Real Estate Council of BC Receives Education Awards

Printed . This content is updated regularly, please refer back to https://bcfsa.ca to ensure that you are relying on the most up-to-date resources.

Innovative, Collaborative Approach to Education Internationally Recognized

Vancouver, British Columbia, September 14, 2015- The Real Estate Council of BC has been recognized for the excellence of the education programs provided to real estate licensees in British Columbia. At its annual conference, the Association of Real Estate License Law Officials (ARELLO®), an international organization of regulatory agencies, presented the Council with two prestigious education awards.

The awards, for Pre-Licensing and Post-Licensing Education, are in recognition of the Council’s recent work in partnership with its education providers to redesign two key components of the mandated education for real estate licensees: the Residential Trading Services Applied Practice Course, and the Strata Management Licensing Course.

“The Council is fortunate to have long-standing partnerships with two exceptional organizations — the University of British Columbia and the British Columbia Real Estate Association, who deliver the pre-licensing and post-licensing courses for real estate licensees,” said Robert O. Fawcett, Executive Officer at the Council. “When we asked them to redesign these courses to put greater emphasis on the regulatory requirements, and to provide more opportunities for students to develop practical skills, they rose to the challenge and surpassed our expectations.”

The redesigned Residential Trading Services Applied Practice Course, which provides practical training in regulatory compliance to new licensees, was launched in January 2015 after extensive research and focus group testing. The course is an innovative blend of online learning modules and highly interactive classroom sessions, which promises to increase professional competence among new entrants to the industry.

“This award demonstrates what great things can be produced when the Real Estate Council and BCREA collaborate to enhance professionalism. This is a good news story for both consumers and real estate licensees in BC,” said Robert Laing, Chief Executive Officer, BCREA.

The Strata Management Licensing Course, a mandatory pre-requisite to licensing for strata property managers in BC, includes new components to help students apply their knowledge in practice. According to Dave Moore, Director of Licensing Education at UBC’s Sauder School of Business, Real Estate Division, the award is the result of the “collaborative environment the Council has established between regulator, educator and the profession, which enabled us to really leverage the regulatory experience and the profession’s expertise, to create a course focused on public protection and professional readiness.”

The new courses were launched in 2015 as part of the Council’s continuing efforts to enhance standards of professional practice among real estate licensees and to protect the public interest.

About the Council

The Real Estate Council of British Columbia is a regulatory agency established by the provincial government. Its mandate is to protect the public interest by enforcing the licensing and licensee conduct requirements of the Real Estate Services Act. The Council is responsible for licensing individuals and brokerages engaged in real estate sales, rental and strata property management. The Council also enforces entry qualifications, investigates complaints against licensees and imposes disciplinary sanctions under the Act.