Tag: RECA Update June 2022

As of June 1st, 2022, RECA (Real Estate Council of Alberta) is divesting itself from offering Real Estate Education in Alberta. This has been a big news in the Alberta Real Estate Industry as RECA is the direct authority that regulates Real Estate / Mortgage Brokerage – Licensing, Education as well as License Renewal Services in Alberta.

The news started circulating in the market since January 2022 and has been unclear till date as to what is exactly happening and how will it affect the learners in the Real Estate / Mortgage Brokerage Industry. In reference to the same topic, there has been a buzz about the new “RECA-Recognized Course Providers” for Real Estate / Mortgage Brokerage Education in Alberta.

All of this is scary and confusing to many. Thus, the blog explains you the whole scenario with the reason of all this happening. Read on!

First of all, who is RECA?

The Real Estate Council of Alberta (RECA) is the governing body for Alberta’s real estate brokerage, mortgage brokerage, property management, and (New) condominium management licenses.

In other words, RECA licenses and regulates real estate agents, mortgage brokers, property managers, and condominium managers to enhance consumer protection.

What were RECA’s original duties?

Licensed professionals have to meet RECA’s Eligibility Criteria to enter the industry. They’re required to comply with RECA’s rules for doing business along with competently assisting the public of Alberta in buying, selling, or managing a property or condominium, or obtaining a mortgage.

RECA primary role in the industry was to offer:

1. Education – Eligibility, Courses, Exams: RECA offered Eligibility guidelines for applicants in order to enter into Pre-licensing courses. Self-paced online pre-licensing course materials were offered by RECA. The pre-licensing exams were also under RECA’s administration.
2. Issuing, Renewing and Cancelling Licenses: RECA is the only body who is authorized to issue, renew or cancel licenses for real estate, mortgage brokerage, property management and condominium management professionals in Alberta.
3. Information & Resources: RECA is the one-stop shop for all the resources that you may need as a Real Estate / Mortgage Brokerage Professional or client.
4. Regulation of Bylaws: RECA sets and regulates the functionality of the industry standards and makes periodic checks on the professionals to ensure fair operations are taking place.

What has changed with RECA since June 1, 2022?

As of June 1, 2022, RECA has divested itself from offering Pre-Licensing Education Courses in Alberta.

It means that RECA has “given up the educational duties” for the Real Estate, Mortgage Brokerage and Property Management Industry in Alberta. However, RECA still continues to perform other duties pertaining to offering information and resources to industry professionals, regulation by-laws, maintaining smooth functioning of the same as well as issuing, renewing and cancelling licenses as before.

As a result of education divestment, RECA’s education department is now the “Credentialing Department” and the unit that assists learners is now “Credentialing Support Services”. A learner will still need to meet RECA’s eligibility criteria in order to get pre-licensing education for real estate, mortgage brokerage, property management or condominium management.

Why RECA gave up Pre-Licensing Education?

Couple of years ago, KPMG (Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdeler) did an audit on RECA and realized that education should be moved away from RECA and should be passed on to other educational institutions.

This created a need to amend the Real Estate Act (REA), Alberta, thereby changing RECA’s role in the Alberta Real Estate Industry to make it more robust and useful to the learners and other industry professionals. Visit the link ahead to get further details on the Amendments to the Alberta Real Estate Act.

The course content is still licensed by RECA. All courses and course providers become recognized by RECA if they pass the application process; Also, RECA’s content can be licensed but some course providers are creating their own materials. All recognized course providers must map their courses to RECA’s competency exam blueprints.

So, from where do you get Pre-Licensing Education Courses after June 1, 2022?

In order to get Pre-Licensing Courses for Real Estate, Mortgage Brokerage, Property Management or Condominium Management Licenses in Alberta, you have to register yourself with at least one of the “RECA-Recognized Course Providers”.

These RECA-Recognized Course Providers are educational institutions across Alberta that have applied for various pre-licensing courses with RECA for different industries including real estate, mortgage brokerage, property management or condominium management.

Once the courses become recognized by RECA, they will be made available to learners. The process for our course materials to be recognized by RECA is still in-process and will be hopefully settled in a few months.

Steps for becoming a Licensed REALTOR®, Mortgage Broker, Property Manager, Condo Manager in Alberta – After June 1, 2022

The way it would work from June 1, 2022 onwards is –

STEP 1: Register yourself with RECA by meeting RECA’s Eligibility Requirements.
STEP 2: Select a RECA-Recognized Course Provider for the specific courses that you are interested in.
STEP 3: Pass the required number of courses that you need for a specific license you are looking to get.
STEP 4: Join a Brokerage – and that completes the process to get you licensed in any of the industries (real estate, mortgage brokerage, property management or condominium management).

Changes in total that are effective in the Alberta Real Estate Industry since June 1, 2022

1. RECA’s Education Divestment
2. Changes in the REA (Real Estate Act)
3. New Course Providers for Existing Pre-Licensing Courses
4. Changes in the Condominium Property Act
5. Introducing Condominium Management Licenses & Pre-Licensing Courses

Benefits of RECA changes to New Learners & Licensees

1. Learners will have more options to explore and select the course providers that suits them and will not have to self-study everything by themselves.
2. All these course providers will be RECA-Recognized.
3. The base content of the courses offered by the RECA-Recognized course providers will be inline with RECA’s course competency and exam blueprints, making it reliable for learners.
4. Some course providers will also have the option of offering multiple training options including tutoring or in-person training, thereby making it beneficial for the learners.

Where to find more updates?

Some of these changes are still in-process and are functioning on an ongoing basis. More updates will be posted once there is a confirmation about the news from reliable sources. Keep in touch!

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