An expanded list of prominent sponsors has signed on for the 2023 global survey of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in commercial real estate, more than doubling the initial slate of seven participating organizations two years ago. The survey coordinator, Ferguson and Partners, has now begun collecting data and will be open for submissions until September 22, 2023.

Canada’s REALPAC, which counts many of the country’s major real estate companies, investment managers and institutional investors among its members, is one of the survey’s seven founders. That group collectively represents the employers of hundreds of thousands of commercial real estate professionals worldwide, and includes industry associations such as the Urban Land Institute (ULI), which also has chapters in Canada, the Pension Real Estate Association (PREA) and the U.S. National Association of Real Estate Investment Managers (NAREIM).

Some of the leading industry associations now joining in to urge their members to undertake the survey include: the European Public Real Estate Association (EPRA); CoreNet Global; the Open Standards Consortium for Real Estate (OSCRE International); and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). Meanwhile, the survey coordinators stress that all real estate companies are welcome to respond to the survey, regardless of whether they are affiliated with one of the 15 sponsors.

The 2023 survey also marks a switch from annual to biennial data collection. Results are scheduled to be released in January 2024, after which the next survey period will commence in the summer of 2025.