Skip to content

Working With a REALTOR® in Ontario

Last updated: August 2026

The RECO Information Guide

Ontario law requires a registrant to give you the Real Estate Council of Ontario (RECO) Information Guide, and to explain it, before providing services to you. It sets out your rights, how registrants must treat you, and what protections exist.

You can read it directly on RECO's website: reco.on.ca/information-guide. Ask Faran Tareen for a copy at any time — there is no cost and no obligation.

Client or self-represented party

There are two ways you can deal with a brokerage in Ontario:

  • As a client. You sign a representation agreement. The brokerage owes you full fiduciary duties — undivided loyalty, confidentiality, disclosure of all relevant facts, and advice and advocacy in your interest.
  • As a self-represented party. You receive no representation, no advice, and no advocacy. The brokerage must still treat you fairly, honestly, and with integrity, but it cannot promote your interests, and anything you tell it may be passed to its client.

Designated representation

CENTURY 21 Green Realty Inc., Brokerage may use designated representation, where a specific salesperson is assigned to represent you rather than the brokerage as a whole. Your confidential information stays with your designated representative and is not shared with other representatives in the same brokerage who may be working with a competing buyer or seller.

Multiple representation

Multiple representation occurs when the same brokerage — or the same salesperson — represents both the buyer and the seller in one transaction. It can only happen with the informed written consent of everyone involved, given before an offer is made.

In multiple representation, the duties owed to you are reduced. Your representative cannot advise either side on price or negotiating position, and cannot disclose what one party has told them to the other. You are always free to decline and seek independent representation.

Commissions

Commission is negotiable and is set out in writing in the representation agreement before any services are provided. In most residential resale transactions the seller's brokerage offers compensation to the cooperating brokerage, so a buyer typically pays nothing directly. Where that is not the case, it is disclosed to you in writing before you view the property.

If something goes wrong

Every registrant in Ontario is regulated by RECO and is required to carry deposit and errors and omissions insurance. If you have a concern, raise it first with the broker of record at CENTURY 21 Green Realty Inc., Brokerage. You may also contact RECO directly at reco.on.ca.

Questions

This page is a plain-language summary, not legal advice, and it does not replace the RECO Information Guide or the written agreements you will be asked to sign. Ask any question before you sign anything.