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IN ORDER TO KEEP INFORMED OUR CLIENTS OF THE NEW RULES WE HAVE POSTED THE NEW REAL ESTATE BROKERAGE ACT, EXTRACTED FROM THE QUEBEC REAL ESTATE BOARD:

New examinations based on skills proficiency

Source: ACAIQ

March 2009 • The arrival of the new Real Estate Brokerage Act introduces a new type of examination as a condition of entry into the profession.

The new examinations simulate a real estate transaction and are designed to validate a candidate’s ability to use the various resources at his disposal and to apply and adapt them to different professional contexts.

A skills-based approach
The new skills-based approach is a way for the ACAIQ to ensure that each individual who is issued a licence is capable of bringing a real estate transaction to fruition and to act in accordance with professional standards in the fields of real estate and mortgage brokerage.

The new examinations are based on three competency frameworks designed to reflect the professional activities of real estate and mortgage brokers. The competency framework for the executive officer of an agency is under development.

Competency frameworks
A competency framework is a guide that will help future brokers to understand the skills they need to develop and master to act ethically and responsibly in their brokerage practice.

The competency framework for residential real estate brokerage is made up of seven skills:


Acting ethically and responsibly in one’s brokerage practice;

Managing one’s professional activities in the field of real estate;

Making use of general and special rules of law in brokerage transactions;

Assessing the quality and the various building elements of an immovable;

Estimating the market value of a residential immovable;

Carrying out brokerage transactions pertaining to the sale, purchase, leasing or exchange of a residential immovable;

Being familiar with the basic principles of hypothecary credit.


The development process for the competency frameworks for commercial real estate brokerage and mortgage brokerage were based on the residential model.

The competency framework for commercial real estate brokerage includes six skills:


Acting ethically and responsibly in one’s brokerage practice;

Managing one’s professional activities in the field of real estate;

Making use of general and special rules of law in commercial brokerage transactions;

Estimating the value of the asset;

Carrying out brokerage transactions pertaining to the sale, purchase, leasing or exchange of non-residential immovables including enterprises;

Performing a financial analysis of a real estate and enterprise project.


The competency framework for mortgage brokerage includes six skills:

Acting ethically and responsibly in one’s brokerage practice;

Managing one’s professional activities in the field of real estate;

Making use of general and special rules of law in mortgage brokerage transactions;

Being familiar with the basic principles of an asset’s market value;

Making the various calculations pertaining to mortgage brokerage transactions;

Carrying out a mortgage brokerage transaction.


One more competency framework, this one for the executive officer of an agency, is currently under development.

Each skill included in the frameworks was based on an analysis of professional situations followed by a validation process with practitioners and professionals in each of the areas, in order to ensure that the frameworks reflect reality while meeting the requirements of the profession.

A professional situation represents the responsibility that befalls the broker in the course of his activities. These situations lead to professional actions being taken to bring them to fruition.

In turn, the professional actions taken require proficiency with the use of professional resources. These resources are essentially the knowledge that a candidate must master to take the professional actions required in an expert and efficient manner.

The competency frameworks for residential and commercial real estate brokerage as well as the competency framework for mortgage brokerage have already been posted on Synbad.

These competency frameworks will serve as the basis for the new ACAIQ examinations.

A new examination as a condition of entry

The examination in its new form is based on a sampling of situations that a professional must carry out and of the knowledge he must possess. The examination verifies that the candidate can demonstrate the skills outlined in the framework when faced with the professional situations evaluated.

The competency “Acting ethically and responsibly in one’s brokerage practice” is found in all frameworks, as it is a mandatory competency regardless of the specific work situation.

These new examinations are the result of a long process spread out over three years and made possible by the involvement of many stakeholders in the field of real estate brokerage. The new examinations reflect real-life cases.

The new examination on residential real estate brokerage will start being used as soon as the new Real Estate Brokerage Act comes into force. The ACAIQ will make recommendations to the government so that students who began the Affiliated Real Estate Agent course (902.56) prior to the coming into force of the Act can take the existing affiliated real estate agent’s examination.

An example of a new examination based on the competency framework for residential real estate brokerage is available on Synbad, the ACAIQ extranet. Sample examinations on commercial real estate brokerage and mortgage brokerage will also be made available.

Under the new Real Estate Brokerage Act, training is not a requirement for the issuance of a licence. The only requirements will be to take the real estate or mortgage brokerage examination successfully and to submit a declaration by the executive officer of the real estate agency on whose behalf the future broker will be acting, to the effect that he agrees to authorize the applicant to act on his behalf.

Although it is not required, the ACAIQ strongly encourages future brokers to take the training offered by teaching establishments. The list of teaching establishments is available on the ACAIQ website (www.acaiq.com). It includes all the establishments that offer real estate courses throughout Québec.

The custom training programs developed by teaching establishments based on the new examinations will be an excellent way for an applicant to acquire all the skills he needs to become a real estate or mortgage brokerage professional and to be well prepared to take the new examination and enter the profession.