The scandal-plagued Real Estate Council of Ontario’s newly announced restructuring plan and executive hires have drawn criticism from real estate industry leaders, despite the regulator framing the changes as necessary to rebuild trust.

RECO said the overhaul includes eight “ambitious transformation initiatives” for 2026, a new corporate structure and a new executive team, all unveiled by Administrator and Acting CEO Jean Lépine.

“RECO will advance eight key initiatives that, taken together, will form a comprehensive plan that will drive the organization’s focus for 2026,” said RECO Administrator and Acting CEO Jean Lépine, who announced the moves in a news release.

The initiatives include a culture renewal plan supported by a new performance- management system, regulatory modernization, enhanced stakeholder engagement, a digital and technology modernization roadmap, a financial sustainability strategy based on cost-recovery principles, a renewed governance approach, a public awareness campaign and the development of a new strategic plan for 2027–2030.

“These initiatives represent significant and bold change, and it’s very clear that we need to prioritize meaningful and consistent engagement with our stakeholders, including the real estate services sector and consumers,” Lépine said.

To deliver the plan, RECO is moving to a new organizational structure with four areas of accountability: strategy and corporate, regulatory modernization; people, culture & technology; and Finance and Risk.

The regulator has also recruited new executives reporting directly to the administrator and acting CEO, effective January 19. They include Emilee Escobar as chief strategy and corporate Officer and Samantha Pinto as chief regulatory modernization officer, with a chief people, culture and technology officer to be announced. The executives will work alongside Arshad Zaver, the organization’s acting CFO.

“I am delighted to have recruited great people who want to do great things to unlock RECO’s potential,” Lépine said. “As an executive team, we will hold ourselves accountable for delivering on this ambitious action plan. Together, we are driving change, earning trust, and setting the foundation for a stronger, more modern, mandate-focused organization. We will lead with action, not words.”

But two commercial real estate industry veterans slammed the moves in interviews with The Toronto Star.

Nicole Koteff, a lawyer and realtor who worked at RECO years before the iPro scandal broke, told the Star that the announcements come across as performative.

“The regulations can’t be changed by RECO,” Koteff told the Star, noting that RECO’s job is to enforce regulations created by the province.

“I don’t understand why people are being hired in a vacuum without these positions being properly advertised or advertised at all on RECO’s website,” Koteff added. “They’re not being transparent, which is what got them into trouble in the first place.”

She contended that RECO is “putting lipstick on a pig.”

Meanwhile, Ron Butler, a veteran mortgage broker, described the changes as a whitewash.

“The regulations can’t be changed by RECO,” Koteff says, noting RECO’s job is to enforce regulations created by the province.

“This is not a transformation,” he told the Star. “It’s rehab for RECO. They’re trying to polish it up to the point where the government believes it can be handed back over to the industry, which is not a good idea.”

He and other industry leaders have called for RECO to be governed by the province instead of independently as a self-policing organization after $10.5 million worth of broker commissions and consumer funds were mishandled by the regulator.

The changes come after former iPro Realty brokers due outstanding commission payments have won their battle to revise controversial language in settlement agreements offered by RECO’s insurance provider.

The newly revised agreement removes suggestions that the brokers’ acceptance of accelerated partial commission payments could prevent them from receiving additional payments. The realtors were worried that the original agreement contained clauses that indicated they had accepted payment in full, depriving them of the total.

The revised agreement also contains additional protections for consumers, ensuring that they will get funds held in trust.

RECO announced the changes in a news release last week and updated an online document explaining how realtors and consumers can make claims and receive funds.

The revised agreement’s language also removes a non-disclosure clause. Brokers had complained that the clause would muzzle their concerns about RECO.

Realtors had refuted insurance experts’ concerns that the non-disclosure clauses were standard in such settlements.

Alternate Risk Services previously stated that the total claims related to iPro will exceed $30 million.

The squabble comes after Brenda Buchanan, the regulator’s former CEO, resigned effective December 31.

The Ontario government fired RECO’s entire eight member board in late November and Lépine began his work as the organization’s administrator December 1 before adding the CEO duties at the end of the month.

He is tasked with rebuilding the real estate industry and public’s trust following the iPro scandal and heavy criticism that RECO’s former board and Buchanan have received.

RECO closed iPro months after finding that about $10.5 million had been withdrawn, allegedly illegally, from the former trust accounts. The company later paid back $3 million and co-founders Rui Alves, who is a former RECO board member, and Fede Colucci agreed never to apply to certify a brokerage again or serve as brokers. As a result, they were not fined or charged.

Premier Doug Ford has vowed that realtors will get “every penny” that they are owed.

But Alternative Risk Services previously warned that there will not be enough money to pay all realtors the amounts due.

Lépine is a communications and government relations strategist. He has pledged to turn what he has called a challenging situation into something very positive.

Lépine has also vowed that he and RECO will live up to their promises of improving the regulator’s operations.

Photo: iPro