At about $4,000 in annual membership and insurance fees for a Realtor when a Realtor can obtain all of these for half the price, what are benefits in the next 5 years of being a Realtor member, especially in light of the Competition Buruea vs. CREA decision?

I do not understand the question: are you a Realtor or want to become one and what benefits do you have in mind?
The benefits of being a member are when you intend to work as a Real-Estate professional.

As far as I understand you are weighing to become a realtor and are worried about the competion bureau's new defined guidelines for CREA. The real estate is not going to be affected by this scenario. The market is definitely going to look up and you will see many sales happening in near future. The Competition bureau has just asked for allowing non-members to post their properties for sale on MLS but it can only be done by the board members with clear reference to the seller's names and contact information for prospective buyers or their agents. There will be many times more listings on market than before and the best thing is that the buyers don't pay commission on their real estate purchase but take advantage of professional expertize of real estate sales representative who in turn negotiate the commission arrangement with such 'mere posting' sellers. The future is definitely green. Go for it if you are thinking to become a realtor.

I think you should clarify your question. There is no way to get membership at 1/2 price...Being a Realtor is not just a job, it is a professional career. Go at it like it is a profession, put your best efforts into it, keep yourself educated and it is a very satifying opportunity to earn a respectable income and help others get into the "dream homes" they crave.

None.
The crea agreement fractures the industry into a "Wall Mart" self serve model and a Full serve "valet" or "Concierge" service model.

RIGHT NOW. TODAY! You can choose to have your mls listing no longer tied to any agent and you can list with me for instance for X dollars and have yourself or a friend act as your license exempt agent under the common law of agency, handle your incoming calls, sell for you or you can sell privately yourself, as well as hiring another licensed Realtor without having to relist and have all calls go to this other agent and even have another agent's sign on your lawn. Also you can offer the BUY SIDE or Sub Agent commission to an agent, licensed or licensed exempt that brings you a buyer.

In fact as a buyer you can also act as your own license exempt agent too and we have not even touched all the cool online stuff like how I sell 3 homes a day across hundreds of kilometers and never leave my laptop.

The old guard that is also answering this question still thinks it's 1955 and that nothing will change is in for a BIG surprise.
Customers are tired of paying for "Lock Box" service where the listing salesperson never shows your home.
Surveys on the Canadian Business magazine show that almost 80% of customers will embrace this self serve model as they are tired of paying full serve rates for self service performance.

Also worrying for the industry is that it is a very high overhead cost operation, and as the product of a Real Estate Office is Realtors and not Real Estate, many offices and boards will fold as the advantages of being licensed become questionable and they lose the ability to attract new Realtors to pay the overhead.

Even this site, which believes it's up to date, is still stuck in the old pre Internet era of horizontal neighborhood markets and ignores emerging vertical markets, will have to change.

It's a business like any other business. Things change and those who can adapt or differentiate themselves will succeed. Ultimately the market will decide which business model works and which one doesn't

Being a Realtor is a profession, the competition bureau is here to assist what it's in existence for, and I'm sure CREA and the bureau will find a way to cooperate for the best interest of the public and the members, the outcomes are sure to be beneficial to all.

A Realtor is a professional occupation and there will always be a need.

Most sellers and buyers want professional representation to lead them through this complicated process correctly. There will always be a few people who will try to save commission as there were in the past. Statistically, the seller in many cases recieves less money than if they hired a realtor.

If there is a benefit to the professional realtor, maybe the part time agents will feel like you and no longer want to be a member. This will make our profession stronger.