Glenn Way

First Name: Glenn

Last Name: Way

Job Title: President

Company: GWL Realty Advisors

Hometown: Toronto, Ontario

Area of Study: Real Estate

Glenn Way always knew he wanted to be involved in real estate in some capacity. His first step into this unique career was his acceptance into Guelph's Real Estate and Housing major (REH) in the Bachelor of Commerce program. A graduate of the class of 1996, he made the most of his time here at Guelph. During the summer months, he worked at Enterprise Property Group. An invaluable experience that allowed him to apply his business training and economic theory into action. This experience also gave him an opportunity to grow his network, allowing him to obtain references while still enrolled in school. Something he encourages current students to try to do.

His networking and experience at Enterprise Property Group paid off as he started working at SunLife in their commercial debt division almost immediately after graduation. He then worked for Cadillac Fairview in their commercial properties division and secured his role at GWL Realty after the company purchased London Life's real estate division. GWL Realty Advisors provides comprehensive asset management, property management, development and specialized real estate advisory services and is a trusted partner to some of Canada’s major pension funds and institutions. Way is currently responsible for the leadership, performance and strategic direction of GWL Realty Advisors’ commercial assets in Canada. He leads a team of over 400 individuals responsible for an $8 billion portfolio of office and industrial assets nationally. He has over 20 years of real estate industry experience and has held leadership positions in both leasing and asset management at GWL Realty Advisors and is a member of the Company’s Executive, Investment and Compensation Committees.

Although Way's financial success is impressive, his charitable work does not go unnoticed. Along with GWL Realty Advisors, Way is an active donor for Swing for the Cure and Credit Valley Hospital - the latter of which he has help raise over $1,000,000 to date. Way has also donated his time to the Real Estate and Housing students. He currently sits on the Advisory Board for the REH major and continues to mentor to current students enrolled in the program. "The REH major gives students exposure to all facets of the real estate industry," says Way. "The students who have enrolled in the REH program have conciously chosen real estate as their career path. This makes it easy for me to invest my time in these students."

His advice to young graduates is to try and keep an open mind to any opportunity that comes your way and to "meet as many people across different industries as you can." Because real estate covers all types of industries, Way says it is important to network as much as possible. Another key piece of advice to soon-to-be graduates is for students to have a "career plan in place before you graduate. I am always impressed with the students who know where they want to go and have a positive attitude."