Advertising Guidelines

Provincial legislation imposes advertising standards through the Act, the Commission Bylaws, and through federal legislation, The Competition Act. Registrants advertising may also be governed by applicable privacy and anti spam legislation.

The Competition Act contains criminal and civil provisions aimed at preventing anti-competitive practices in the marketplace and applies to not only real estate boards and associations, but directly to every registered brokerage and every individual registrant.

The Commission requires registrants to comply with the advertising standards found in the Act and Commission Bylaws. If you fail to comply with the advertising standards, consequences can range from a warning or a letter of reprimand for minor infractions, to fines and suspension or cancellation of registration for major infractions.  Criminal or civil charges are possible under The Competition Act. Ensuring your advertising complies with the standards protects you as an individual, the reputation of your brokerage, and the real estate industry.

Some brokerages may have a policy with respect to the commission it charges clients. Registrants must not advertise that commission rates are somehow “set” or regulated by a higher authority, such as a governing body or trade association. Commission rates are negotiable between a brokerage and a client, and to say otherwise is false and misleading. The registrant is the brokerage’s representative in those negotiations.

A brokerage may be unwilling to negotiate commission – and that is allowed – but the client must understand that is a brokerage policy. Registrants cannot give clients the impression that all brokerages charge the same non-negotiable commission.

One of the easiest ways for brokers to help ensure their brokerage and its registrants comply with advertising rules is to have a brokerage policies and procedures manual in place that includes information about advertising. The Commission expects brokerages to have robust oversight of all registrant advertising since all advertising is done on behalf of the brokerage.

The brokerage policies and procedures should outline the steps through which a registrant can ensure their advertising complies with the advertising guidelines. If a registrant uses advertising that is false or misleading, the Commission may sanction that registrant and their broker. A broker, associate broker, or branch manager is responsible for reviewing and approving all advertising to ensure compliance with the Act, the regulations and the Bylaws.

“Advertising” includes any notice, announcement or representation directed at the public that is made by or on behalf of a brokerage or registrant and that is intended to promote a brokerage or registrant or the business, services, or real estate trades of a brokerage or registrant in any medium including, but not limited to, print, radio, television, electronic media, or publication on the internet (including websites and social media sites). Business cards, letterhead, email signatures, or cover sheets that contain promotional statements may be considered as “advertising.”

Registrants are required to act honestly at all times, and that requirement extends to all of their advertising, no matter the medium. Registrant advertising must not be false, inaccurate, capable of misleading the recipient or intended recipient, in bad taste or offensive, harmful to the best interests of the public, or prohibited by law.

As stated in the Commission Bylaws, registrants may only advertise properties for sale or lease, or properties that have been sold or leased, when they have written authorization from the owner or the owner’s lawful representative. This means registrants cannot place signs or advertising that designate property as being on the market, such as “for sale,” “sold,” “for rent,” “will develop to suit,” etc. without the written consent of the owner of that property or the owner’s authorized representative.

Advertisements must not be:

• false;
• inaccurate;
• reasonably capable of misleading the recipient or intended recipient;
• in bad taste or offensive;
• harmful to the best interests of the public; or
• prohibited by law.

To determine if advertising is false or misleading, the Commission considers the literal meaning of the advertisement and the general impression it creates. Advertising can be misleading even if there is no proof a consumer was misled. It is only necessary to show the advertisement is capable of misleading a reasonable consumer. Carelessness, negligence, incompetence, and recklessness can result in misleading advertising, as can intentional misrepresentations (intentionally untrue statements). Registrants can avoid the problems associated with false and misleading advertisements by considering the following when advertising:

Permanence: Advertisements in circulation for long periods of time (billboards, bus benches) present special problems for registrants. Facts that support the claims in the advertising may change while the advertisement is still active. Registrants need to consider whether the claims they are making are likely to change. If they are, the registrant should consider a form of advertising with a shorter time. If the basis for the advertising claims change, the registrant needs to make corrections or deletions as soon as possible.

Implied endorsements: Avoid giving the impression that someone endorses you unless you have written confirmation of the endorsement. Using information that implies an endorsement without actually stating that a certain individual or organization endorses the advertisement could also result in a misrepresentation. Make sure you only use logos you have permission to use. Using a logo other than one’s own could be an improperly implied endorsement, in addition to potential copyright or trademark infringement.

