Modernizing Ontario’s Real Estate Market
New regulations remove hurdles for real estate professionals and address consumer concerns
Big changes are here for Ontario’s real estate industry.
After years of effort, our PC government was pleased to announce today that the first phase of regulations under the Trust in Real Estate Services Act, 2020 that received Royal Assent on March 4, 2020, came into effect.
Under this first phase of changes, rules for real estate brokerages and professionals are being brought into closer alignment with contemporary business practices. Maintaining strong measures that protect consumer rights, the new measures will:
- Allow real estate professionals to incorporate and be paid through Personal Real Estate Corporations (PRECs), like so many other professionals in our province.
- Let salespersons and brokers use additional advertising terms such as “real estate agent” and REALTOR® in their advertisements, better reflecting the services they provide to consumers across the province.
“These changes will go a long way toward fostering a healthy, open, and competitive real estate marketplace for consumers and businesses. I encourage real estate professionals to take advantage of the opportunity to file incorporation documents before the end of the year, as the government works to bring the second phase of the TRESA amendments into force,” said Lisa Thompson, MPP for Huron-Bruce and Minister of Government and Consumer Services.
The second phase of regulatory development, which will focus on further measures to support trustworthiness and the highest ethical standards in the real estate sector, is expected to get underway this fall.