Incoming Co-Presidents Evan Sarid ’27 and Corey Wasserman ’28 are set to lead the club into the new academic year with tons of momentum.

Last October, the club debuted its inaugural Junior Analyst Program, where 16 analysts were selected from a large and highly competitive applicant pool. Three months later, the cohort walked into Scotiabank’s real estate office in downtown Montreal and presented a multi-round, full-deal analysis surrounded by industry professionals. By spring, the cohort was proud to announce a 100% internship placement rate. 

Not bad for a first year! It really captures the depth of what the club has become: a student-built bridge into an industry that McGill, despite its impressive standing as Canada’s top-ranked university for the second year in a row, offers no dedicated program for. Students who want to break into commercial real estate here don’t find a department and professors waiting for them; they build it themselves through REC.

The only club of its kind at McGill 

The McGill Real Estate Club is the university’s only student organization oriented towards the real estate industry. The mandate is simple: close the gap between students and the industry. The club offers workshops curated by professionals in lending, development, acquisitions and brokerage. The club rounds this out with panel discussions, networking cocktails, office and development tours across Montreal (and hopefully Canada) and case competitions progressively throughout the year.

The community behind it has real scale. The club counts more than 150 active members, with that number projected to grow further in the 2026-2027 academic year. The talent has proven itself well beyond campus. This past year, McGill REC’s senior analyst and executive team members finished runner-up at the Ted Rogers Real Estate Competition and found podium finishes at both Cornell’s real estate competition in New York and Concordia’s just down the street.

The junior analyst program

The analyst program is where the club’s ambitions are most visible. Each fall, 15-20 students are selected through a multi-step interview process from an applicant pool that exceeds 100 students, with significantly more projected for the upcoming year. The goal is not to be another line on a resume but to produce students who can genuinely adapt their skills to standard real estate work.

Through the fall, analysts move through structured weekly sessions built around tools that the industry uses. The club is happy to announce a partnership with CoStar, which will let analysts run live deal analysis on real listings, alongside the Wall Street Oasis Real Estate Master Program. Analysts are then placed in teams and compete on deliverables spanning the four major asset classes: retail, industrial, office and multifamily. By the time they graduate from the program to either the executive side or a senior analyst role, they have done the equivalent of the work a first-year analyst does on the job, not a classroom approximation of it.

The program ends the way careers in the industry begin, in front of a room. Each spring, the cohort presents its case competition at the office of a sponsor firm, creating pitch decks on specifically curated deals and defending their theses. It is equal parts a final exam, a showcase and a job interview. The debut cohort’s results speak for themselves: the Analysts through the program landed placements at top firms such as PSP, CBRE, PWC and Columbia University’s Real Estate Development program.

Built with industry, not just for it

None of the club’s success would be possible without firms showing up the way they do. Sponsors across all different aspects of the industry lead workshops, host events at their properties, sit on panels, judge case competitions and receive a resume booklet of the club’s members (and applicants) each year. For sponsors, the value proposition is straightforward: direct access to a pre-vetted, pre-trained pool of McGill’s brightest and most motivated students, at the exact moment when those students are deciding where to jumpstart their careers.

The momentum is showing up in the numbers too. On the strength of the analyst debut last year, sponsorship commitments for 2026-27 are projected to nearly double, and the club is expanding both its event calendar and the Analyst Program itself. Firms that want something beyond the standard formats can work with the club on custom engagements, from personalized company events to hosted competitions. Those interested in partnering for the upcoming academic year can review the sponsor packet HERE and/or reach out to the sponsorship team (contacts listed in the package).

What comes next 

The 2026-27 year will be the club’s most ambitious yet, with an expanded event calendar and a new Analyst Program cohort selected this September. Students interested in applying or in joining the club’s general membership can find details on our website and follow along on Instagram and LinkedIn.

Commercial real estate has always been an industry you learn by doing and entering through relationships. At McGill, students stopped waiting for someone to build that for them; they built it themselves.

None of our current success would be possible without the support of early firms and partners. The club extends its thanks to its 2025-26 sponsors, including… Canada ICI, CBRE, Fitzrovia, JADCO Corporation, Kodem, Leyad, National Bank, Olymbec, Plaza REIT, RBC Royal Bank, and Scotiabank.