Canadian Real Estate Association

This article is about the Canadian Real Estate Association. For other uses, see CREA.

The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) is one of Canada's largest single-industry trade associations, representing more than 96,000 real estate Brokers/agents and salespeople working through more than 100 real estate Boards and Associations.

Registrants in any province who become members of organized real estate have an obligation to act in accordance with the REALTOR® Code. This Code outlines the accepted standard of conduct for all real estate practitioners who are members of a real estate Board or a Provincial Association.

CREA owns the MLS® and REALTOR® trademarks, which signify a high standard of service and identify members of CREA.

Not every real estate practitioner is a REALTOR®. Only real estate professionals who are members of their local real estate board and of CREA, and subscribe to the ethical standards of the REALTOR® Code, are allowed to call themselves REALTORS®.

CREA also operates the, REALTOR.ca, ICX.ca, howrealtorshelp.ca web sites.

Mission Statement

The Canadian Real Estate Association represents and promotes the interests of the members, enhances members’ professionalism and ability to succeed, and advocates policies that ensure real estate property rights and ownership.

Key Objectives:

• To maintain an organizational structure for CREA . Its volunteer leadership and professional staff are there to effectively address the expectations of all members across Canada.
• To promote, protect and safeguard all certification and design marks associated with this association.
• To maintain a continuing relationship with the Federal Government in order to monitor and influence all public policy which affect the industry.
• To help members become more aware about the Competition Act and how to apply it to their business activities.
• To collect, analyze and disseminate data/information on significant market, economic, demographic and technological conditions affecting the housing and real estate industry.
• To formulate, promote and foster consistent professional standards of business practice, integrity and ethical conduct among the membership.
• To provide an interactive forum for the analysis and communication of industry issues, trends, and association benefits.

Organized Real Estate In Canada

Organized real estate in Canada has three levels. The real estate board in general operates at a local level; the provincial or territorial association operates within a province or territory; and the national perspective is the mandate of The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA).

The real estate board is the primary point for processing membership, and the recording and collection of dues. It also operates a Multiple Listing Service® system that in turn, provides data for display on either realtor.ca or ICX.CA. The local board develops and implements the regulations that support CREA’s national policies, and is responsible for the enforcement of the Code of Ethics and the Standards of Business Practice.

The board also provides an arbitration service to resolve disputes between members, and determines membership prerequisites, including the planning of seminars and workshops. The board also ensures local industry representation, and works in liaison with provincial associations and CREA.

The association at the provincial or territorial level handles membership processing in non-board areas, and is the facilitator for the maintenance of board jurisdictions, or for resolving disputes between boards or members from different boards in the same province. The association is also responsible for provincial or territorial licensing and education, and for the development and implementation of political action activities at the provincial level.

The members of the national association (CREA) include those of boards and associations. The responsibilities of The Canadian Real Estate Association include national and international representation of the industry, and the maintenance, protection and standards for certification marks and trademarks.

CREA also develops and maintains a national Code of Ethics, Privacy Code, and Standards of Business Practice, which are implemented at the local board level. The national association also provides arbitration services for disputes between provincial or territorial associations, or between members from different provinces.

History

The concept of developing an informal association of local real estate agents originated in the United States in the 1880s, and by the turn of the century about 15 real estate Boards had been established. The National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) was formed in the U.S. in 1908 with 19 Boards and one state Association.

Organized real estate in Canada is almost as old as the country itself. The very first real estate Board was set up in 1888 in the growing community of Vancouver. Back then, a commercial lot on Hornby Street near the Hotel Vancouver sold for $600. The Vancouver Board was active until the start of the First World War, when operations were suspended. It resumed in 1919, and has been operating ever since.

The distinction of the oldest, continuous running Board belongs to Winnipeg; it started in 1903, and the Winnipeg Real Estate Board is the first in Canada to celebrate a 100th anniversary. A Board was incorporated in Windsor in 1919, and the Toronto Board was incorporated in 1920. Boards in Ottawa, Hamilton, Regina and Victoria followed in 1921. More than half of the existing real estate Boards in Canada were created after 1955, in part because of the evolution of the “Photo Co-Op System” that was introduced in 1951. That was the forerunner of today’s MLS®, introduced in 1962. The Co-op System not only created a need for an organization to establish rules and promote co-operation among agents, but also to provide funds to operate a real estate Board. That’s when technology first changed the real estate industry.

During the final years of the Second World War, leaders of Canada’s real estate industry were increasingly concerned the federal government would continue some wartime measures as a permanent policy, including rent control and other rules relating to property. They realized that only by forming a national organization could the industry hope to make any impact on the federal government's post-war planning.

On March 2, 1943, 11 Ontario Boards and delegates from Victoria, Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg and Montreal drew up the first constitution of the Canadian Association of Real Estate Boards (CAREB). The first CAREB conference, presided over by founding president Charles Purnell of Hamilton, was in Niagara Falls in April 1944. That’s when the term "REALTOR®" was adopted for use by all those who were members of CAREB.

In 1955, CAREB concentrated on promoting the concept and organization of the "Photo Co-op Listing" system (now MLS®), and on replacing the sporadically published newsletter with a monthly magazine entitled the "Canadian REALTOR®”. The Canadian Institute of REALTORS® was also established in 1955, in order to encourage the provinces to establish real estate courses. As an incentive, qualified graduates could use the FRI designation, or “Fellow of the REALTORS® Institute”. Correspondence courses were organized for the first time through the University of Toronto, and the first class "graduated" in 1956.

CAREB evolved into what is now known as The Canadian Real Estate Association, and in 1986 the offices were moved from Toronto to Ottawa, in effect acknowledging the increasing importance of CREA's government lobbying activities.

See also

• National Association of Realtors
• Real estate broker
• Real estate trends
• Estate agent (United Kingdom)
• List of real estate topics

External links

• Canadian Real Estate Association
• Residential Listings (Canada)
• Commercial Listings (Canada)