Edmonton-based brokerage Initia Real Estate has made a strategic transition into eXp Realty Canada, bringing with it approximately 1,000 agents and support staff, plus its network in Canada and the Americas.

Co-founded in 2015 by lawyer and broker Jonathan Yu, Initia has operations in Canada, Mexico, the U.S. and Colombia. It reported approximately $2.5 billion in sales volume in 2025.

eXp Realty Canada is the Victoria, B.C.-based branch of Bellingham, Wash.-based brokerage eXp Realty, which is owned by eXp World Holdings, Inc. eXp Realty operates in 29 countries with over 82,000 agents, with over 6,000 agents in Canada.

Initia's leadership came to the conclusion "that eXp wasn't a competitor, it was the infrastructure they needed to take Initia to the next level," Nadia Habib, managing director of eXp Canada, said in an email exchange with RENX Homes.

"They realized that to support a 1,000-person (organization) on a global stage, they needed to move beyond the traditional brick-and-mortar model." 

Larger tech platforms are proving a draw

As part of the shift to eXp, Initia will continue to operate with multiple teams and branch locations under its brand, but brokered by eXp. Initia will keep its identity, local leadership and corporate culture, Habib said, while gaining access to eXp’s cloud-based platform, training, technology, agent support and global referral network.

The brokerage industry, Yu said, is experiencing heightened operational demands, compliance requirements and need for technology, putting pressure on Initia to make the transition.

“With the ever-increasing compliance burden being placed on brokerages, it is becoming more difficult for smaller independent brokerages to operate, while still maintaining a human connection with its agents,” Yu said. Transitioning his company to eXp made sense, he continued, because it allows Initia to offload much of the administrative and compliance burden.

eXp’s tools help train agents and maintain supplementary income streams, the release said. 

Additionally, Initia's founders recognized an opportunity to scale beyond the company's local market and chose eXp's platform to give its agents access to broader support and a global referral network, Habib said.

Other Canadian realty businesses have made similar moves, such as Found Spaces Realty Group which joined The Real Brokerage Inc. in 2025. Found Spaces’ founder and CEO Sandy MacKay told RENX Homes the decision was influenced by gaining access to Real’s innovative technology and its business model, plus the impact of slow housing activity in Canada.

The strategic transition is proof that "successful real estate entrepreneurs are seeing the benefits of joining a technology-driven platform over building and maintaining their own brokerage infrastructure," Habib said.

“The cultures of Initia and eXp are deeply aligned, especially with the agent-first focus,” Yu said in a release. “The move will allow me to personally realign with the part of the business that matters most to me: fostering meaningful connections, mentoring agents, and ultimately showing up for my Initia family.”

The move “says a lot about where the brokerage model is going,” Leo Pareja, CEO of eXp Realty, said in a release. “Brokerage leaders are looking for ways to scale smarter, support agents better and reduce the operational weight that can pull them away from growth.”