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Awards

Many organizations have recognized RECA for excellence in various aspects of regulation. From communicating to industry and consumers, to educating over 15,000 of Alberta’s professionals, to investigating complex fraud schemes, the awards below show RECA’s dedication to its mandate, and its leadership across North America as a world-class regulatory body.

bookcase full of awards

Recent Awards

  • 2020 ARELLO® Communication Award: COVID-19 Information and Resources
    As the global COVID-19 pandemic affected many aspects of our daily lives, many industry professionals and consumers are unsure about continuing with their business transactions as many interactions require face-to-face communication. RECA produced informative resources covering all real estate areas which are easily available across multiple platforms to support industry professionals and protect consumers, alleviating confusion and stress.
  • Hermes Creative Platinum Award: Hermes Creative Awards honors messengers and creators around the world. Hermes winners bring their ideas to life through traditional and digital platforms. The Real Estate Career Information Session has won the Platinum Hermes Creative Award 2020, in the category: Electronic Media/ Social Media/Interactive Media/ Mobile & Web Technology.
  • 2019 CLEAR Investigative Excellence Award: Mortgage fraud investigation
    The award recognizes an investigator or investigative team in occupational or professional regulation. The nominee(s) must have demonstrated exceptional performance in a particular case or a history of excellent performance beyond what is expected or required that resulted in a direct and significant impact to the protection of the public or consumer interests.RECA investigators Cheryl and Holly were presented with the CLEAR award for their investigative work that led to uncovering a mortgage fraud scheme involving approximately 15 individuals.
  • 2019 Brandon Hall Group Silver Excellence in Learning: Real Estate Update 2018
    This is the first time RECA has won a Brandon Hall award! RECA was award Silver in the category of Best Advance in Compliance Training for its Real Estate Update 2018 course. Real Estate Update 2018 provided industry members with vital information to assist them in best serving their clients. The Excellence Awards recognize the best organizations that have successfully deployed programs, strategies, modalities, processes, systems, and tools that have achieved measurable results. The program attracts entrants from leading corporations around the world, as well as mid-market and smaller firms. The criteria for this award include how effectively the course:

    • met the learning needs and situation
    • objects were supported by the design and deployment
    • delivery positively influenced the organizational goals and learning results
    • produced measurable benefits and outcomes
    • positively impacted learners and RECA
  • 2019 ARELLO® Education Awards & Communications Awards
    ARELLO® awards recognize outstanding communication systems and educational programs that contribute to the real estate industry, promote public protection and might be adapted to benefit licensees and consumers in other ARELLO® member jurisdictions. In 2019, RECA won the following ARELLO® awards:

    • Best Education Course: Real Estate Update 2019 (All Professionals)
      Real Estate Update 2019 (All Professionals) provided real estate professionals with updates on self-regulation, cannabis, and radon gas, so that they can continue to best serve their clients.
    • Education Miscellaneous: RECA eBooksite Searchable Knowledge Management System
      The eBooksite provides learners and industry professionals access to RECA ebooks from any device and enabled RECA to reduce the course fees for the Fundamentals of Real Estate by $50.  This access is free of charge and can be used as a reference tool, especially for those who are new to the industry.
    • Communications Project: The Regulator newsletter
      Initially a print publication that was mailed to all brokerages, RECA transitioned the Regulator to an online newsletter in 2004. Further advancements were implemented in 2009 when the Regulator was relaunched as an online Flash flipbook. In order to ensure ease of access from all electronic devices, RECA unveiled The Regulator as its own website newsletter in 2017.
  • 2018 MarCom Platinum Award in Digital Media | Social Media | 209c. Social Campaign: Accountability Matters consumer awareness video seriesMarcom Awards honor excellence in marketing and communication while recognizing the creativity, hard work and generosity of industry professionals.RECA and its marketing partner, Freshwater Creative Corp, for their consumer awareness video series Accountability Matters which highlights the importance of using licensed professionals for real estate transactions, mortgage deals, and real estate appraisals. The videos in this series include:
  • 2017 ARELLO® Communications Award: Guide to Buying Real Estate in Alberta microsite
    As the regulator, RECA is in a unique position to provide information that covers the process of buying a home as well as the regulatory side of the transaction, including the relationship between consumers and their real estate representative. The Home Buyer’s Guide microsite:

