Mortgage professionals have just a short time left to submit nominations for the prestigious awards gala
The deadline for nominations for this year’s Canadian Mortgage Awards is fast approaching, with January 14 the last day on which mortgage professionals can submit their nominees to the eagerly anticipated awards show.
For any professional who lives and breathes the industry they work in, winning a prestigious award can serve as the ultimate affirmation of the dedication, sacrifice and effort that goes into their job.
In the mortgage industry, the annual Canadian Mortgage Awards (CMAs) provide an opportunity for the most outstanding individuals and companies across the country to take centre stage, with their superb performances over the previous 12 months honoured at a high-profile ceremony attended by their colleagues and peers.
In 2021, DLC Expert Financial saw its sterling work on the tech side recognized when it clinched the Haventree Bank Award for Digital Innovator of the Year at the CMAs, a gong that arrived following significant investment of the company’s time and resources into its digital capabilities.
Lorne Andrews (pictured below), broker and owner at DLC Expert Financial, told CMP that the company’s consistently strong performance at the CMAs – in addition to that Digital Innovator award, it’s received multiple nominations in different categories over the years – was a testament to its consistency and high professional standards.
“You always want to be recognized, [but] more important is the impact you’re making by doing whatever you’re doing. The fact that you get recognized after that is a bonus,” he said.
“We’re not doing it to be recognized, and I think most people aren’t. We’re doing it to make an impact on people’s lives.”
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Emerging as Digital Innovator of the Year in a crowded field, Andrews said, reflected the success of the company’s support system, created for referral partners in real estate.
That program allows the brokerage to help users develop marketing materials, online lead generation, text capture and social media syndication, providing extra support to build and expand business as a whole.
The award was a particularly significant one in 2021, given the fact that digital innovation had become more important than ever to Canada’s mortgage community with office spaces having closed their doors in 2020 just as a huge boom in the country’s housing market was about to begin.
The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Andrews said, helped demonstrate the value of technological and digital solutions to Canadian mortgage professionals – although he also emphasized that an optimal digital approach was one that combined innovation with a continuing personal touch.
“This whole thing with COVID and everything else is forcing us to do things differently,” he said. “Now, the problem is that sometimes [while] you rely too much on digital, you can’t give up the human connection.
“People can become disconnected. So the art of it is to make sure that you’re using the digital side of things to complement that human connection to build up the confidence and trust. You need to use the technology to complement what you’re doing and make calls to action.”
This year’s Canadian Mortgage Awards, held with event partner Coalition of Independent Mortgage Brokers of Canada (CIMBC), are scheduled to return as a live in-person event for the first time since 2019, with Toronto’s Liberty Grand set to host the ceremony on April 28.
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The awards will showcase the leading brokers, brokerages, lenders, underwriters, BDMs and service providers in the mortgage industry over the past 12 months, with Excellence Awardees to be announced in Canadian Mortgage Professional (CMP) magazine and online channels in March.
There are 21 unique prizes up for grabs in this year’s CMAs, including seven new and updated categories to celebrate a wide variety of talent throughout Canada’s mortgage industry.
Those include a new Broker of the Year (Regional) category, recognizing the most outstanding mortgage broker in each of six regions across Canada, with winners in that group moving forward to become finalists for the Equitable Bank Award for Canadian Broker of the Year.
The Best Media Campaign of the Year award is also to make its debut, recognizing the best overall marketing campaign of the last 12 months by broker networks, lenders or suppliers aimed at either brokers or consumers.
All the winners will be revealed at the celebratory awards show in April and profiled in CMP magazine. Make sure to get your nominations in before the deadline of January 14 by clicking here.
