Becoming a real estate broker: What are the OACIQ's requirements?

Taking real estate brokerage training while not knowing if you can get a licence, due to a criminal record for instance, is a sensitive issue. Practising the profession is a privilege, not a right.

The OACIQ's mission is to protect the public, and this is why verifying future brokers’ records when they apply for a licence is a key element of the process. By entrusting the purchase or sale of their property to a real estate broker, consumers must certainly be advised and represented by trusted professionals at all stages of the process.

Verifying the qualifications of a future broker

The OACIQ verifies the qualifications of all persons or companies applying for a licence. The Real Estate Brokerage Act mandates the Licence Issue and Maintenance Committee (LIMC) to assess each application received that falls within the parameters of section 37 the Real Estate Brokerage Act, resulting in three possibilities:

• Issuance without conditions or restrictions
• Issuance with conditions and restrictions*
• Refusal to issue a licence

*Among the possible conditions or restrictions imposed by the LIMC, a future real estate broker may, for example, be prohibited from acting on his own account, be subjected to special supervision or be required to take a specific training course.

The LIMC's assessment of a candidate's file

• The LIMC may refuse to issue a licence or may impose conditions or restrictions thereon if the individual applying for the licence: has a real estate brokerage disciplinary record in Canada or elsewhere
• has already gone bankrupt

• has previously been convicted¹, by a court, of an offence or an indictable offence which, in the Organization’s opinion, is related to brokerage transactions, or has pleaded guilty to such an offence. Note that it is mandatory to declare any admission or decision of guilt, regardless of its nature or relation (perceived or not) to the real estate brokerage field, including those the person is appealing or awaiting sentencing)

• is under guardianship or a protection mandate (protective supervision of a person of full age)

Criminal record check

When assessing the application of a candidate who has a disciplinary or bankruptcy record, or a combination of both, or who has been previously convicted of a criminal offence, the LIMC considers a range of factors. As a future real estate broker, it can be very relevant to take the time to assess your own application before starting the real estate brokerage training.

To do this, the future real estate broker may rely on various factors (non-exhaustive list):

• The link between the facts and real estate brokerage practice
• The seriousness of the offences
• The extent and number of bankruptcies, the sums owed to the State, whether it is a tax bankruptcy, one or more objections to the bankruptcy, receiving orders, etc.
• The impacts on the stakeholders (victims, creditors, clients, business partners, etc.)
• The risk of reoffending
• The fact that the candidate has learned from the incident and changed his conduct or ways of doing things and has taken control of things since the events or, on the contrary, that he does not realize the seriousness and consequences of his actions, minimizes his liability, etc.
• The number of incidents and risk factors present or, on the contrary, the fact that it is an isolated incident (mishap)       
• The time elapsed since the events
• Presence of false declarations at the Organization

These examples of bankruptcy cases or criminal acts or offences, based on actual cases, have been submitted to the LIMC in the past. These cases were assessed, and a decision was rendered by the LIMC from amongst the following options: a refusal to issue a licence, issuing a licence with conditions and restrictions or issuing a licence without conditions or restrictions. These charts are certainly a good ally in helping a prospective broker assess the impact of his or her background on obtaining a real estate broker’s licence. They allow him or her to decide if the real estate brokerage training is the right choice.

In its mission conferred by the Act, the OACIQ ensures that consumers are protected when they deal with a real estate broker. This is why the Organization ensures that a licence is issued to future brokers who are worthy of contributing to this mission.

¹ The article refers to a declaration of guilt and not a conviction, which means that unconditional and conditional absolutions can be examined by the LIMC.