Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA)

The Canadian Real Estate Association or the CREA is a nodal body for all realtors across Canada and has its headquarters situated in Ottawa. This national organization of real estate dealers in Canada is dedicated to representing its members as well as others in the profession at all national and international platforms and deal with the issues related to them. The CREA has taken up the task of coordinating with other organizations such as the National Association of Realtors, Appraisal Institute of Canada, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, the Urban Development Institute and the Canadian Construction Association. It is hoped that as and when the opportunities of the organized real estate business in Canada assumes more importance and value, the role and activities of the CREA too will increase manifold. It may be mentioned here that the CREA is also the proprietor trademarks or brand names 'REALTOR' and 'MLS' in Canada.

Chronological outline

The CREA was established and in its brief period of existence has already assumed the role of an important participant in the day-to-day goings-on of the controlled real estate business in Canada. In fact, the organization was set up in the post World War II period with a view to amplify the voice of all realtors in Canada and enable them to have a say in the country's lawmaking procedure. Although the CREA was born with this primary objective, over the years the organization has developed and flourished into a complete and mature nation-wide body that has a bearing on the pursuits of its affiliates each day.

Looking back, way back in 1944, the Canadian Association of Real Estate Boards or CAREB convened its first meet at the Niagara Falls and it was during this meeting the members of the organization espoused the word 'Realtor'. Interestingly, the CAREB and the Toronto Real Estate Board occupied the same office and took the services of the same staff till 1964. Then again, the Canadian and Ontario affiliates had a common office during the period between 1964 and 1981. However, the two organizations separated their respective duties and responsibilities and also appointed individual executive secretaries.

It would be undermining to state that considering the brief period since it has been in existence, the growth of the Canadian Real Estate Association has been spectacular. The organization, which had only 1,852 associates on its list in 1951, boasted of having as many as 12,000 members only a decade later. What is more stunning is that by the springtime in 1968 the CREA had enrolled 21,000 members and the number swelled to 57,700 by 1985. And by the end of the millennium, i.e. 1999, the organization's strength went up to around 66,000 members!

Despite its self-effacing start in the mid-40s and shared office and staff, over the years, the Canadian Real Estate Association has grow into a full-fledged organization of the realtors across the nation. Today, the CREA can not only boast of a highly impressive membership, but also has its office located in the capital of the country. At the same time, it has expanded its activities from just being a lobbyist or campaigner for the organized realtors in Canada. Today it has numerous roles to play covering vast areas and has also been active in setting up the Real Estate Institute of Canada. It may be mentioned here that the CREA also offers data and statistics and periodicals related to its membership and various other services and issues related to them.

Affiliation or membership

Rule 5 of the Rules and Regulations brought out by the CREA or the Canadian Real Estate Association controls the membership or affiliation of this national organization for realtors. In fact, Rule 5 stipulates the criteria requisite for an individual or firm to be eligible to become a member of this organization. In addition, Rule 5 also defines the necessities for the neighborhood boards as well as the different membership categories that includes individual, board, institute, associate as well as honorary or complimentary members.

It may be noted here that the Canadian Real Estate Association also looks after the National Commercial Council and the Association Executives Council or the AEC and has a special membership class for provincial or regional societies or groups.

Brand names or trademarks

CREA members who have a good reputation or possession in the real estate boards and societies are granted licenses as well as registered to use the official recognitions and trademarks under the proprietorship of the organization. These certifications or brand names include 'REALTOR', 'REALTORS' as well as the 'REALTOR' emblem.

Official recognition symbols

The Canadian Real Estate Association or the CREA is the proprietor of a number of certification marks or official recognition symbols. These include the MLS®, Multiple Listing Service, and MLS® logos, Service d'inscriptions multiples and SIM, Service inter-agencies, S.I.A. and S.I.A. logos, the Market Value Appraiser-Residential, MVA-Residential, Evaluateur de valeur marchande - Residentiel, and EVM-residentiel, with related drawing logo and the CREA. It may be mentioned here that the CREA trademark is used only while denoting anything that is related to The Canadian Real Estate Association or in association with actions, endeavors, products, services and publications of this nation-wide organization of realtors.

CREA management

A board of directors manages or governs the affairs of the CREA or the Canadian Real Estate Association. This management team also includes provincial directors, directors-at-large, and other members comprising the MLS & Technology Council, designates of the Association Executives Council representative, the National Commercial Council Director as well as spokesperson of the National Association of Realtors representative.

