Real Estate Assistant

Markham - Regular   

Hydro One is proud to be the largest electricity transmission and distribution provider in Ontario, serving nearly 1.5 million customers. We have a long history in the industry with our roots dating back over 110 years to 1906. Since then, we have worked to grow and evolve to meet the changing needs of our customers and communities across Ontario. Today, we're focused on providing exceptional customer service and ensuring we are building safe communities where we live, work and play.

It's an exciting time to join the team at Hydro One

Job Description:

1. Assist in the negotiation of routine, less complex real estate contracts with external customers (e.g. garden, agricultural licenses) in accordance with approved Real Estate policies, practices, procedures and/or parameters approved by the Supervisor or their delegate. Within these parameters, prepare and sign routine correspondence. Contentious issues or matters of disagreement or discrepancy are referred to the Supervisor or their delegate for resolution. Includes periodic attendance at Rent Review Hearings to provide information or site meetings with external or internal customers.

2. Visit Municipal Land Use Planning, Land Registry and Land Titles Offices to obtain accurate, complete, routine ownership, easement, Official Plan, Zoning or other related property information, Registered Plans, Official Plan/Zoning documents, maps and other documents as required. Conduct routine property or field inspections to gather tenant land use information, carry out basic measurements of areas under license or lease, determine surrounding land uses and prepare associated summary reports for Supervisor or others in the Department.

3. Assist the Supervisor or others in the Department with respect to the processing of acquisition, real estate management or sale proposals and transactions. Includes checking, reviewing and interpreting engineering/survey drawings and legal property descriptions depicting pole or tower lines, secondary land use and sale proposals, road crossings/closings, Plan of Subdivisions, etc. Plot proposals and ownership changes on roll plans or other rights management systems and prepare sketches, plans or other similar drawings using various resources such as maps, drawings and field data for use with License, Lease and other legal agreements. Collect and assimilate all relevant information from a variety of sources and individuals to prepare and compose Real Estate Management proposals, routine correspondence, memorandum, Terms and Conditions letters, Authorizations, Rent Review Applications and other similar document for review and signature by Supervisor or others in the Department. Calculate areas for lands being acquired, licensed, leased or sold. Perform associated mathematical calculations and scale conversations, reconcile with Departmental real estate rights records, circulate, track and follow up on proposals sent to engineering and other departments for comment/approval or documents/correspondence sent to customers. In addition, includes compiling and co-ordinating stakeholder comments, maintaining project and other checklists, calculating/tabulating standard rentals, residential house repair costs, residential rental increases in accordance with Ministry of Consumer and commercial Relations directives, tenant 'grant in lieu of taxes' payments, permit considerations, preparing payment schedules and Rent Review Applications. Also includes providing other more general administration and co-ordination assistance during office moves and relocations and acting as the building maintenance liaison representative for the Real Estate Services office facility.

4.  Assist the Supervisor or others in the Department with respect to finalizing transactions involving the acquisition of fee, easement or leasehold real estate rights, the granting of license, leases, easement or other rights on Company owned or easement properties and the sale of surplus or operational lands to/from outside parties. Includes requesting preparation of title searches and surveys as appropriate, preparing letters to owners' lawyers setting out title deficiencies and requesting action as instructed by Supervisor or others. Involves preparing and processing a variety of legal documents and notices for Supervisor or other's approval, ensuring use of proper legal terminology. These include transfers, easements, affidavits declarations, undertakings, expropriation notices and releases, quit claims, licenses, leases, permits, applications and other similar documents. Also involves assembling and checking settlement, conveyancing and overall real estate transaction information/details to assess completeness, accuracy, conformity and processing priority. Also includes preparing letters to mortgage companies, municipalities, tax and assessment offices, gas and fuel oil companies to obtain pertinent information and ensure compliance with municipal bylaws relative to completing real estate transactions. Involves reviewing replies, mortgage statements, advances, prior payments, calculating property taxes, land transfer taxes, adjusting for fuel and utility to prepare Statements of Adjustments reflecting final price as of transaction closing date. Also includes preparing directions regarding disbursement of funds, requisitioning cheques and submitting to Supervisor or others for review and approval. In addition, includes establishing and maintaining files, ordering, delivering and picking up applications, plans, notices, legal documents as necessary. Also involves preparing and processing purchase orders and invoices for payment, setting up approved billings and forwarding documents to the storage facility. Contentious or more difficult processing matters, particularly those affecting real estate transaction closing dates are referred to Supervisor or their delegate for resolution.

5.  Receive and process all Official Plan, Official Plan Amendments, Zoning Bylaws, Zoning Bylaw amendments, Niagara Escarpment Commission Permits, Parkway Belt Amendments and other similar documents received by OHSC for review and comment. Conduct a preliminary assessment of these documents to determine potential impact on OHSC real estate rights and issue standard concurrence letters when required, where no impact on company real estate assets is apparent. Where rights are potentially impacted, consult with Supervisor or their delegate to determine further actions necessary. Assist in preparing or (in accordance with parameters approved by the Supervisor or their delegate) prepare/sign memorandums, letters and other correspondence pertinent to the document submitted.

