Commission Advertising Guidelines

The Real Estate Trading Act and Commission By-Law, which came into effect on January 20, 1997, contain rules regarding advertising. These rules are part of what the Supreme Court of Canada has identified as the two main objectives of regulating professional advertising:

• To maintain a high standard of professionalism for the profession, as opposed to commercialism.
• To protect the public from irresponsible and misleading advertising.

Real estate brokerage is governed by specific legislation whose prime objective is to maintain consumer confidence by overseeing the activities of brokers and salespeople based on rules of conduct arising out of professional law. This aspect must be taken into account when interpreting the Real Estate Trading Act.

The practices used must be consistent with the requirements of the Real Estate Trading Act and By-Law and reflect the high degree of professionalism that Industry Members are required to uphold. These requirements apply to both commercial and residential real estate.

Commission Advertising Guidelines