The primary duties of the board of directors or the executive board of this national organization of the realtors in Canada are to make certain that the aspirations and goals of the CREA are being followed enthusiastically. The CREA board of directors is actually the governing body of the organization. On the other hand, the duties of an executive body directly reporting to the CREA board of directors include organizing meetings of the organization as well as carry out the business of this nodal body. The members of the board of directors are responsible to the CREA members and the former reports to the latter through the plenary meeting of the organization.

Duties and obligations

The duties and responsibilities of the Canadian Real Estate Association are manifold. While it is already committed to representing the real estate industry in Canada at the national and international levels, it is also responsible for the CREA Code of Ethics and the Standards of Business Practice as well as the recently-formed National Privacy Code. In addition, the CREA is also in charge of preservation, safeguard, and authorization as well as allied standards involving to different officially recognized trademarks or brands such as the MLS and REALTOR. At the same time, by virtue of being the nodal agency for the real estate business in Canada, the CREA also provides support to different realty boards and societies as well as functions as an arbitrator between the regional associations and the provincial members.

Boards or councils

Association Executives Council

A committee under the aegis of the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), the Association Executives Council is a society comprising the real estate association and the executive belonging to the real estate panel. The Association Executive Council was formed with a view to promote and facilitate the progress of its members professionally. The council acts in this direction by recognizing as well as offering networking, education, management and technological wherewithal and support to its members.

MLS & Technology Council

The MLS (multiple listing services) and Technological Council is also an extended wing of the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA). The duties and responsibilities of this body include formulating and recommending tactical plans, guiding principles and financial statements to the CREA board of directors. In fact, the MLS and Technological Council of the Canadian Real Estate Association is basically a technical body and are directly concerned for all the projects proposals that are technical in nature. The inventiveness of this council includes the mls.ca (the national gateway of all organized real estate operated by CREA), IXN (Information Exchange Network) and the REALTORLink.

National Commercial Council

Commercial real estate experts from boards and organizations all over Canada are members of the National Commercial Council (NCC). This extended wing of the CREA offers the Canadian real estate practitioners having expertise in commercial, industrial and investment realty a shared or collaborating system or network. The NCC is active in promoting cooperation and partnerships among its associates through the exchange of information and knowledge. In addition, the National Commercial Council also endows the local real estate bodies with management expertise to enable them to provide commercial services to their respective members. The council also offers professional knowledge by organizing educational events and other related curriculum.

Know-how or technology

cls.ca
This (www.cls.ca) is the public real estate website controlled by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) with a view to promote and market commercial real estate properties that include various categories like vacant land, industrial, commercial and investment. Currently only the National Commercial Council (NCC), an extended wing of the CREA that looks after all its technical aspects, is only allowed to post advertisements of commercial assets on cls.ca.
iMIS
The iMIS may be described as the directory of the CREA. The iMIS is managed by the Association Management System, another wing of the CREA, and includes particulars of all the members of this real estate nodal agency in Canada. The iMIS is considered to be the base for all national certifications purposes. It not only governs the process of authenticating details of each member, but also controls their privilege to access information from the CREA data bank and the organization's websites together with secure access to websites such as the REALTORLink.
mls.ca
As mentioned earlier, mls.ca is best described as the national access of all real estate managed by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA). The aim of mls.ca is to enable the consumers to get in touch with realtors on the subject of all MLS or multi listing services property promotions. In fact, www.mls.ca enables the visitors to the website to gain access to approximately 99.9 per cent of all MLS property commercials throughout Canada.
IXN
While mls.ca is a public website aimed at promoting sale of all MLS property across Canada, the IXN or the Information Exchange Network is exclusively meant for the members of the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA). The IXN enable the CREA members and associates to access and share restricted and private material or evidence such as official reports, municipal credentials as well as commission or fee bargains. Like in the case of the national website www.mls.ca, the IXN also makes it possible for the different real estate boards under the purview of the CREA to upload confidential information on this private website.
REALTORLink
The REALTORLink or www.realtorlink.org is an exclusive and fortified website with a password protection. Like the IXN, this website too is only meant for the CREA members who are able to access it through a password. This website offers the latest data and statistics that are of significance to the real estate dealers in the current market. Among other things, this website offers news pertaining to the real estate business, descriptions and data from the market as well as concepts for better and advanced advertising and marketing of properties.
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