6.  Receive and process all Plan of Subdivisions and other related documents received by OHSC for review and comment. Conduct a preliminary assessment of these documents to determine the potential impact on OHSC real estate rights. Where no impact on company real estate assets apparent, issue standard letter of concurrence. Where rights are potentially impacted, circulate plans to appropriate internal groups as necessary, co-ordinate and consolidate responses and issue standard conditional clearance letter to circulating authority. Subsequently receive, process and circulate related grading, drainage, etc. drawings to appropriate internal groups as necessary for review and field inspection and upon receipt of favourable comments, prepare, sign and issue standard condition clearance letter to requesting parties. Contentious or difficult issues or matters of disagreement or discrepancy are to be referred to the Supervisor or their delegate for resolution.

7.  Reconcile accounts balance for rents and charges to be paid in connection with OHSC owned and leased administrative, operations, service centre or other accommodations. Make adjustments to payments relative to actual costs and amendments to leasehold agreements, fluctuations in operating expenses, utility charges, tax installments and maintenance charges. Verify the legitimacy and accuracy of charges, prepare cheque requisitions and provide to Supervisor for approval. Maintain accurate records of charge numbers to facilitate timely chargeback to users.

8.  Accurately input, retrieve, update, interpret and maintain real estate acquisition, management, conveyancing, sales, Official Plan, Zoning Bylaw, Plan of Subdivision information/data on a regular basis, within a variety of computerized databases and manual record and reference systems. Produce standard real estate information system reports or general/specialized statistical or other similar reports including spreadsheets, graphs, tables or other similar presentation materials. Access, retrieve and interpret OHSC real estate rights, accounting and other real estate related data from mainframe or other systems on a regular basis. Participate in the design, development and implementation of Departmental and other computerized information systems.

9.  Analyze computer generated Rental or other Arrears Reports and account transaction summaries to identify and determine status of delinquent accounts. Prepare standard letters requesting rental payments be brought up to date. Under direction of the Supervisor or their delegate, negotiate arrears repayment plans with tenant in accordance with established repayment parameters. Occasionally involves meeting with the customer to negotiate plan or collect repayments. Contentious or difficult issues or matters of disagreement or discrepancy, are to be referred to Supervisor or their delegate for resolution.

10.  Receive and screen internal and external inquiries, received within the Department and provide general information relating to OHSC real estate rights and assets, real estate policies, rights payment and rental rates and plan requirements. Communicate verbally with a variety of internal and external parties including customers, lawyers, government or private company representatives on OHSC real estate matters. Includes obtaining or clarifying information, explaining rental calculations, discrepancies or errors before settlements are finalized. Submit complex, contentious or difficult inquiries to Supervisor or their delegate for handling. Also involves liaison and coordination with external contractors, moving and furniture company representatives or internal employees, to secure quotes or other information relative to work associated with the repair of OHSC owned buildings, with office moves or relocations.

11.  Within the general context of the job responsibilities, make suggestions to Supervisor on how to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the Department.

12.  Perform other duties as required.

Selection Criteria:

• Requires a knowledge of English and efficient communication skills to extract information from various documents/correspondence related to real estate matters. Also requires effective verbal communication skills to be able to interact with various customers including government representatives, law firms, and municipal office and employees.
• Requires a knowledge of basic drafting skills to be able to read and interpret plans, engineering and survey drawings, scale and convert measurements, plot property measurements and legal descriptions on roll plans and prepare key plans, sketches and drawings.
• Requires a knowledge of arithmetic to calculate areas, rentals, easement and sale considerations, and various summary reports.
• Requires a knowledge of real estate law and government statutes to be able to prepare registerable documentation, prescribed expropriation forms, miscellaneous support forms and to understand and execute the requisite real estate activities of the job. 
• This knowledge is considered to be normally acquired in either a Grade XII education in a secondary school plus up to one year of further concentrated study in an appropriate field (e.g. real estate, drafting, engineering technology), or the equivalent education
• Requires experience to input, retrieve and maintain computerized data. A period of up to four years is considered necessary to gain this experience. 

At Hydro One we understand that the success and strength of our business rests with our people. When we develop their skills, we are investing in both their success and ours. To secure the best talent, we seek to create a workforce that reflects the diverse populations of the communities where we live and work and to create a culture based on safety, innovation and inclusiveness.

We are honoured to be recognized by Forbes in its list of Canada's Best Employers for 2025.

Thank you for considering a career with Hydro One, we welcome applications from all qualified candidates. If you are having difficulty using our online application system and you need an accommodation due to a disability, please email  Hydro One will provide reasonable accommodation for qualified individuals with disabilities in the job application process.

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Hydro One and its partners/affiliates may use AI to screen, assess or select applicants for the position.

"Employer of the year 2025"

Deadline: December 1, 2025

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We thank all applicants for their interest in a career at Hydro One; however, only those candidates who are selected for an interview will be contacted.