building operator

property administrator

tenant coordinator

maintenance technician

director

GWL Realty Advisors

I was genuinely hopeful when I joined the team, but unfortunately, my experience didn't align with my expectations. While the company offers some great opportunities on paper, the work environment left much to be desired. The culture felt unwelcoming at times, and there was a noticeable lack of communication and support from management. Despite being surrounded by talented colleagues, the overall morale seemed low, and the work atmosphere was often tense, which made it challenging to thrive and contribute my best. It felt like the focus was more on short-term goals rather than fostering a positive, productive environment for long-term success.

When I first joined the company, I was eager to grow and learn in a stable, professional environment. Unfortunately, my experience quickly became a reality check. While there are some dedicated and supportive colleagues, the overall work environment is deeply stressful and toxic.

High Expectations with Little Support: While there are opportunities to learn about real estate, they come at a significant personal cost. The company has extremely high expectations, particularly when it comes to important meetings. You are often expected to sacrifice your personal and family life to meet these expectations, with late-night emails and messages becoming a regular part of the job.

Excessive Workload and Lack of Appreciation: The company regularly expects employees to plan and execute events with little to no assistance. You’re told support is available, but when mistakes are made, the blame falls squarely on you, despite insufficient information or preparation being provided.

Cultural Disconnect and Favoritism: While the company claims to embrace inclusivity, there’s a clear divide when it comes to cultural appreciation and recognition. Some cultures are celebrated more than others, and favoritism is prevalent. Your ideas and contributions often go unheard, especially if you don’t fall into the "in" crowd.

No Job Security or Stability: Despite the company's claim that your role is essential, there’s a lack of job stability. Many colleagues have left, and there’s constant turnover. Job security is a serious concern, and this makes the work environment feel even more uncertain and stressful.

Toxic Office Politics and Micromanagement: Office politics run rampant, and favoritism is all too common. Toxic colleagues create a disruptive environment, making it nearly impossible to concentrate. When you address the issue with management, nothing changes, and the blame often falls on you for the disruption.

Constant Monitoring and Lack of Trust: Employees are consistently micromanaged—whether in person, via emails, or on communication platforms like Teams. This lack of autonomy creates a stifling environment where it’s hard to feel trusted or valued.

Unrealistic Expectations and No Support from HR: There’s little to no support from HR, and any concerns raised are either ignored or dismissed. It’s clear that the company prioritizes its own interests over employee well-being.

Distracting Environment: The office environment is loud and chaotic, making it difficult to focus on your work, especially if you're on important calls with clients or vendors. The constant noise creates an environment that’s far from conducive to productivity.

Lack of Information and Accountability: You're often given incomplete information to do your job, and when things go wrong, the blame is placed on you—even if it wasn’t your fault. This lack of transparency adds to the stress and frustration of the job.

Underwhelming Compensation and Raises: While there’s talk of setting SMART goals to earn raises, the reality is that it’s difficult to exceed the bare minimum no matter how hard you work to get a raise.

Reported to the Vice President in the Toronto head office and supported a team that included Human Resources, Marketing, and Sustainability.

Through the 8 years at the company, I've learned a lot by watching people and closely working with colleagues in understanding and adapting to the culture of the company.  I had the opportunity to understand what goes on with the various departments and individual employees.

Patience goes a long way in a company where various departments has different processes for approvals, reports etc. before anything gets brought forward.  I believe that it was critical to be thorough before proceeding with any major decisions.  Process improvements are always ongoing, therefore it's best to bring forward any discrepancies to ensure smooth processing.

My time at GWLRA provided valuable experience in building operations, and I appreciated  half-day Fridays before long . However, the role came with challenges, including limited career growth, unclear procedures, and inconsistent support from management. The small team size often led to workload imbalance, and compensation was below industry standards for the level of responsibility. 

The people you work with is the only upside to this job. 

Management will talk down on you whenever you make the slightest mistake even though you weren’t trained for it and shows they have 0 knowledge about handling staff. Will apologize for the sake of not being reported to HR and excusing their behaviour just because they claim that’s who they are and because of where they came from borderline gaslighting you for being hurt by their words and actions. They expect you to know the job without training or providing the correct resources. Everyone seems like they’re guessing. They will push you until you breakdown and will keep adding work onto your workload.

You will always be compared to the person who started years before you did.

Please stay away if you value your sanity

GWLRA Residential is the most stressful company, I have ever worked for. The upper management team in Edmonton is more focused on cutting costs, earning bonuses rather than making efforts to do what is right for the residents and staff. The majority of their buildings are held together with clamps and duck tape, but they keep renovating to make it look nice while disguising some very significant issues. 
They role out processes and procedures with no clear outcome and very poor change management. 
I recommend not renting or working with them. 

What is the best part of working at the company?
The professionalism of everyone at the company and the care and consideration they give to their teams across the country. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The amount of work can get overwhelming sometimes but there is always support if you need it. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
It’s a culture of trust and teamwork. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
I have a support role for resident experience and communications, so I spend my day supporting our internal and external customer.

The company operates like the government. Too much bureaucracy and 10 or 15 years behind their peers in the industry. Staff in management without managerial skills. HR there to backup senior managers and directors, lower end staff will feel very much alone and abandoned when the going gets tough. Accounting (Mississauga) is very badly run, lots of staff turnover due to lack of advancement and low moral. Need overhaul of management at every level. 

I've have work for GWL Realty Advisors and some of the people just don't do their work they hand it to you...
There was alot of inappropriate behavior going on in that office.

At first the people thier come off as nice but once you see how they really are you don't want to be around them.

They are very shallow people because I have experienced it first hand and not very polite.!

Worked in the Edmonton office. GWL overall is a good company. The management team for operations are not good. Did not follow GWL culture, made you work above and beyond with little to no recognition. Management didn't really care about workers below them, felt like we were just a number. Some people in management we're two faced. Operations management poorly treated employees. A lot of people left due to how they treated us. 

What is the best part of working at the company?
Great co-workers, well maintained office 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
No basic perks, only one day work from home. New Management Team has unrealistic expectations. They are firing people easily 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Friendly co-workers, diversity 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Employees are quitting often and there is no stability

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Building operator 22 salaries reported	$64,148 per year
Property administrator 4 salaries reported	$55,213 per year
Tenant coordinator 4 salaries reported	$50,150 per year
Maintenance technician 1 salary reported	$23.25 per hour
Director 9 salaries reported	$130,000 per year

Working at GWL Realty Advisors: company overview and reviews

GWL Realty Advisors

GWL Realty Advisors ratings

Popular jobs at GWL Realty Advisors

Salary satisfaction

Job seeker tools

Employer Tools

Browse

Stay Connected