“Coming Soon” Advertising: Advertising a property to generate interest before it is on the market must also be compliant and written authorization from the owner is required. If a listing agreement is not in place, some other for of written authorization is required.

“Restrictions or Conditions Apply”: Only use the statement “terms and conditions apply” when the conditions do not materially alter the offer you’re advertising. If the terms and conditions materially alter the advertisement, you must include the terms and conditions in the advertisement in a clear and conspicuous way. Details of all restrictions and conditions must be available to consumers upon request at the brokerage office and/or on the brokerage’s website.

Using industry terms, not understood by the public: If using industry-specific terms in advertising, registrants must present the information in such a way that consumers will have a clear understanding of what the advertising means.

Comparisons to other registrants: Registrants who use advertising that compares them to other registrants must ensure they:

• present facts and figures in a clear, straightforward way;
• disclose the source of any facts and figures they include;
• do not take any facts and figures out of context; and
• include reliable facts and the conclusions based on those facts are based on adequate and proper tests.

Bait and switch tactics: Some marketing schemes rely on communicating a misleading offer to get a foot in the door with a consumer, but then they substantially restrict the offer during the meeting with the prospective client. This is misleading advertising.

All registrant advertising is on behalf of the brokerage with which the registrant is registered. Brokerages must have policies and procedures in place for advertising and brokers should review all registrant advertising.

If a broker identifies an issue of concern with a registrant’s advertising, they must take steps to correct the advertising with the registrant.

Because real estate professionals may only trade in the name of the brokerage with which they are registered, they:

• must clearly indicate the name of their brokerage, as it appears on the brokerage’s licence, in all of their advertising;
• cannot abbreviate the name of their brokerage in advertisements. For example, if the name of the brokerage contains the words “Real Estate” registrants cannot use “R.E” as an abbreviation.

Including a brokerage logo or website address does not qualify as clearly indicating the brokerage name.  Advertisements should state the full name of the brokerage. A reasonable consumer should be able to identify the brokerage based only on the advertisement.

A registrant may wish to offer a performance guarantee, such as a commission reduction if the property fails to sell by a specific date. Registrants may advertise performance guarantees as long as the advertisements are not false or misleading.

Where a registrant, as an inducement to a person to trade in real estate, makes any representation or promise the registrant shall sign and deliver to the person to whom the representation or promise is made a statement clearly setting out all the details of the representation or promise, prior to the person executing any document with respect to the trade.

Some seller clients may wish to offer their own incentive to potential buyers. This is permitted as long as it is clear the seller is offering the incentive and not the brokerage or registrant. If advertising a seller incentive, make sure it’s clear that it’s the seller offering the incentive, not the brokerage.

Registrants often advertise that they have special qualifications, experience or expertise in specific industry sectors or in certain geographic areas. Consumers often rely on these claims. When making these claims, registrants must ensure they are in a position to demonstrate the qualification or experience they are claiming. If a registrant advertises special qualifications or expertise, the Courts and the Commission typically hold them to a higher standard.

Registrants should also keep in mind that when using terms such as “expert” or “specialist” in their advertising, there should be an additional benefit to consumers. If a complaint arises, the registrant is held to a higher standard than one who does not hold themselves out as an “expert” or “specialist.”

Making statements along the lines of being the “#1 registrant” is meaningless without additional information. If you want to use such a statement in advertising, you need to include enough information in the advertisement not to deceive or mislead the public. A verifiable and quantifiable identification statement in any advertising must provide enough information so that a member of the public cannot attribute more than one meaning to the message.

Registrants must:

• be able to justify claims using factual evidence and solid proof upon request from any person; and
• be sure any conclusions a registrant makes in advertising are factual, and based on adequate and proper tests.

A registrant who wants to refer to him or herself as “#1” needs to include more information in the advertisement – such as information about the market in which the professional is #1 and information about what makes the registrant #1 (i.e. most homes sold, most homes listed, most money made) and it needs to include a timeframe.

When a registrant makes claims in an advertisement, information substantiating those claims must be readily available to consumers from the brokerage upon request. Claims may include the brokerage or professional guarantees, performance, accomplishments, service levels, etc.

