The Real Estate Council of BC (RECBC) released a consultation paper in December 2020 which proposed to increase biennial real estate licensing fees by $200, effective April 1, 2021.
If the changes are adopted, the total new applicant fee would go up to $2,000 from $1,800. If you’re renewing your license, you would need to pay $1,650 instead of $1,450.
The RECBC does not receive any public funding and, over the past three years, the organization says the costs of regulating the real estate sector have increased significantly.
Licensing fees are used for direct costs, including:
- making sure licensing applications and renewals are reviewed carefully and processed efficiently, along with license transfers, surrenders and other frequent requests;
- conducting brokerage audits to help ensure compliance;
- providing professional standards guidance and advisory services, as well as public education; and
- responding to inquiries and complaints, conducting investigations and discipline in cases of misconduct.
As well, licensing fees help to cover indirect costs of regulation, such as:
- finance and accounting;
- communications;
- technology;
- stakeholder engagement;
- facilities; and
- staffing.
BCREA will respond to RECBC’s proposed fee increase on behalf of all BC Realtors and share their written submission with Realtors in a future Advocacy Update. Past updates can be found on BCREA’s Lobbying & Legislation page on REALTOR Link®. Anyone can subscribe to these updates by sending an email to gr@bcrea.bc.ca.
If you would like to provide feedback directly to RECBC, BCREA encourages you to review the RECBC consultation paper, and then fill out RECBC’s Licensing Fee Consultation Survey by the deadline of January 10.
More information:
RECBC will provide an overview of the proposed fee increases to Managing Brokers during the next BCREA Community of Practice session on January 13 at 9:30 am.
Sources: FVREB Communications and BCREA