Real Estate Management Certification

Founded in 1987, the UDI is an independent, non-profit organization. It is the largest representative of the commercial real estate industry in Quebec. It brings together major institutional owners, the most important real estate developers, and managers, as well as industry professionals and companies working in related sectors.

Continuing education recognized by

Michel Deslauriers
Director, Jonathan Wener Centre for Real Estate
Lecturer, Finance

Michel Deslauriers is Director of the Jonathan Wener Centre for Real Estate and a full-time lecturer in the Finance Department of the John Molson School of Business at Concordia University. Mr. Deslauriers also acts as a strategic advisor to several real estate development companies in Montreal. Before joining Concordia in 2019, he spent ten years as Executive Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer at Otéra Capital Inc., a commercial real estate financing subsidiary of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec. Prior to his appointment at Otéra, he successively held the positions of Director of Finance and Treasury and Vice-President of Finance at Ivanhoé Cambridge. Mr. Deslauriers also held various positions at Asea Brown Boveri and KPMG-Peat Marwick Thorne. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Concordia University and a Graduate Diploma in Public Accounting from the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research at McGill University. Mr. Deslauriers is a member of the Ordre des comptables professionnels agréés du Québec.

Michel Collins
Urbanist Emeritus, Senior Consultant

Urbanist by training, Michel Collins has more than 40 years of experience in project management in urban planning and strategic planning, and more than 20 years as a senior manager in consulting firms. He was one of the two founders of Daniel Arbour & Associates and founded in 2010 the firm Groupe Conseil BC2FP Inc. (now BC2 Groupe Conseil inc.) of which he was president from 2010 to 2016. He has led numerous mandates in the most important municipalities in Quebec, has advised the UMQ, the APCHQ, several MRCs and among the most important real estate developers, and has also led major urban planning projects abroad, notably in the Caribbean, North Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Mr. Collins has been involved for over 30 years in numerous public consultation processes, both during public hearings held by the BAPE and during municipal consultations on residential, commercial and tourism projects. He has also conducted public consultations for more than 50 municipalities in the context of strategic development mandates, the preparation of development plans or urban plans. More recently, Mr. Collins collaborated with the UMQ on the revision of the Act respecting land use planning and development, and has led the preparation of more than 25 technical opinions on urban planning matters in connection with expropriation for park purposes, the establishment of EMN stations, the creation of parks and legal cases. For the past few years, Mr. Collins has acted as an expert in court cases, and his professional order recognized him as an emeritus urban planner in 2019.

Me Anthony Arquin

Partner, Davies

Anthony Arquin is a partner at Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg in the Commercial Real Estate practice. He advises on commercial real estate sales and purchases, development projects and joint ventures for public and private corporations in Canada and internationally. Anthony has significant experience working on mixed-use complexes and commercial co-ownership. He acts for developers, managers and pension funds. Anthony was named by Chambers Canada in Québec’s real estate industry, by The Legal 500 Canada as the Next Generation Lawyer in commercial real estate and by Best Lawyers in Canada as Montréal’s Real Estate Lawyer of the Year in 2019. He received the 2017 Young Builder INOVA Award from the Urban Development Institute of Québec (IDU). He is a member of the board of directors of IDU.

Me Elias Benhamou

Partner, Davies

Elias Benhamou is a partner at Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg. Highly regarded for his problem-solving abilities, he advises on complex commercial real estate development, acquisitions, joint ventures, financing, construction and leasing. He also has significant development experience in secured syndicated lending and mortgage financing. For over 30 years, Elias has worked on many of Québec’s largest real estate transactions, advising some of the most active private and institutional real estate owners and developers, as well as major national retailers. Elias was named by Chambers Canada as Band 1 in Québec’s real estate industry, by The Legal 500 Canada in Property Development and by Best Lawyers in Canada as Montréal’s Real Estate Lawyer of the Year in 2018 and in Banking and Finance practises. Elias also coordinates the commercial real estate and finance practises in the Montréal office.

Me Annie Gagnon-Larocque

Partner, McCarthy Tétrault

Annie Gagnon-Larocque is a partner in the Real Property and Planning Group of McCarthy in Montréal. Ms. Gagnon-Larocque represents and advises clients on a variety of transactions notably real estate acquisitions, real estate financings, property development, commercial leasing, and joint venture transactions. She represents financial institutions and public and private companies in the senior housing, retail and hotel industries. Ms. Gagnon-Larocque was President of CREW Montréal (Commercial Real Estate Women) from 2012 to 2014 and sat on the board of directors as Financing and Sponsorship Director. She was a finalist in the Rising Star category at the 2009 and 2010 Evening of Excellence. She is also a member of CREW Montreal, ICSC, the Urban Development Institute and the Canadian Bar Association.

