How ICIWorld Real Estate Networking Can Contribute to the GDP Economic Activity & Stronger Communities
INFORMATION • CONNECTIONS • TRANSACTIONS • JOBS • COMMUNITIES
How ICIWorld® Real Estate Networking Can Contribute to Economic Activity & Stronger Communities
Sometimes an Entire Chain of Economic Activity Can Begin With One Piece of Information Reaching the Right Person
ICIWorld helps registered real estate brokers and salespeople turn information into connections, connections into opportunities, and opportunities into transactions.
THE BIG IDEA
A Buyer Can Exist. A Seller Can Exist.
But They Still Have to Find Each Other.
But They Still Have to Find Each Other.
In today’s information economy, helping the right people discover the right opportunities at the right time is a valuable service.
🌐 Real Estate Begins With Information
A property may exist. A willing seller may exist. A qualified buyer may exist. The financing may be available. The professionals may be ready.
But if the right people cannot find each other, the transaction may never happen.
That is one of the fundamental purposes of real estate information networking.
ICIWorld has provided an Information Listing Service for real estate professionals since 1994, helping members communicate Haves and Wants, search for opportunities and make connections.
FROM INFORMATION TO ECONOMIC ACTIVITY
Information → Connection → Opportunity → Transaction
↓
Investment → Economic Activity → Jobs & Businesses
↓
Stronger Communities
↓
Investment → Economic Activity → Jobs & Businesses
↓
Stronger Communities
🤝 Where Does ICIWorld Fit?
ICIWorld does not build apartment buildings, shopping centres, office buildings, industrial buildings or homes.
We do something that can happen much earlier.
ICIWorld Helps Start the Connection.
One member may know a developer looking for land. Another may know an owner who would consider selling.
One member may Have an apartment building. Another may Have a qualified investor who Wants exactly that type of property.
One broker may know a business owner considering a sale. Another may know the buyer.
The opportunity may already exist. What may be missing is the connection.
🏗 Imagine One ICIWorld Land Connection
Imagine an ICIWorld member has a developer looking for land to build homes, apartments, a shopping centre, an industrial project or another development.
Another member knows an owner with suitable land.
The two professionals find each other through networking. The parties eventually reach an agreement and the land is sold.
One Piece of Information
↓
One Professional Connection
↓
One Real Estate Transaction
↓
Potentially Years of Economic Activity
The real estate sale may be completed—but the economic story may only be beginning.
👷 What Could Happen Next?
If that land is developed, many different people, businesses and professions may become involved:
✔ Architects
✔ Engineers
✔ Planners and development consultants
✔ Environmental consultants
✔ Lawyers and accountants
✔ Banks, lenders and financial professionals
✔ Excavation and site-preparation companies
✔ Construction companies
✔ Electricians
✔ Plumbers
✔ Carpenters
✔ Heating and air-conditioning contractors
✔ Concrete and steel suppliers
✔ Building-material suppliers
✔ Equipment rental companies
✔ Landscapers
✔ Leasing and property-management professionals
✔ Many other businesses, workers and suppliers
One real estate transaction can be connected to a much larger chain of economic activity.
🏢 Commercial Real Estate Can Create Many Different Opportunities
🏢 Office Building
Construction creates work for trades, suppliers and professionals. When completed, businesses have places to operate and people have places to work.
🛍 Shopping Centre
Development can create construction activity followed by stores, restaurants and services opening, employing people and serving customers.
🏘 Apartment Building
Construction creates employment and demand for materials. The completed building provides housing and ongoing work in property management, maintenance and services.
🏭 Industrial Property
Industrial real estate can provide facilities for manufacturing, warehousing, logistics, distribution and other employers.
🏡 Land for Housing
A land transaction can eventually become streets, houses, condominiums or apartments where people live and local businesses provide goods and services.
🏪 Business Sale
Connecting the right buyer and seller can help a business continue operating, employing people, purchasing goods and serving its community.
