March 4th - 2005

OREA says no to mandatory CREA Code of Ethics course

OREA has opposed CREA’s proposed Education Protocol which would require REALTORS to take a mandatory Code of Ethics course every four years.

OREA has opposed CREAs proposed Education Protocol which would require REALTORS to take a mandatory Code of Ethics course every four years.

The Education Protocol is one of four proposed changes to the CREA Code of Ethics and Standards of Business Practice that OREA opposed and moved to amend at CREA’s special assembly last fall. Delegates voted in favour of OREA’s amendments, delaying approval of the proposed changes. The proposed changes to the Code and Standards as well as the proposed Compliance, Communications and Education Protocols will be brought to CREA’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) on April 9 for deliberation and decision.

OREA’s main concern regarding the Education Protocol is that it adds to the extensive mandatory continuing education program already in place in Ontario. CREA’s proposed amendment involves a formal ethics education program consisting of the following as a minimum:

  • Every new member must take a course dealing with CREA’s Code of Ethics. This course should be taken as soon as practical, but not more than six months after joining the Board.
  • Every current member must take a course on CREA’s Code of Ethics every four years.
  • Efforts should be made to encourage provincial regulators to approve these courses for continuing education credits, where applicable.
  • Boards would be responsible for monitoring membership to ensure the courses are taken as required, and should amend bylaws/rules and policies as necessary to mandate the course requirement.
  • In jurisdictions where there is a mandatory continuing education model that incorporates the regulator’s code of ethics as part of their Curriculum, application may be made to CREA for the existing course to be authorized as meeting the requirements of the Education Protocol and if needed, a supplementary course will need to be developed to cover areas of the CREA code that is not covered by the regulator’s course.

Currently REALTORS in Ontario have a mandatory continuing education program of 24 hours every two years. Six of those 24 hours can be devoted to a course that covers the RECO Code of Ethics as well as regulatory and legislative changes. In its recent submission to CREA, OREA suggests that its members can be educated on the new code through existing vehicles and that a table of concordance can be developed between the RECO Code of Ethics and the CREA Code to identify any gaps.

“Because of OREA’s robust infrastructure and additional delivery capacity through vehicles such as the REALTOR EDGE and E-EDGE, OREA is confident that it would reach all of its members with information on the new CREA Code of Ethics as well as transmit updates to the Code without the need to impose additional mandatory courses,” says OREA President Tamer Fahmi.

OREA’s submission urges CREA to forego the imposition of additional mandatory education for jurisdictions such as OREA’s that already have mandatory code education, and urges to amend the last bullet point above to read as follows:

  • In jurisdictions where there is a mandatory continuing education model that incorporates the regulator’s code of ethics as part of their Curriculum, the first, second and fourth immediately-above bullet points do not apply and if needed, alternative methods of communication and education will be developed to cover areas of the REALTOR Code that are not covered by the regulator’s mandatory course.

In the coming weeks, OREA will continue to update boards on its views as to the acceptability of CREA’s proposals in preparation for the CREA AGM next month. To see the latest proposed changes to the CREA Code of Ethics and Standards of Business Practice, log on to www.realtorlink.ca and under “Latest” select Code of Ethics Workbook 6.

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416-445-9910 ext. 246

Ontario Real Estate Association
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