Bob Mackin
Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim invested in and helped promote a real estate crowdfunding company that ran afoul of regulators.
B.C. Securities Commission (BCSC) announced March 17 that Addy Technology Inc. had paid a $100,000 fine for trading without being registered. The company, which bills itself as Canada’s largest real estate investing platform, offered fractional shares in properties and developments for as low as $1.
“Between 2018 and 2025, Addy traded in approximately $26 million of securities of various issuers, with the average amount invested being $700 per investor,” said the BCSC announcement. “Addy charged investor membership fees for early access to certain properties and additional features on its platform, and charged software licensing fees to issuers and exempt market dealers (EMDs) for their use of its platform.”
BCSC said Addy unsuccessfully claimed it was exempt because of crowdfunding and that it used registered dealers to facilitate trades. BCSC said the company co-operated with the investigation and has applied for registration as a dealer.
Sim listed Addy in his statement of disclosure for 2024 and 2025. However, it does not show how many Addy shares Sim holds or the value of those shares.
On Sept. 19, 2023, Sim was the featured guest speaker at Addy’s “fireside chat” event in the Vancouver Lawn and Tennis Club with the company’s co-founder Stephen Jagger.
“We’re lucky to have a whole bunch of our issuers and dealers in the room, and the event was quite the success,” Jagger said on a recap video.
“Full disclosure, I think I’m an investor in Addy as well, right?” Sim said after Jagger introduced him. “So, yeah, so I want to get it out there. I, actually, this isn’t a plug for you, but I am an investor, and I actually think it’s incredible what you’re doing.”
Nobody from the Office of the Mayor has responded for comment. Addy’s head of operations, Kolina Kretzschmar, said the $100,000 settlement and application for registration as an EMD “reflects our ongoing commitment to working within the regulatory framework while continuing to innovate.”
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