Many brokerages, franchise companies, real estate boards, and industry associations have a system of awards to recognize registrant achievements. These awards may recognize sales achievements, service to the industry, years of employment with the brokerage or years of membership with the local real estate board, among other things. Examples of these awards include language such as “President’s Club”, “100% Club”, “Million Dollar Club”, “REALTOR® of the Year” and “Top Producer Award.” The rules for granting these awards may vary greatly between each brokerage or organization.

The Commission accepts that registrants may receive this type of recognition and does not prohibit registrants from including these awards in advertising. Registrants who include awards in their advertising must be able to provide verification of the achievement of the award or membership of the club in question.

If a registrant achieves membership in a brokerage, board or association “club” and there is no expiry to that membership, the registrant may include the membership in their advertising on an ongoing basis. If the membership is for a specified period, that must be clear in the advertisement.

As a best practice, registrants should only include award club “memberships” that are current as of the date of advertisement. If the award or club membership was for a specific time period (i.e. 2024), and you want to include it in an advertisement after that time, make sure you reference the time period in question, for example: 2024 Multi-Million Dollar Club Member.

A registrant who is a licensed professional in another profession, such as a mortgage broker, engineer or lawyer, may include it in their advertising as long as they are a member in good standing and/or remain licensed. Likewise, real estate professionals may hold a professional designation or certification given to them through a professional or industry association, and they can include those in advertising as long as they are current.

Registrants can indicate the number of years of experience they have working in real estate brokerage, but they can only include years of experience of registered activity. Five years of experience as an assistant in a real estate office plus five years of experience as a real estate associate does not equal 10 years of experience.

Registrants cannot advertise combined years of experience – that is, the total number of years of experience for a group. Only individuals can indicate years of experience because combined experience for a group is misleading to a consumer. For example, it is not compliant to make a statement such as: “The Smith Group has more than 50 combined years of experience!”

Registrants may only make claims they can substantiate. Any advertisement that makes a comparison to a competitor needs to be clear, truthful and in good taste. For more information on comparative advertising, check out the Competition Bureau’s website here.

Without additional information to clarify the statement it may be a false or misleading comparison.

This advertisement can be much more useful – and truthful – with a simple clarification, for example: “Our client saved $3,000 based on our lower than average, 5% commission rate.”

Registrants must clearly indicate their brokerage name in all advertising. A brokerage name is “clearly indicated” when a reasonable consumer, under normal circumstances, can clearly distinguish the name of a brokerage in an advertisement.

Registrants are responsible for trading in real estate only in the name that appears on their Certificate of Registration and they must clearly indicate the brokerage’s name in all of their advertisements. The advertisement must be unambiguous in stating the full name of the brokerage. Including a brokerage logo or website address is not clearly indicating the brokerage name. A reasonable consumer should be able to identify the brokerage based on the advertisement alone.

The brokerage is limited to using one trade name and the brokerage must use that trade name for all trading activities. The brokerage and all of its registrants must clearly indicate that name in advertising.

The team concept can lead to confusion with respect to advertising. Advertising a team name or a “brand” complies with legislation as long as it is in addition to a clearly indicated brokerage name.

Teams should avoid the use of identifiers in their team name or branding efforts that could increase the likelihood of misleading consumers about whether the team is a registered brokerage. Teams cannot be registered. Teams must be careful to avoid any behaviour, including their choice of team name and advertising, which could lead consumers to believe they are a brokerage.

To advertise that a potential client will be hiring an entire “team” for the same price as a single real estate professional is misleading because a client always hires an entire brokerage, not a single team or individual registrant.

Teams must get their brokerage approval before doing any branding or launching any advertising campaigns. It is the broker’s responsibility to ensure that any advertising is compliant. All advertising carried out by individual registrants – and teams – is on behalf of the brokerage with which they are registered so it is important to have the broker review and approve it.

Registrants cannot claim consumers will be hiring their entire team for the price of a single agent.

The consumer always hires the entire brokerage so such a claim would be false or misleading.

Real estate professionals can have unregistered assistants. However, the registrant can never suggest or imply that the unregistered assistant is qualified to trade in real estate.

