Blog

In Alberta, real estate professionals can have a licence that allows them to work in a type – or multiple types – of real estate practice.

The four practice areas are:

• residential real estate
• rural real estate
• commercial real estate
• property management.

A real estate professional’s area(s) of practice depends on their pre-licensing education. Industry professionals can be licensed to practice in one of these areas, or in any combination of these areas, depending on the education they completed and the licence they hold. If RECA receives a complaint about a real estate professional acting outside of the scope of their licence, RECA will review their conduct. You can check your real estate professional’s licence by searching for an Industry Professional on the RECA website. The areas of practice attached to the industry professional’s licence will display when you click on their name after finding them in a search. Their areas of practice are listed beside the word “Sector.”

It may seem obvious what type of real estate professional you need (for example, if you’re selling a single detached house you need a residential real estate professional), but sometimes the line is blurry. For example, if you have an acreage property located outside of a city, is it residential or rural? Here is detailed information to help you figure out what type of real estate professional you need.

Residential Real Estate:

Real estate is residential, when:

• the building and the land are intended for residential purposes
• the building has four units or less intended for residential purposes
• the land intended to be the site of a residential building or buildings will eventually have four units or less

What can residential real estate professionals do? 

They can represent buyers and sellers of residential real estate, including

• single-family homes
• residential acreages (country residential) not intended for farming
• duplexes
• four-plex
• townhouses
• condominiums (single units only, not entire condo buildings with more than four units)
• a cabin at the lake used for recreational purposes

Rural Real Estate:

Rural real estate refers to:

• property outside a city, town, etc. that has farming as its primary purpose

What can rural real estate professionals do? 

They can represent buyers and sellers of rural real estate. Typically, rural properties that are intended for farming have a designated land use that reflects that. The rural definition does not include “rural residential” properties. Residential real estate includes rural residential properties, which are also known as country residential properties, such as acreages. These properties have a residential dwelling or are intended for a residential dwelling, and their primary purpose is not farming. Individuals whose license only includes rural real estate cannot represent the buyers and sellers of rural residential or country residential.

Property Management:

Property management is:

• leasing, negotiating, approving or offering to lease real estate
• collecting or offering or attempting to collect money payable for the use of real estate
• holding money received in connection with the rental of real estate
• advertising, negotiating or any other act, directly or indirectly for the purpose of furthering the above activity

What can property managers do?

Property management professionals can work with landlords (property owners) and/or tenants (potential tenants) in the leasing of real estate. A license to provide property management services allows an individual to do so for all types of properties: commercial, residential and rural real estate.

Commercial Real Estate:

Commercial real estate means property intended to generate income. It includes property used for:

• retail
• office
• industrial
• investment
• institutional
• multifamily residential property comprised of more than four units

What can commercial real estate professionals do?
They can assist in the purchase, sale, or lease of office buildings or space, industrial sites and retail.