News Bulletin - May 8, 2025

Disciplinary Fines Increasing July 1
New Incentives By-law – Why It Changed, Broker Discretion and Responsibility & Fulfilling Incentives
Online Licensing Renewals Open May 10 (Deadline June 30)
Important Dates Reminder

 

Disciplinary Fines Increasing July 1

At the recommendation of the Complaints Review Committee, as a result of a jurisdictional review of other province's disciplinary fines, effective July 1, 2025, disciplinary fines will be increasing to be more in line with other provincial regulators.

Reminder that also effective July 1, the current by-law 839 on disciplinary publications will be replaced by the new by-law 856 which will allow for the publication of all discipline decisions.

New Incentives By-law – Why It Changed, Broker Discretion and Responsibility & Fulfilling Incentives

On March 4, 2025, the Commission announced revisions to the Commission By-law effective July 1, 2025 including Part 7—Conduct and Trade Practices. These changes include a revised by-law on incentives. The full by-law 771, effective in July, is included below:

Incentives, inducements, and remuneration sharing
771

An incentive or an inducement may be in the form of a remuneration rebate, provided the rebate is being made to a party to the transaction.

An associate broker or salesperson must not, directly or indirectly, provide an incentive or inducement unless the details of the incentive or inducement are provided in writing and the broker or managing associate broker has provided written approval.

An incentive that is directly or indirectly advertised, communicated, or offered to any person must include the details of the incentive and any terms or conditions to which it is subject. The details, terms, and conditions of the incentive must be provided in writing prior to the signing of any contract, acknowledgement, or agreement.

A licensee may give a gift to a client, an unrepresented party, or any other person provided the gift is not an incentive, an inducement, a referral fee or remuneration sharing.

The Commission has been asked to provide more details on the new incentives by-law. For further clarity on the new by-law, effective July 1:

Why the By-law Changed
The decision to change to incentive by-law was recommended by the By-law Task Force, and approved by the Board of Directors, who deemed the existing by-law as too restrictive.  The change will provide consumers with more options when it comes to selecting a licensee as it gives brokers and licensees more options regarding promotions.

The New Incentive By-law, Effective July 1, 2025
Incentives (as defined in Part 1 of the Commission By-law[link]) will no longer be required as a brokerage wide program. Instead, incentives can be offered by individual licensees, as long as they have the written permission of their broker or managing associate broker in order to offer the incentive.

Licensees who advertise an incentive must include the details of the incentive and any terms or conditions to which it is subject. The details, terms, and conditions of the incentive must be provided in writing prior to the signing of any contract, acknowledgement, or agreement.

Any incentives offered to a client or unrepresented party that are not contained in the standard wording of a brokerage agreement or an unrepresented acknowledgement form must be added, in writing, to the agreement/acknowledgement prior to execution.

Broker Discretion and Responsibility
The decision of what incentives licensees can offer is at the discretion of their broker or managing associate broker. A broker’s control for deciding whether and what type of incentives are offered is the same as the current By-law requirements; it is just the brokerage-wide restriction that has been removed.

However, brokers must be aware that if the licensee fails to fulfill their commitment of delivering an incentive to an eligible consumer, the broker will be held responsible and must do so.

Fulfilling Incentives
Financial incentives (cash or gift cards) above $500 are considered a remuneration rebate, and must be paid out by the brokerage, not the individual licensee, as licensees cannot pay a remuneration rebate. Remuneration rebates can only be given to someone who is a party to the transaction.

Other types of incentives, like new appliances, can be paid for by either the licensee directly or the brokerage.

Online Licensing Renewals Open May 10 (Deadline June 30)

Licensees will receive an email notifying how to log in and renew their real estate licence on Saturday, May 10, and will receive reminder emails once a week until their renewal is complete. The deadline to renew is 11:59 pm on June 30. At 12:00 am on July 1, any licence that is not renewed will be terminated.

If you let your licence terminate, you must immediately cease all trading activities, including taking down signage, advertising, and social media. To have your licence reinstated after the deadline has passed, you must apply to have your licence reinstated, pay the renewal fee, and be issued a licence, at which point you may resume trading activity. 

All licensees are responsible for renewing their real estate licence, and if applicable, their approved sales corporation licence. 

Brokers will be responsible for renewing the brokerage licence, audit fees, any branch office licences, their broker licence, and, if applicable, their approved sales corporation licence. Brokers can use the Brokerage Reports in the online portal to view licence renewals and CPE completions of the brokerage's licensees.

If you need help, the Licence Renewal Resource page is available with video tutorials, a user manual, and important information about payment methods and deadlines.

Important Dates Reminder

May 20: Commission Committee Submissions Deadline
Licensees and members of the public are invited to submit their name to serve on a Commission committee for the June 2025 - June 2026 term. The deadline to apply is 4:30 pm on Tuesday, May 20.

June 15: Mandatory CPE Courses

Depending on your licence category, licensees must complete their required CPE course(s) on the NSAR Learning Platform before 11:59 pm on June 15, 2025.

All licence categories (salespeople, associate brokers, managing associate brokers and brokers) must complete Revisiting Consumer Relationships.

Associate brokers, managing associate brokers and brokers must also complete Broker Responsibilities Refresh.

July 1: By-law and Forms Updates Effective
The Commission By-law will be updated to reflect the revised Parts 1—Definitions, 7—Conduct and Trade Practices and 8—Discipline. Numerous Commission forms will be revised, largely to coincide with the By-law updates.