Registrants cannot assign duties to an unregistered assistant that require a registered professional. Activities that CAN be performed by unregistered persons who, for example, act as personal assistants, clerical support staff, closing secretaries, etc.:

• Answer the phone and forward calls to registrants;
• Assemble documents for closings or for forwarding to solicitors;
• Have keys made for company listings;
• Secure documents such as public information from land title registry, utility and property tax service providers;
• Record and deposit earned money and other trust funds;
• Monitor personnel files;
• Order items of routine repair as directed by supervising broker and/or supervising registrant;
• Act as courier service to deliver documents, pick up keys, etc.;
• Hand out objective written information on a listing other than at functions such as open houses, kiosks, home show booths or fairs;
• Scheduling of appointments for registrants to show listed property;
• Setting up and removing signs and lock boxes;
• Contacting registrants for results on showings of listings;
• Contacting solicitors on transactions;
• Responding to advertising inquiries made by registrants;
• Witnessing of documents already discussed and presented by a registrant; or
• Following up on financing commitments after a contract has been negotiated.

Activities that CANNOT be performed by unregistered persons include, but are not necessarily limited to:

• Host public open houses, kiosks, home show booths or fairs, or hand out materials at such functions;
• Show property;
• Present, discuss, or explain to consumers any documentation dealing with a real estate transaction;
• Solicit a contract to trade in real estate or telephone solicitations designed to procure buyers, listings, or appointments for listing presentations;
• Advertise real estate;
• Respond to seller inquiries on the results of registrant showings of the seller’s property;
• Respond to inquiries from consumers, including advertising inquiries; or
• Be paid on the basis of real estate activity, such as a lump sum or percentage of commission on a real estate transaction.

It is important to note that consumers dealing with unregistered assistants conducting these types of activities are not protected by the Act.

In certain situations, consumers may wish to have their property listed with real estate professionals from two different brokerages (for example, divorcing spouses); this is a “joint listing”, “co-listing”, or “co-brokering”. When this happens, both brokerages need to be included on the listing agreement and normal advertising policies apply (such as clearly indicating the brokerage name that is doing the advertising). Either brokerage may advertise the property as long as there is nothing in the listing agreement that says otherwise.

Because the Commission does not regulate buyers or sellers, sellers may advertise their own property, separate from advertising their real estate representative does. However, if sellers do their own advertising and include the name of their real estate professional, they must also include and clearly indicate the brokerage name. Registrants, when signing an agreement with a seller, should explain to the seller that the agreement is actually with the brokerage, not the individual registrant.

If an advertisement includes the address of a property, that advertisement is an advertisement for that property. “For sale” or “Sold” advertising that includes the address of a particular property requires written authorization from the current owner of the property.

Privacy cases demonstrate there’s a continuing evolution of when information is personal information and whether consent is needed to disclose the personal information. This affects registrants’ advertising.

If the information the registrant wants to advertise could be personal information and there is no consent, they must seek consent. If there is information about an individual of a personal nature then consent is required to disclose this information.

An exterior photograph of a property, or its general location (neighbourhood) and nothing more is likely not personal information. When disclosed in combination with an advertisement of a sold transaction, it is unclear whether or not this is personal information. Defaulting to getting consent from the parties is recommended.

If an advertisement contains interior photographs, specific details about an individual, information about the selling price, or otherwise connects an individual to a transaction, the advertisement most likely contains personal information. To advertise this information, consent will be required from the parties to the transaction. If you are unable to obtain written consent, do not include personal information in advertising.

It is important to note that the Commission’s position on advertising completed transactions is subject to future privacy considerations and findings.

Brokerages and agents advertising that a property is sold must not include anything that could reasonably be used to:

• Identify any party to the transaction, unless that party has consented in writing;
• Identify a specific property, unless the owner of the property has consented in writing; or
• Determine any of the contents of an agreement of purchase and sale, including the price, unless the parties to the agreement have consented in writing.

The consent must be clear and include the date on which the consent takes effect and the date on which the consent expires. “Consent in writing” can include email or text message provided they clearly indicate the date, the name of the owner, the address of the property, and the details of the permission being granted (ie. which advertising, images or information).

Who needs consent?