    • provides valuable information to consumers about the home buying process and the role of real estate professionals in that process
    • creates more visibility for RECA as the regulatory body
    • provides additional tools for real estate professionals to share with their clients to make their client relationships smoother
  • 2016 ARELLO® Education Award: Practice of Rural Real Estate
    The engaging, work-ready nature of RECA’s Practice of Rural Real Estate course was recognized by ARELLO® for its ability to lead to competent, professional licensees who are able to best serve the rural real estate needs of consumers.
  • 2016 ARELLO® Communications Award: Advertising Guidelines
    The most recent edition of RECA’s Advertising Guidelines was selected by ARELLO® as an example of regulatory communication that enhances consumer protection while improving the industry and helping RECA achieve its mandate. The Advertising Guidelines are a resource for licensees that helps them do their jobs better while increasing their compliance with legislation and raising the professionalism of the industry; that, in turn, protects consumers.
  • 2016 CLEAR Investigative Excellence Award: Derek Johnson, unlicensed real estate and mortgage brokerage activity
    The CLEAR Investigative Excellence award recognizes an investigative team in occupational or professional regulation. Winners demonstrate exceptional performance in a particular case or a history of excellent performance beyond what is expected or required, which resulted in a direct and significant impact on the protection of the public or consumer interests.
  • 2016 Project Management Institute – Southern Alberta Chapter – Project of the Year, Business and Information Systems: myRECA online licensing and education system
    PMI Southern Alberta Chapter (PMI-SAC), a vibrant chapter in the Project Management Institute network, recognizes outstanding contributions of project management in southern Alberta through its Project of the Year Awards.
  • 2014 ARELLO® Post-Licensing/Continuing Education Course Award: Real Estate Update 2014
    Real Estate Update 2014 is offered entirely online, using a variety of multi-media teaching tools. ARELLO® recognized Real Estate Update 2014, in part, because of its mobile-friendly design, which allows industry professionals to complete it through most smart phones and tablets. Real Estate Update 2014 provides information that is relevant to real estate professionals’ current practice, including material on identifying properties in flood zones and advising buyers, tenants, landlords and sellers regarding such properties. RECA incorporated this crucial information in the course’s content in light of the significant 2013 floods in Alberta.
  • 2014 ARELLO® Pre-Licensing Education Award: Fundamentals of Real Estate
    ARELLO® Education Awards are presented each year in recognition of outstanding systems and programs that contribute to the real estate industry, promote public protection and might be adapted to benefit licensees and consumers in other ARELLO® member jurisdictions. Award submissions are evaluated based on concept, methodology, quality, and benefits of the program.
  • 2012 ARELLO® Communications Award: Social Media
    RECA was recognized with the 2012 ARELLO® Communications Award in the “Other” category for being one of the first real estate regulatory bodies to launch its social media presence. RECA understood that having a presence on social media was an efficient way to ensure that information that is of benefit to industry professionals and consumers reaches the intended audience(s).
  • 2012 CLEAR Regulatory Excellence Award: RECA Education
    CLEAR has recognized RECA’s Education Code of Conduct for Learners as an example of outstanding contribution to the enhancement of occupational or professional regulation.RECA developed the Education Code of Conduct to better foster a professional mindset within learners. It is a principles-based document outlining how professionals taking pre-licensing and re-licensing education with RECA are expected to conduct themselves.
  • 2011 ARELLO® Communications Award: Best Website
    RECA launched an updated website to better differentiate content for its two primary audiences: industry members and consumers, and to make the consumer content easier to find and understand.
  • 2010 ARELLO® Communications Award: Best Newsletter
    The new Regulator is an interactive Flash flipbook which operates as a magazine would, right on the user’s
    internet browser! Users can flip pages, jump to pages, print a page, zoom in and out, and click on
    embedded links that take them to related pages on the RECA website.
  • 2010 ARELLO® Education Award: Real Estate Update 2009-2010
    ARELLO® Education Awards are presented each year in recognition of outstanding systems and programs that contribute to the real estate industry, promote public protection and might be adapted to benefit licensees and consumers in other ARELLO® member jurisdictions. Award submissions are evaluated based on concept, methodology, quality, and benefits of the program.
  • 2009 ARELLO® Investigator of the Year Award
    ARELLO® Investigator of the Year Award recognizes the recipient’s investigative skills and accomplishments as reflected by the year’s most outstanding investigation.
  • 2008 Alberta Consumer Champion Award (Service Alberta): RECA Consumer Tools
    The Alberta Consumer Champion Awards recognize individuals, organizations, businesses, and media that demonstrate commitment and innovation in educating Alberta consumers and promoting fairness in the Alberta marketplace. RECA’s award-winning entry included consumer brochures on buying and selling real estate, the Agency Relationships Guide and Agency Relationships Video, and the Property Inspection Request Form, all of which are available to consumers, free of charge, through reca.ca. RECA’s consumer tools project was particularly innovative because it took into account that not everyone participating in real estate transactions in Alberta is comfortable working in English, offering translations in four additional languages. This initiative has gone a long way in demonstrating RECA’s understanding of and commitment to Alberta consumers and the Alberta marketplace.
  • 2008 ARELLO® Education Award: Understanding Designated Agency and Transaction Brokerage
    Understanding Designated Agency and Transaction Brokerage represents a significant advancement in agency awareness, providing valuable information when real or potential conflicts arise in a transaction. This course was developed as it was identified by the Canadian Regulators Group Agency Task Force and Canadian courts that the traditional agency role of industry members was being challenged and new concepts and other non-agency relationships were emerging.
  • 2008 ARELLO® Consumer Education Award: Agency Relationships
    In 2004, the Canadian Regulators Group, Agency Task Force Report (ATF) highlighted consumers’ fundamental lack of understanding regarding the types of agency and non-agency relationships they can establish with real estate industry members. In response, RECA has developed a consumer education program that includes:

    • Agency Relationships Guide
    • Agency Relationships Guide Video
    • Buyer Transaction Brochure
    • Seller Transaction Brochure
    • Property Inspection Request form
  • 2007 ARELLO® Education Award: Agency Fundamentals
    ARELLO® Education Awards are presented each year in recognition of outstanding systems and programs that contribute to the real estate industry, promote public protection and might be adapted to benefit licensees and consumers in other ARELLO® member jurisdictions. Award submissions are evaluated based on concept, methodology, quality, and benefits of the program.
  • 2006 ARELLO® Investigator of the Year Runner-up
    The ARELLO® Investigator of the Year Award recognizes the recipient’s investigative skills and accomplishments as reflected by the year’s most outstanding investigation.
  • 2003 ARELLO® Communications Award: Best Website
    ARELLO® awards recognize outstanding communication systems and educational programs that contribute to the real estate industry, promote public protection and might be adapted to benefit licensees and consumers in other ARELLO® member jurisdictions.
  • 2003 ARELLO® Investigator of the Year Award
    Dan Gilliland, Senior Investigator with RECA, has been named Investigator of the Year by ARELLO®. Mr. Gilliland investigated a real estate agent who systematically acquired properties and, by various fraudulent means, artificially inflated the property values. This complex and time-consuming investigation resulted in strong sanctions by a RECA Hearing Panel.
  • 1999 ARELLO® Communications Award: Best Newsletter
    ARELLO® awards recognize outstanding communication systems and educational programs that contribute to the real estate industry, promote public protection and might be adapted to benefit licensees and consumers in other ARELLO® member jurisdictions.

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