🏙 What Do We Mean by “Stronger Communities”?
We mean something much broader than simply constructing buildings.
✔ People have places to live.
✔ Businesses have places to operate.
✔ Employers have facilities from which they can create jobs.
✔ Construction and skilled trades have projects on which to work.
✔ Local suppliers and service companies have customers.
✔ Consumers purchase goods and services.
✔ Economic activity generates tax revenues that help fund public services.
✔ Successful individuals and businesses may have greater capacity to support charities and community organizations.
Real estate does not create all of this by itself.
But real estate provides much of the physical infrastructure in which people live, businesses operate and economic and community activity takes place.
📊 The Economic Numbers Are Significant
Statistics Canada’s Housing Economic Account provides an indication of the scale of housing-related economic activity in Canada.
$152.1 Billion in GDP
Economic activity related to residential investment in Canada in 2025
More Than 1.2 Million Jobs
Associated with residential construction activity in Canada in 2025
Source: Statistics Canada, Housing Economic Account, 2025.
🏠 A Home Sale Can Generate Significant Additional Spending
The economic activity surrounding residential real estate does not necessarily end when the home changes ownership.
A 2025 Altus Group economic-impact study prepared for the Canadian Real Estate Association examined Canadian MLS® resale transactions during 2022–2024.
$97,500
Estimated Average Ancillary Spending Per Residential Resale Transaction
The study estimated that the average Canadian residential resale transaction generated approximately $97,500 in ancillary spending—spending beyond the purchase price of the house and land.
That spending can include:
✔ Professional services such as lawyers, appraisers, surveyors and real estate professionals
✔ New appliances
✔ Furniture and household furnishings
✔ Renovations and home improvements
✔ Moving-related expenditures
✔ Other goods and services associated with moving into and adapting a home
The Sale Can Be the Beginning of Additional Economic Activity — Not the End of It.
💵 CREA Research Shows the Multiplier Effect
The same Altus Group study examined approximately 480,300 MLS® home sales per year across Canada during 2022–2024.
Those transactions were associated with approximately $46.8 billion per year in spin-off spending.
The research estimated that this activity generated approximately 231,500 jobs annually.
CREA reports that finance, insurance, real estate, construction and professional services were among the sectors benefiting most.
The study also estimated significant municipal, provincial and federal government revenues associated with these transactions.
🏗 What About Commercial Real Estate?
The $97,500 figure above applies to residential resale transactions. It should not be applied to commercial real estate.
Commercial transactions are different. A land sale, office building, apartment building, industrial property or shopping centre may involve a completely different scale and type of economic activity.
For example, the sale of development land might eventually lead to planning, financing, engineering, construction, infrastructure, employment and years of continuing economic activity.
The economic impact will vary enormously from one project to another, which is why ICIWorld does not assign a single dollar multiplier to commercial transactions.
But the principle is easy to understand: a successful real estate connection can be the starting point for much more economic activity.
🛡 The Role of Registered Real Estate Professionals
An important part of the ICIWorld model is that the professional member network is built around registered real estate brokers and salespeople.
ICIWorld provides the information, networking and classified-ad-style infrastructure through which members can communicate Haves and Wants and discover opportunities.
The individual real estate professional remains responsible for complying with the laws, regulations, professional standards, consent requirements, advertising requirements and brokerage policies that apply in their jurisdiction.
ICIWorld Provides the Information and the Connection.
The Registered Real Estate Professional Provides the Regulated Professional Service.
❤️ Strong Communities Are About More Than GDP
GDP and employment statistics tell only part of the story.
Successful real estate professionals, developers, investors and business owners frequently support hospitals, foundations, food banks, children’s organizations, community programs, service clubs, sports organizations and other charitable causes.
ICIWorld does not claim those charitable contributions as its own.
