Intersections: The Impossible Dream - Housing in Canada

A third-generation entrepreneur, brand specialist, realtor, creator of The Lisa Patel Team and is leaving a legacy of community and business building in the GTA and beyond. 

From her childhood, Lisa had an entrepreneurial spark. Her parents created and ran a number of businesses including motels, hotels, department and convenience stores, restaurants, and more across Ontario—and Lisa followed in their footsteps. As a child, she began her own entrepreneurial ventures selling gift-wrap and bubble gum to her school friends and running a candy shop. 

Lisa founded the Lisa Patel Team (formerly known as The Property Princess Team). She and her team of experienced real estate staff work diligently to find families and businesses the perfect spaces to live and work. They focus on all aspects of real estate across the Greater Toronto Area including commercial, residential, leasing, land, and investments for over 11 years. 

Lisa’s successful brand has been included by McGraw-Hill in an educational textbook and studied by business professionals and entrepreneurs. The Property Princess brand was recognized by Andris Pone, author of Attract: Power Up Your One-of-a-Kind Personal Brand for brand strength and consistency. In 2008, Toronto Metropolitan University recognized Lisa as Top 30 Under 30. 

Giving back to her community is an integral part of who Lisa is. She is the Immediate Past President of Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB), Canada’s largest real estate board.

Lisa has also worked with several groups including the Canadian Youth Business Foundation (now known as Futurpreneur Canada) for close to 14 years as a mentor and coach to assist young entrepreneurs meet their business goals. 

Lisa has shared her knowledge and experience with many organizations, speaking on topics such as human connections, entrepreneurship, and women in business. She has spoken to a number of audiences including University of Toronto’s Women in Business group, Speakers Slam 2018, Royal LePage Signature on Success, WXN Women’s Executive Network, and Toronto Metropolitan University. 

Over the past 10 years, Lisa volunteered with Big Sisters, Toronto Harbourfront Festival, Waterfront Festival, Boxing Club, the Region of Durham’s Land Division, current & past director of the Board of Trade. Lisa, a past host for Rogers TV and hosted a "Greener Durham". 

A promoter of lifelong learning, a diverse background in education Public Administration, and Government and Public Relations, to Project Management, Finance, Marketing & Communications, Leadership, Life Coaching and Adult learning, Energy Healing.

Dr. Adediji is an avid scholar of cities. Having lived in and visited many global cities such as Lagos, New York, and London, she is interested in discussing and researching questions surrounding the main theme of cities for people, based on the philosophy that communities should not be inflexibly subjected to the often intractable economic and other realities of cities.

Dr. Adediji uses mixed research methods that combine data analytics with other research approaches including qualitative, to address questions in transportation policy in safety modeling and other areas, demographic and spatial analysis in mobility and land-use, and disruptive technology in cities.

She holds a PhD in Planning & Public Policy from Rutgers University, a Masters in City and Regional Planning from the University of Pennsylvania and a Masters in Real Estate Development from New York University. She is currently an assistant professor at the School of Urban and Regional Planning, prior to which she was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Urban Analytics Institute. 

Specializing in timely, relevant and proactive policy research and strategic communications to drive impact, Cherise Burda has authored over 40 policy reports, book chapters and academic publications, as well as dozens of magazine articles and op-eds. In over twenty years as a thought leader, Cherise’s research and activities have directly influenced policy change in Ontario and British Columbia.

As Executive Director of City Building Toronto Metropolitan University, Cherise leads collaborations and knowledge mobilization strategies for academic research in city building and urban innovation and policy research on issues of sustainable regional planning and development, housing affordability, placemaking and transportation. Her previous roles included Ontario Director of the Pembina Institute, Program Director with the David Suzuki Foundation in Vancouver and Senior Researcher with University of Victoria’s Eco-Research Chair of Environmental Law and Policy.

Cherise holds an M.A. in environmental policy from University of Victoria, as well as a B.Sc. in environmental science and a Bachelor of Education, both from University of Toronto. Cherise has spoken on dozens of panels, is a regular spokesperson and participates on a number public and private sector advisory groups.

Murtaza Haider is a professor of Data Science and Real Estate Management at Toronto Metropolitan University. He also serves as the research director of the Urban Analytics Institute Professor Haider holds an adjunct professorship of Engineering at McGill University. In addition, he is a Director of Regionomics Inc., a boutique consulting firm specializing in the economics of cities and regions.

Dr. Haider is the author of Real Estate Markets: An Introduction (2020) and Getting Started with Data Science: Making Sense of Data with Analytics (2016).

Professor Haider’s research interests include business analytics, data science, housing market dynamics, transport/infrastructure/urban planning, and human development in Canada and South Asia.

Professor Haider is a syndicated columnist with Post Media. His weekly column on real estate markets appears nationally in The Financial Post and local newspapers including Ottawa Citizen, Vancouver Sun, Calgary Herald, Edmonton Sun, and Montreal Gazette. He also writes occasionally for The Globe and Mail and The Toronto Star.

Murtaza Haider holds a Masters in transport engineering and a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from the University of Toronto.