REAL to ask City of Regina to approve $4M loan that will pay down debt

Brandt Centre

The Regina Exhibition Association Limited (REAL) will be asking the City of Regina for $4 million to pay down its line of credit (LOC) at Wednesday’s council meeting.

At a recent city executive committee meeting, REAL’s report was presented by interim CEO Roberta Engel, Niki Anderson, and Charlene Callander, senior financial advisor.

Following the meeting, executive committee recommended that Regina city council approve REAL’s funding request so the organization can pay down its LOC and continue to operate into 2025.

According to city agenda notes, REAL will reach the maximum approved balance of their $6.8 million LOC in October, so will not have enough cashflow to operate into 2025.

In May of 2023, personal accounting firm MNP conducted a third-party financial review of REAL. The report found that the organization would not be able to continue operations moving forward.

That same month, the City of Regina gave REAL permission to access $3.4 million in its current line of credit so REAL could meet their financial obligations.

In November of 2023, REAL asked the City of Regina for more than $5.8 million for its operating budget to stay afloat, which was about five times more than the city was planning on providing.

REAL is also required to pay the federal government $8 million in wage subsidies semming from a 2020 pandemic relief program, which city council had agreed to pay for.

If the $4 million is approved, the money would come in the form of an operating grant from the General Fund Reserve and would be paid before the end of October of this year.

The funding would keep REAL within its maximum LOC limit until March 2025, then will require additional funding in April 2025.

New board of directors?

According to agenda notes, the process to recruit a new board of directors is underway and is expected to be approved at Wednesday’s city council meeting. The new board of directors would then recruit a permanent CEO.

The funding would allow for REAL to focus on onboarding the new team without worrying about cashflow, according to the organization.

Regina’s City Council meeting is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Wednesday.