Canadian Gavin Swartzman has been named the next president of Christie’s International Real Estate, moving into the role in June.

Co-CEOs Thad Wong and Mike Golden made the announcement at Christie’s annual conference in New York City.  

Swartzman will oversee global expansion and strategy for the luxury real estate network, which has over 100 member firms in over 50 countries and territories.

For the past 11 years, Swartzman was CEO of Peerage Realty Partners, a Toronto-based holding company that owns and operates brokerages in the U.S. and Canada. Its companies include franchise affiliates of Christie’s, Sotheby’s and other brands. Peerage was the 10th-largest real estate company in the U.S. in 2024. 

“My initial exposure to the distinctive enterprise of luxury real estate was through my work with long-time Christie’s International Real Estate Affiliate Chestnut Park. This formative experience, early in my industry career, established my passion for this specialized segment of the business and the people who support it,” Swartzman said in the announcement. 

Swartzman previously worked in senior leadership roles in finance, franchise development, mergers and acquisitions, asset management, and management consulting across a variety of industries.  

Swartzman earned a master’s degree in finance and accounting from the University of Waterloo.  

Garrigan promoted at Colliers

Long-time executive Peter Garrigan has been promoted to executive managing director, Ontario with Colliers Canada (CIGI-T). The firm has also named a new managing director in Vancouver.

Garrigan began his over-20-year career with the brokerage and real estate services firm in 2004, when he joined as vice-president business development. In addition to his time at Colliers, Garrigan also served two terms as president for the Society of Industrial and Office Realtors (SIOR) Central Canada Chapter.

Garrigan will be responsible for the Greater Toronto Area, southwestern Ontario and Ottawa regions.

Moving west, Andrew Kirkham has joined Colliers Canada as managing director, Vancouver.

Kirkham joins the firm from KingSett Capital, where he served as vice-president, Western Canada during an almost 10-year run with the real estate investment firm.

Previous, Kirkham held various leadership roles in asset management, including vice-president, asset management with Eminata Group and as general manager, commercial for Cressey Development Group. He also spent time with J.J. Barnicke Victoria, as research and marketing director.

Two new regional directors for FirstService

Property management company, FirstService Residential (FSV-T), has promoted both Edward Lee and Nagry Ngauv to regional director, strata operations.  

Lee joined FirstService Residential in 2016 as an administrative assistant and eventually become strata manager, then senior strata manager. 

Ngauv joined the organization as a strata manager in 2014 and then worked in community development in 2018. Ngauv was promoted to senior strata manager in 2020.

Holowaty joins Pier 4

Paul Holowaty was recently brought onboard as vice-president of property operations with Pier 4.

He was previously vice-president, income producing properties for five years with Equiton Partners, before joining the Toronto-based real estate company. Holowaty also worked at TerraCorp Management, Realstar Management Partnership and Residence Development Corp.

Holowaty also spent more than 14 years with Campus Living Centres, which manages student housing.

Colas resigns from Margaux board

Pierre Colas has resigned as trustee with Margaux Real Estate Investment Trust (ALFA-UN-X) but will continue to hold the position of treasurer of Margaux.

Katia Marquier and Hélène Fortin have also been named as trustees of the trust, subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. Both Marquier and Fortin are chartered professional accountants (CPA) and bring business and financial expertise to Margaux.

Margaux REIT owns three self-storage facilities in Quebec.

New executive director for NPGCC

The North Pacific Green Corridor Consortium (NPGCC) has appointed David Molinski as its executive director.

The organization — based in Vancouver — has a mandate to “collaborate and aim to support in advancing future projects that decarbonize the trade corridor and transportation infrastructure between Canada, Japan and South Korea”.

Molinski currently serves as a director at CO2 Lock Corporation, and Alpha Helium Inc. He is also a partner with CleanTech Collective, and has been a principal at OnPoint Consulting since 2006. 

As well, he spent time with Chevron and was assistant deputy minister, oil and gas with the Government of British Columbia from 2003 to 2006. 

NPGCC members include CN, Mitsubishi Canada, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, NYK Bulk & Projects Carriers, Oldendorff Carriers, Prince Rupert Port Authority, Teck Resources, Trigon Pacific Terminals and Vancouver Fraser Port Authority.

Gilroy joins Tim Lamb Group

U.S.-based Tim Lamb Group has welcomed Paul Gilroy to its team. 

Gilroy joins as a director and will be responsible for leading franchised dealership mergers and acquisitions across Canada. The company bills itself as North America’s largest auto dealership brokerage group.

Gilroy has more than 30 years of automotive experience, and a background in retail and wholesale operations. He previously worked for Mercedes-Benz Canada where he held several senior executive roles, including a five-year term as managing partner of Mercedes-Benz Newmarket. 

Gilroy will lead the franchised dealership mergers and acquisitions initiatives across Canada for Columbus, Ohio-based Tim Lamb Group.

3 new board members for Realtor.ca

Realtor.ca has appointed three new directors to its board:

• Peter Lukomskyj, who currently serves as chief executive officer of Radiant Health. He is a professional engineer, CPA and MBA. Lukomskyj also spent time as managing director, Canada for Lyft. 
• Sheila Morin, is chief marketing officer, SVP marketing, business development and ESG at Coveo. She received her BAA, Marketing at HEC Montréal.
• Sarah Miller Wright, was previously chief operations officer at Manulife, and senior vice-president at Shaw Communications. She has an ICD.D designation, and an EMBA, Master of Business Administration at Ivey Business School.

Other board members include: David Oikle, board chair and realtor and broker with Royal LePage Team Realty; James Mabey, broker with Century 21 Masters; and Janice Myers, chief executive officer of the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA).