What will happen to REAL’s employees if Brandt takes over the organization?

Regina city council is preparing to debate the Brandt-REAL proposal while many questions remain up in the air. Donovan Maess reports.

Regina Exhibition Association Ltd. (REAL) sits in limbo as city councillors debate whether or not to sell the organization to Brandt.

The City of Regina first released the proposal with Brandt April 24, saying company owner Shaun Semple approached REAL in November with an offer to purchase some properties on the campus.

The properties include the Ag-Ex Building, Canada Centre Building, Commercial Cattle Barn, Queensbury Convention Centre, Stockman’s Building, the Brandt Centre, the Agribition Building, the land lease for the McDonalds located at 1810 Exhibition Parkway and the parking lot west of Mosaic Stadium.

On Wednesday, city executive committee passed a recommendation to approve the sale for $6.5 million.

“Should this deal go through, do you have clarity on what that would mean for the future of the REAL board?” Ward 8 Coun. Shanon Zachidniak asked board chair Jaime Boldt.

• Brandt purchase of REAL District clears first hurdle with executive committee approval

Boldt would shake her head no to the question.

“The concern is we’re able to help,” she went on to say. “It’s not just the assets we’re responsible for, but it’s the people. Some surety around what that would look like, and our role in how it’s moved forward, is important because there’s a lot of instability.”

The proposal comes after years of financial instability and organizational turmoil for REAL.

Since the beginning of 2024, REAL has had five different people hold the role of CEO or interim CEO.

“REAL employees have been through it over the last number of years,” Boldt added. “That is not lost on us and we want to be there for them, in any way possible.”

‘Understandably nervous’

Currently, approximately 700 unionized employees work on the REAL campus.

Employee transfer is baked into the City’s agreement with Brandt.

“Employees working in the purchased buildings will be transferred to Brandt and [the company] will assume all rights and obligations under the existing collective agreements as [it] relates to such employees,” the terms say.

In a statement to CTV News Thursday, the Retail, Warehouse and Department Store Union (RWDSU), which represents the majority of REAL workers said there is some uncertainty among staff.

“Employees of REAL are understandably nervous about what the changes may bring to the campus,” said union representative Bernie Olynick. “However, the potential new employer acknowledges successorship rights which means that all such employees will be transferred to Brandt and Brandt will assume the existing collective agreements as the successor employer.”

“The union has not been involved in any official talks or meetings that were held between REAL, Brandt, or the City of Regina. “Regina Exhibition Park is a jewel and has served Regina and the Province well for decades,” she added.

• Here’s a deep dive into the terms of the REAL-Brandt proposal

The Union declined further comment pending the sale’s approval by council.

There are also 50 out of scope employees at REAL which Brandt is to offer employment to or be paid a severance should they be terminated.

Semple believes the longer talks drag on, the more uncertainty grows.

“Put yourself in the employee shoes,” he told committee Wednesday. “The sooner they understand who we are and what our intentions are and where they sit, which is everyone has a job, everyone is at the pay rate they’re at … things get better.”

“When they hear the vision of what we’re going to do with the property, now all of a sudden they get excited. The longer we drag this, the longer we go through this, the more uncertainty we create in the marketplace, the more uncertainty we create in the in the office and in the workforce. I don’t really have any interest in doing that,” Semple added.

Dissolution

City administration adds, should the sale be approved, it will go about the process of dissolving REAL as a city-owned organization.

“The state of the entity of REAL, does that mean REAL as an entity will no longer exist? Just for the sake of clarity,” asked Zachidniak.

“For sake of clarity, REAL will have no employees as of September 1, through this term,” responded City CFO Daren Anderson. “The organization will go through an elongated process of wrapping up, and we haven’t started to worry about that. I’ve told the team there’s other things we can focus on, because having an organization doesn’t necessarily cause us a bunch of work. We’ll figure that out and work with council on that later.”

• Here are the REAL District upgrades proposed by Brandt

This follows a similar process the City undertook after it dissolved Community and Social Impact Regina in early 2025.

The deal will also see Brandt operate the city’s retained assets for a 30-month period.

“[Brandt] operate[s] those facilities for us as they will have all the staff,” Anderson added. “We’ve put a 30-month time frame on that, reason being, it allows us time to transition those and to decide what to do next with those assets.”

Council is set to discuss and potentially conduct its final vote on the proposal’s terms Wednesday afternoon.

The meeting is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. May 6.