Education requirements

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How does RECO set educational requirements

The world of real estate is fast-paced and ever-changing. What buyers and sellers expect from their agents today may differ from what was expected just a few years ago. Competent service, professionalism, ethical conduct, and adherence to legal standards are essential qualities that every client looks for in their real estate agent.

To help ensure these standards are met across Canada, the Real Estate Regulators of Canada (RERC) introduced competency profiles in 2021. RECO is one of 10 members of RERC, which include the real estate regulators of provinces and territories across Canada.

These competency profiles establish consistent guidelines for real estate agents across Canada. By outlining the skills, knowledge, and essential behaviours, these profiles support education, training, and career growth for agents and brokers.

What is a competency?

A competency is a blend of skills, knowledge, and behaviours that enable professionals to perform critical tasks effectively. A competency profile is a set of core competencies, serving as a standard for success.

Developing Canada-wide standards

The creation of these profiles involved input from real estate agents from across the country, including RECO’s previous Education Advisory Committee, one of several expert groups that provided input to the process to validate and refine the competency profiles.

Why create competency profiles?

Competency profiles provide a unified framework that helps regulators, educators, practitioners, and employers across Canada align on common expectations and goals. By establishing shared standards, the profiles improve labour mobility across provinces and ensure a cohesive skill set across the real estate profession.

Benefits of competency profiles

For real estate agents: Competency profiles offer a benchmark for personal and career growth, helping agents identify and work toward the skills that will elevate their practice.
For brokers of record and managers: These profiles foster meaningful performance discussions by providing a shared language for skills and expectations.
For real estate boards, associations and other stakeholders: The profiles help design targeted training programs that support skills beyond consumer protection, addressing the full range of abilities needed for long-term success in the field.

For more on the standards that support professional growth across the real estate sector in Canada, explore the salesperson competency profile and broker competency profile.