the constitutions and bylaws were adopted on April 17 of 1963. The Board was active as a Multiple Listings Service provider for real estate professionals in the region. However, when Grande Prairie’s oil refinery ceased operations, crops began to fail, and the city did not get its pulp mill, the regional economy began to suffer, as did the real estate industry. MLS activity plummeted to the point that the Peace River District Real Estate Board Co-operative Listing Bureau could no longer provide the service. When the MLS operations were suspended in 1964, many of the original members left, and the Peace River District Real Estate Board continued without the service for ten more years.

On August 29 th of 1975, the Peace River District Real Estate Board’s named was changed to the Grande Prairie Real Estate Board Co-operative Listing Bureau.

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