Chair’s Message – August 2018

Other parts of this Regulator newsletter will provide updates on Council business, the approved budget, and plans for the year ahead. But I want to touch on something that’s extremely important to me – and that should be important to you: the notion that our licence is valuable.

We’re all licensed professionals. But I think there are many consumers out there who don’t know that. They don’t know about the education we complete before getting licensed; they don’t know that we have to provide a criminal record check before getting licensed; they don’t know about our ongoing education and notification requirements, and they don’t know about the high standards that are in place.

They don’t necessarily see that because we’re licensed professionals, there is tremendous value in working with us. RECA’s communication team puts an incredible amount of effort into producing materials that highlight the importance of working with a licensed professional, the easy access to a public licence search, and why working with a licensed professional matters. I also think, though, that we all have a role in helping consumers see that value of the licence, and helping them recognize why working with a licensed industry professional matters.

Likewise, as licensed professionals, I don’t think that we always see the value of our licence.

All too often we connect our licensing with the things that it requires of us – ongoing education, meeting standards – but do we connect how our licence elevates our industry? How it elevates us to the professionals we are? Do you ever think about what having a licence gives us?

Do we talk to our clients about what makes us professional? Do we talk about the fact that our licence elevates us, our knowledge, competence, service, and ethics? Frankly, we should.

As you read this newsletter today, if I could just have you take that message, that idea, with you – that we are licensed professionals, consumers should know that and respect that, and we should too.

Go out and talk to your clients about the value we, and our licence, bring to their transactions. Even better than that – show them!

Doing so will serve us all, and our industry, well for many years to come.