To determine whose written consent to seek – the buyer, seller, or both – an agent must answer the following questions:

• When will the advertisement be distributed? Will the advertisement be published before or after the transaction is completed?
• Who is placing the advertisement? Which party did the registrant represent in the transaction?

Remember, if you need to contact a party that was represented by another registrant,  communication must go through the other registrant, unless you have the registrant’s consent to contact the person directly.

Advertising BEFORE a transaction is completed:

Property sold:

• If the seller’s brokerage wants to advertise that the property is sold, the seller’s consent is required.
• If the buyer’s brokerage wants to advertise that the property is sold, the seller’s consent is required.

Property sold and price or terms included:

• If the seller’s brokerage wants to advertise that the property is sold and wants to include price information, or other terms of the deal, both the seller’s and buyer’s consent is required.
• If the buyer’s brokerage wants to advertise that the property is sold and wants to include price information, or other terms of the deal, both the seller’s and buyer’s consent is required.

Advertising AFTER a transaction is completed:

Property sold:

• If the seller’s brokerage wants to advertise that the property is sold, the buyer’s consent is required.
• If the buyer’s brokerage wants to advertise that the property is sold, the buyer’s consent is required.

Property sold and price or terms included:

• If the seller’s brokerage wants to advertise that the property is sold and wants to include price information, or other terms of the deal, both the seller’s and buyer’s consent is required.
• If the buyer’s brokerage wants to advertise that the property is sold and wants to include price information, or other terms of the deal, both the seller’s and buyer’s consent is required.

Requests to remove information:

Even if consent is obtained, a buyer or seller might later request that specific information be removed from a website or social media platform. This could reflect concerns about privacy, security, or confidentiality and might arise due to a change in personal circumstances. In these situations, promptly removing the requested information demonstrates integrity and professionalism.

Online and social media advertising includes but is not limited to websites, marketing email distributions and social media accounts. Generally, the rules for online and social media advertising are the same as for offline advertising, including clearly indicating the brokerage name. The same copyright rules also apply. Registrants should not take content from other registrants and post it as their own.

Websites: When a registrant owns a website or controls its content for advertising purposes, every viewable page must include clear disclosure of the registrant’s name and brokerage. A best practice for registrants who want to use social media for personal and business purposes have separate accounts for each.

Email messages, Newsgroups, Discussion Groups: When an registrant sends email or participates in an online newsgroup or discussion group, and the purpose for doing so is to attract business or service existing clients/customers, they need to include full disclosure of their brokerage within their message.

Banner ads: Registrants need to include full disclosure of their brokerage in their banner advertisement and any website the advertisement links to must provide full disclosure of the brokerage.

The primary issues with online listings relates to keeping the online information current and accurate (i.e. keeping all online sources of the same listing information current, accurate and consistent), and advertising listings from other brokerages.

Consumers should be able to assume that information they find in an online listing is current and accurate; that principle applies to all forms of advertising and marketing. It’s not unique to online.

Online listing information needs to be consistent with the property description and actual status of the listing. Registrants need to update material changes to the listing status or property description in a timely manner.

If registrants want to display listing information from other brokerages, they must have an agreement with the other brokerage to do so. The Commission recommends that real estate professionals do not display other brokerage’s listing information unless they can ensure current and accurate information.

Key points:

• Online listing information should be consistent with the property description and actual status of the listing. When a registrant controls a website, they should make updates in a timely manner if there are any material changes to the listing status or property description that the seller has authorized.
• When a registrant or brokerage has a website that is maintained by a third-party, they need to make sure they submit requests in writing to that third-party in a timely manner if there are updates reflecting material changes to the listing status or property description.
• All listing information should clearly indicate the date on which the information was last updated.
• Real estate professionals should not advertise listings from other brokerages without written permission and, if given, should not alter the online display or any informational part of the listing without written permission from the listing brokerage.

The brokerage name must appear in all advertisements in the course of trading in real estate. Each individual page and/or frame of a website should clearly indicate the brokerage name. It is not enough to put the brokerage name on a single page, such as the ‘Contact Us’ page, within the website. Registrants must clearly indicate their brokerage name on every page within their website.

