Residential Property Manager Industry Council Update

Summary of activities since May 2022 from Don Newell, Chair

It has been an eventful quater!

Over the past three months, work continued toward RECA divesting itself of pre-licensing education. The Residential Property Manager Industry Council has continued to work with third-party course providers as they develop their course syllabuses. We expect to have several course providers approved to offer the Practice of Property Management course shortly. Our Industry Council Spring Stakeholder Engagement Session was held virtually in May.

Bringing condominium management into RECA’s regulatory fold has also been a primary focus for the Residential Property Manager Industry Council.

Condominium Management Extensions Granted

Recently, after consulting with stakeholders, we announced that condominium manager associate licensees were granted an extension to the deadline to complete their licensing courses to March 31, 2023. However, associates must be enrolled in their courses before the original course completion deadline of November 30, 2022, to be granted this extension. Our expectation is that associates will complete and pass their courses prior to the extension date, and that brokers are responsible for ensuring their associates meet this timeline.

I encourage all condominium management licensees to review the deadlines that pertain to their specific circumstances as failure to meet these deadlines will mean you are no longer licensed, and you can no longer provide condominium management services. Please ensure your condominium board clients know you are committed to providing them with professional, high quality management services by completing your educational requirements.

Rules Review

As has been mentioned previously, RECA has begun its comprehensive Rules review, which is expected to take approximately two years. Stakeholder consultation will be at the forefront of all the decisions made and we want to allot sufficient time to consult with all the necessary parties.

The Residential Property Manager Industry Council recently appointed Vice-Chairperson Don Brown to represent the residential property manager industry sector on the Rules Review Steering Committee, and Council Member Keith McMullen to represent the condominium manager industry sector. We look forward to providing you with updates on the Committee’s activities on the Rules review.

Strategic Planning

The survey on RECA’s proposed Strategic Priorities has closed with overwhelming support from property and condominium management licensees. RECA plans to move forward with the priorities identified as indicated by the support of our stakeholders.

Education Divestment

Since my last update, RECA has been successful in accelerating the proposed divestment date for licensing education of June 1, 2022 and I am pleased to report that Fundamentals of Real Estate (the first course for new property management licensees) is now available through two third-party course providers. The Practice of Property Management course will continue to be offered by RECA until a third-party course provider is recognized and prepared to offer this course. RECA will continue to work towards its full divestment of education by the required November 30, 2022 deadline.

Licence Renewal Period

This is the first renewal season for those licensed as condominium managers. Please note, the deadline to renew your license is different than the deadlines for you to complete the education requirements on your conditional licence. All licensees, including all condominium management associates and brokerages, must renew their licence by the deadline of September 30, 2022, each year.

We have sent early details of the renewal process to condominium management licensees by email and there will be more reminders to come, so please watch out for them. Likely the most important point to reiterate is that Brokers must renew their licence before any of their associates will be able to do so. The myRECA system opened for all licensees on August 22, 2022.

Since this is both the first renewal season for condominium managers and I have already mentioned that there have also been some changes to the education deadlines—RECA will host a webinar in early September to ensure all licensees in this group know what is expected for all deadlines and have the opportunity to ask questions. I sincerely hope anyone in this licence class who may need any clarification is able to attend.

In closing, the 2022/2023 fiscal year has been a busy one for the Residential Property Manager Industry Council with an entirely new licence class being introduced to be governed under our Industry Council and subsequently welcoming over 600 condominium management professionals as new RECA licensees. I look forward to the next fiscal year commencing and working with all property and condominium management stakeholders during another period of growth and regulatory success for our industries.