OREA’s Advocacy Campaign Wins Prestigious Award

An advocacy campaign organized by the Ontario Real Estate Association (OREA) to stop the spread of the municipal land transfer tax beyond Toronto has won a gold ACE Award from the Canadian Public Relations Society, Toronto chapter. The campaign, “Say No to Another Home Owner Tax: Don’t Tax My Dream” was recognized in the category of Government Relations/Public Affairs Campaign of the Year.

“This award belongs to Ontario home buyers, who will keep over one billion dollars in their pockets annually as a result of the campaign,” says Ray Ferris, OREA president.  “And this award wouldn’t have been possible without the hard work, dedication and commitment of OREA staff and the agencies who assembled and executed the Don’t Tax My Dream campaign on a very aggressive schedule.”

The ACE (Achieving Communications Excellence) Awards celebrate Toronto’s talented and innovative public relations community for more than 20 years. The award was announced May 4 at an industry ceremony and gala awards dinner at the Arcadian Court, located in the Hudson Bay Company’s flagship Toronto location on Queen Street.

The goal of the campaign was to convince the provincial government not to allow the Municipal Land Transfer Tax (MLTT) to be levied by cities beyond Toronto and to raise awareness of the implications of another tax. The provincial government had been indicating that it would consider giving all Ontario municipalities the authority to levy the tax, which adds thousands of dollars to the cost of home buying.

The mass advocacy campaign – featuring a consumer website and video, a news media blitz, radio ads, social media, grassroots advocacy and a call to action – was launched over the past year. All of the efforts culminated in December 2015, when the provincial government announced publicly that it would not permit the expansion of the MLTT beyond Toronto. Staff at OREA worked with the government relations and public relations agency of Counsel Public Affairs Inc. and the marketing agency of Ryan Edwards Communications on the campaign.

For more information on the ACE Awards or the Toronto chapter of the Canadian Public Relations Society, visit www.cprstoronto.com and click on “Awards”.

For more details on the advocacy campaign, visit “Government Relations” or www.DontTaxMyDream.ca.

About OREA

The Ontario Real Estate Association represents 64,000 brokers and salespeople who are members of the 40 real estate boards throughout the province. OREA serves its REALTOR® members through a wide variety of professional publications, educational programs, advocacy, and other services.