‘Trust in Real Estate’ act passed

March 6, 2020

Ontario has passed the Trust in Real Estate Services Act (RESA), which has wide support from the real estate community, including the Ontario Real Estate Association (OREA) and the Toronto Real Estate Board.
“This is a huge win for our realtor members, their clients and hardworking Ontarians across the province,” said OREA President Sean Morrison. “Ontario’s homebuyers and sellers can have greater confidence that the realtor has the highest professional standards, training and modern tools in North America, such as the ability to form personal real estate corporations.”
RESA is one of the few pieces of legislation in Ontario to receive bi-partisan support following debate in the Legislature.
OREA has been advocating for a review of the Real Estate and Business Brokers Act (known as REBBA) for over a decade and “finally the Ontario Government has passed this historic piece of legislation,” Morrison said.
There are five primary goals in the proposed legislation: enable regulatory changes that would improve consumer protection and choice; improve professionalism among real estate professionals and brokerages through enhanced ethical requirements; update the powers available to the Real Estate Council of Ontario to address poor conduct and improve efficiency; create a stronger business environment; and, bring legislation and regulations up-to-date and reduce regulatory burden.
Ontario’s real estate rules were nearly 20 years old and this legislation brings the profession into the modern age, Morrison added.