Technological Overhaul of the Nominis Portal: Land Data Management for Quebec

Several technical and business challenges motivated this overhaul.

Firstly, the unstandardized data came from very diverse sources (Land Registry, judicial databases, mortgage files, collections, bankruptcies, etc.), making it complex to integrate them into a single system.

Secondly, the old platform suffered from insufficient performance: a search query could take up to 40 seconds, an unacceptable delay for a service intended to be « real-time. »

Moreover, the historical architecture did not allow for fine-tuned subscription customization or the easy addition of new modules (alerts, CRM, data export). The constantly evolving data also required continuous updates and maximum reliability.

In summary, the challenge was to manage a considerable, heterogeneous data volume while offering a responsive (mobile, web), modular client experience that complied with security and privacy standards.

The technological overhaul of the Nominis portal aimed to address a dual ambition: mastering the growing complexity of land data in Quebec and providing a highly performant, customizable, and scalable user experience. Specifically, the project had the following objectives:

• Drastically reduce search and processing response times to achieve near-real-time performance, essential for professional use.
• Centralize and standardize data from heterogeneous sources (Land Registry, judicial databases, mortgages, etc.), while ensuring their reliability.
• Modernize the technological infrastructure by adopting recent standards (GraphQL, React, containerization) to improve maintainability, security, and scalability.
• Offer an intuitive and modular interface, tailored to different user profiles (investors, brokers, institutions), accessible on both desktop and mobile.
• Deploy new value-added services such as smart alerts, integrated CRM, enhanced data exports, and secure online payments.
• Prepare for the future by equipping the platform with an architecture capable of integrating artificial intelligence components, open APIs, and enhanced compliance (especially with Law 25).

To address these challenges, Tekru deployed a modern and modular web architecture. The core application was rebuilt using Node.js and TypeScript, offering scalability and simplified maintenance. A GraphQL API was introduced to unify queries across multiple data sources: « GraphQL allows consolidating multiple data sources into a single query, » eliminating the need to manually multiplex backend calls.

Full-text search was entrusted to Elasticsearch, a high-performance indexing engine that makes each query ultra-fast by pre-indexing the content. Meanwhile, a graph database was deployed to leverage complex relationships between entities (people, companies, properties) and generate enriched reports.

On the client-side, the interface was entirely revamped in React, ensuring a modern, responsive UI compatible with desktop, tablet, and mobile. OCR technologies were also integrated to make text from scanned documents (judgments, notarial acts, etc.) searchable and usable.

Finally, scheduled tasks (cron jobs) manage continuous alerts from the TopCrono module (real-time or daily notifications), while a secure online payment system and a modular CRM were integrated into the portal to complete the custom SaaS offering.

The overhaul relies on a modern technology stack:

• Node.js & TypeScript: Backbone of the backend, ensuring typed, scalable, and high-performance code.
• GraphQL: Unified query interface between the frontend and microservices, allowing queries across all data sources in a single request.
• Elasticsearch: Distributed indexing engine, guaranteeing full-text search across hundreds of millions of documents.
• Graph Database: Stores complex relationships (organizational charts, business histories), enabling the generation of consolidated reports.
• SQL: Relational database for structured data (user accounts, subscription settings, logs, etc.).
• Cron Jobs: Scheduled tasks using Node (node-cron) for automatic triggering of strategic alerts (TopCrono) and real-time data synchronization.
• React (UI): Front-end framework for a modern, fast, and responsive interface.

Each of these components was orchestrated into containerized microservices (Docker/Azure), ensuring isolation, scalability, and interoperability with the client’s third-party systems.

The overhaul has resulted in spectacular gains in performance and reliability. Search response times have been reduced by more than 60 times – now averaging about 0.6 seconds, down from approximately 40 seconds. Pre-indexing (via Elasticsearch) generates « ultra-fast » reports.

The React-based user interface is now fast and responsive, providing a smooth experience across mobile, tablet, and desktop. These improvements significantly accelerate decision-making cycles for users, as studies on speed impact show (pages loaded in 1 second, for example, have three times more conversions than those loaded in 5 seconds). Decision-makers now benefit from real-time, accurate land data, enhancing proactive land management and the competitiveness of projects.

Moreover, the modular architecture has allowed subscriptions and packages to be tailored to each client’s specific needs (company size, covered sectors, number of modules). Strategic modules have been integrated: advanced multi-criteria search, personalized alerts (real-time, daily, weekly), data export, an integrated CRM for sales tracking, and secure online payment for subscriptions. All these elements converge into a comprehensive and scalable SaaS solution.

According to client feedback, the new portal is « reliable and always available, » simplifying real estate monitoring and risk management.

The digital modernization of the Nominis Portal by the Tekru team has resulted in a high-performance, reliable SaaS platform for land management.

This overhaul paves the way for future extensions:

• Nominis plans to fully leverage the data graph (Neo4j) to generate automated analytical reports (« One Pagers ») incorporating key strategic metrics.
• Thanks to the architecture, new Nominis APIs will soon be available, allowing partner ERP/CRM software to directly access land data in real-time.
• Finally, the team aims to enrich the portal with artificial intelligence (for trend detection, credit scoring, etc.) and continue continuous updates (security audits, compliance with Law 25, etc.).

In summary, the renovated Nominis Portal exemplifies the effectiveness of a well-executed digital transformation – combining modern technologies (Node.js, GraphQL, NoSQL and SQL databases, React interfaces) – to meet the complex needs of the Quebec real estate sector, while ensuring long-term performance and scalability.