Because online advertising is global, registrants should ensure they include enough contact information for the brokerage, i.e. include the area code with the phone number. If the brokerage has a website or email address, include that too. It also helps consumers when registrants indicate their licence jurisdiction (which provinces, etc.).

A domain name is the internet address of a website. Meta tags and meta descriptions are keywords and phrases embedded in a website that help search engines find that website. For example, a real estate professional might include keywords such as “real estate,” homes,” “houses,” or their location etc. in their website’s meta tags field. When a person enters the word “homes” in the search function of search engines, the search engine results will include websites with the word “homes” in the meta tags.

Domain names, email address and meta tags should not contain any trademark that the registrant is not authorized to use. Registrants must not use misleading meta tags. One example of this is to include a competitor’s name in your website’s meta tags. Search engine results would display your website when a consumer is actually doing a search for your competitor. Registrants must also avoid registering and using domain names for their websites that include the names of their competitors.

Registrants must not make representations or carry on conduct that is reckless or intentional and that misleads or deceives any person or is likely to do so. Misleading meta tags
or the use of domain names in these ways could mislead consumers.

Registrants must keep listing information current and accurate. They must ensure that when listings expire, they immediately remove them from any websites they control. Similarly, if property information changes during a listing period, the registrant should also change the information on websites to ensure it remains accurate. If a registrant wants to link to a database of other listings, they need to make it clear to consumers which brokerage has each property listed.

Links are either graphics or words on a webpage that, when a user clicks on them, takes them to another webpage, either within the same site or a different website. Deep links are links that take a user to a webpage other than the homepage of a specific website.

Frames are a design element that are created when one website captures information from another website or webpage and displays it graphically within the original browser window/tab. A website is “framed” if one web page appears to be a part of, or embedded in, another page. A website designer may do this to retain design elements and links within certain frames on the website, even while the user changes the information presented in another frame. Some website designers also use frames to post content from other websites, and embed that content within their own website.

Regardless of which website hosts the listings of your local real estate board or a commercial property database; there are rights of compilation in those databases. Whether a real estate board, CREA, or a private company own those rights, registrants should adhere to the guidelines established for linking to that listing information.

You should not “deep link” to a website without first getting permission from the website owner. Embedding content from another website within a frame of your website can lead to copyright and/or trademark infringement. You should have permission from the website owner prior to framing.

Registrant websites are viewable by people around the world. Registrants should be upfront and clear on their website about their location and service area. Registrants must not give the impression they hold a licence in a province or state where they do not, and they should clearly indicate on their website the jurisdiction where they are registered or hold a licence.

The use of social media continues to grow and new sites and applications appear regularly. The advertising principles and rules apply no matter the social media platform or app.

As with websites and print advertising, registrants must clearly indicate their registered name and their brokerage name on all of their social media profiles and pages if they are using the accounts to trade in real estate. The Commission recommends including brokerage information in the user’s profile so that it is contained in each post.

X (formerly Twitter):
On some social media platforms, the number of characters a user can post is limited. If a registrant uses these platforms to trade in real estate, they still need to meet the advertising standards that are in place. If a registrant posts with a link to an advertisement or listing, the linked page must include the full brokerage name.

YouTube:
Registrants may not be able to include your full brokerage name in your YouTube Channel name, but your channel description can have up to 1,000 characters. You will need to ensure full disclosure of your brokerage name appears in your channel description if you’re using your channel to trade in real estate.

Additionally, each video you’re using to trade in real estate (even if simply advertising your services rather than a specific property) should include full disclosure of your brokerage in the video’s description.

Facebook:
Facebook advertisements are not as limiting as other platforms in terms of content, so registrants must include their brokerage directly within the advertisement and not just on the page the advertisement directs consumers to. The Commission recommends including brokerage information in the user’s profile so that it is contained in each post.

Instagram:
The character limit on Instagram posts is sufficient to clearly indicate a brokerage name within advertising posts. Registrants must include their brokerage within the advertisement and not just on the page the advertisement directs consumers to. The Commission recommends including brokerage information in the user’s profile so that it is contained in each post.

For additional information that may be relevant to registrant advertising requirements, please see the following:

The Competition Bureau Canada

Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL)

The Office of the Saskatchewan Information and Privacy Commissioner