But when ICIWorld helps a member make a connection that contributes to that member’s success, and that member then chooses to give something back, we are proud to have played a small part in a much larger chain of community benefit.
🌱 The Multiplier Effect of Helping Other People Succeed
There is a limit to what any one person or organization can contribute directly.
Helping many independent real estate professionals become more productive can have a much wider effect.
Successful members earn income, operate businesses, purchase goods and services, pay taxes, employ people, serve clients and often contribute to their communities.
Helping other people succeed can create an impact far greater than anything one person or organization could accomplish alone.
WHY REAL ESTATE INFORMATION NETWORKING MATTERS
Information Has Value When It Reaches the Person Who Needs It.
An opportunity nobody knows about is difficult to turn into a transaction.
A buyer and seller who never discover each other cannot do business together.
Connecting information with people is where ICIWorld can make a difference.
🌎 Real Estate Information Networking Since 1994
ICIWorld has been helping real estate professionals network information since 1994.
Over the years, members have reported transactions resulting from connections made through Haves, Wants, searches, referrals and other ICIWorld networking activities.
Our experience reinforces a simple idea: information has value when it reaches the right person.
THE BIGGER PICTURE
Real Estate Connections Can Help Build Stronger Communities
ICIWorld helps start the connection.
Real estate professionals, buyers, sellers, investors, developers, businesses, lenders, construction companies, trades, suppliers and many others can turn those connections into economic activity.
People • Properties • Opportunities • Jobs • Communities
THE ICIWORLD® MISSION
Help Real Estate Professionals Turn Information Into Connections,
Connections Into Opportunities,
and Opportunities Into Transactions.
Connections Into Opportunities,
and Opportunities Into Transactions.
Search • Connect • Do Business Worldwide
Could Your Information Start the Next Connection?
Do you Have a property, business or opportunity? Does one of your buyers, investors or tenants Want something? Put the information into the network so other professionals have an opportunity to find it.
📚 Independent Sources & Further Reading
Statistics Canada — Housing Economic Account, 2025
Statistics Canada reports $152.1 billion in GDP attributed to the production of housing assets in 2025 and more than 1.2 million jobs associated with residential construction activity.
Statistics Canada — View Source →
Statistics Canada reports $152.1 billion in GDP attributed to the production of housing assets in 2025 and more than 1.2 million jobs associated with residential construction activity.
Statistics Canada — View Source →
Altus Group / Canadian Real Estate Association — Economic Benefits Generated by MLS® Systems, 2025
The study estimates average ancillary spending of $97,500 per Canadian residential resale transaction during 2022–2024, approximately $46.8 billion in annual spin-off spending and approximately 231,500 jobs annually associated with this activity.
View the Altus Group / CREA Economic Report →
The study estimates average ancillary spending of $97,500 per Canadian residential resale transaction during 2022–2024, approximately $46.8 billion in annual spin-off spending and approximately 231,500 jobs annually associated with this activity.
View the Altus Group / CREA Economic Report →
Canadian Real Estate Association — The Economic Impact of Real Estate Transactions in Canada
CREA’s overview explains how residential resale transactions generate economic activity beyond the actual value of the real estate being bought and sold.
CREA — View Article →
CREA’s overview explains how residential resale transactions generate economic activity beyond the actual value of the real estate being bought and sold.
CREA — View Article →
Important Note
ICIWorld does not claim that it independently creates the GDP, employment, construction, development, spending, tax revenues or charitable activity described on this page. ICIWorld provides an information and networking platform through which registered real estate professionals can discover opportunities and make connections. Where an ICIWorld-originated connection contributes to a completed transaction, that transaction may become one part of a much broader chain of economic and community activity. Economic impacts vary significantly by transaction and project.
Gary Nusca, CCIM, CIPS, REALTOR®, Broker
Founder & Manager, ICIWorld® Association of Real Estate Brokers and Salespeople
Real Estate Professional Since 1974 • ICIWorld Online Since 1994