Me James Papadimitriou

Partner, McCarthy Tétrault

James Papadimitriou is a partner in the Montréal office of McCarthy, with a practice focused on real estate and financial services. He also has an active leadership in the firm’s Real Property & Planning Group and acts as the Group’s lead for the Québec region. James advises clients on a variety of real estate acquisitions, developments, joint ventures, commercial lending transactions, real estate financings, project financings and commercial leasing transactions. He also regularly represents Canadian chartered banks and other retail operators on commercial leasing matters, acts for landlords on leasing matters and represents major cargo operators and port users in leasing matters with port authorities. He is a member of the Canadian Bar Association, the American Bar Association, the Law Society of Upper Canada, the International Bar Association—Real Estate Committee, the Canadian Finance and Leasing Association, the Urban Development Institute and the International Council of Shopping Centres. Mr. Papadimitriou is also a governor of the Québec Bar Association Foundation and a fellow of the American College of Mortgage Attorneys (ACMA).

Armand Desrosiers
Managing Director, RBC Capital Markets Real Estate Group

Armand Des Rosiers is a Managing Director at RBC Capital Markets. In this role, he is responsible for the overall activities of RBC Capital Markets Real Estate Group’s Montréal office. As the largest real estate investment banking group in Canada, the firm provides a full array of real estate debt and equity intermediary services, including property brokerage, debt brokerage, equity and debt capital markets, corporate banking, M&A and advisory. Throughout his career, Armand has been involved in the most significant commercial real estate sale and financing transactions in Québec.

He holds a Bachelor in Civil Law from McGill University and was called to the Québec Bar in 1978. He also obtained an MBA from the Ivey Business School at Western University in 1982.

Armand is a member of the McGill Council on Palliative Care and sits on the Board of Directors of Scleroderma Québec and the McCord Museum Foundation.

Michel Leonard

President, BTB Real Estate Investment Trust

Mr. Léonard is one of the founders of the BTB Real Estate Investment Trust. Mr. Léonard has more than 30 years of experience in commercial real estate.

Mr. Léonard has often played a fundamental role in assisting numerous organizations at the regional and national levels with strategic planning, analysis and renegotiation mandates and the implementation of complex transactions. He joined Colliers International (Québec) Inc. as Senior Vice-President in November 2004 and served until 2009. Mr. Léonard was co-founder of Staubach Canada Inc. where he was President from 1989 to November 2004.

Mr. Léonard is Chairman of the Board of the Organisme d'autoréglementation du courtage immobilier du Québec (OACIQ) and former Chairman of the Board of the Fonds d'assurance professionnelle du courtage immobilier du Québec (FARCIQ). In 2015, Mr. Léonard was a finalist for the “Grand Prix de l'Entrepreneur” awarded by Ernst & Young. In September 2016, he obtained the ASC (Certified Corporate Director) designation from the College of Corporate Directors. Mr. Léonard has been a member of the Quebec Bar since 1982.

Mr. Léonard holds a Bachelor of Commerce (1978) and a Bachelor of Civil Law (1981) from McGill University.

Roger Plamondon
President, Real Estate Group, Broccolini

A highly regarded executive with an impressive career, Roger Plamondon joined the Broccolini team in 2006, bringing with him 40 years of experience in real-estate and development. Roger has a strong background in executive roles, notably as Regional VP Operations of a major international retail chain where he led the company’s operations for all of Eastern Canada, overseeing more than 100 big-box retail stores from Windsor, Ontario to Saint John’s, Newfoundland. Prior to that, as Assistant VP of Development and Legal Affairs for another major international retail chain, Roger directed legal services and risk management, represented the company in government relations, and established the real estate development plan.

Throughout his distinguished career, Roger has also served as a member of many Boards of Directors and has held executive positions in a number of prominent organizations, including as Director for the Business Development Bank of Canada and for the Retail Council of Canada, as well as Treasurer and Interim CEO for the Montreal Board of Trade, and Chairman of the Retail Council of Quebec.

A respected conference speaker and the author of multiple articles in industry publications, Roger is also a former lecturer for the CEGEP Montmorency College where he led courses in real estate mathematics and property assessment.

Today, as President—Real Estate Group at Broccolini, Roger skillfully heads the department and plays a crucial role in securing property, negotiating contracts, and developing assets. Roger also volunteers much of his time to several of charitable and social organizations, including Habitat for Humanity, KaBOOM!, and the Fondation Lina Cyr, as well as serving as Chairman of the C.L.S.C. Saint-Henri and as Chairman of the Club Richelieu de Ville-Émard.

Roger holds an MBA in finance from Université de Montréal and a Bachelor of Commerce in Real Estate from Université du Québec à Montréal. He is also a graduate of the Accelerated Leadership program at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.

Laurence Vincent
Co-president, Prével

Laurence Vincent is co-president of Prével, a family business with more than 100 employees founded more than 40 years ago. Over the past 15 years, she has been actively involved in the construction of several of Prével's 11,000 housing units and in the development of projects that have made their mark on the Montreal landscape. In March 2019, Prével was awarded the APCHQ's Builder of the Year prize.

Recognized for her contribution to urban development, built heritage and home ownership, Laurence Vincent is committed to creating environments that encourage human interaction and family retention in the downtown core.  She sits on the boards of directors of the public interest organization Vivre en Ville and the Institut de développement urbain du Québec, and chairs the housing committee. Laurence also chairs the Metropolitan and Urban Affairs Committee of the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal.