REIC rolls out screening to boost trust in real estate agents

The Real Estate Institute of Canada (REIC) CEO Don Inouye wants consumers to trust that the agents they’re hiring for the biggest transactions of their lives are who they say they are.

This week, the non-profit membership organization announced the launch of REIC Verified, a screening process that validates real estate professionals’ backgrounds.

The verification includes criminal record status, employment history, educational credentials and standings with the appropriate regulatory bodies across Canada, among other things. 

Inouye told Real Estate Magazine he got tired of “chasing after people” who weren’t being truthful about their credentials, designations and certifications.

“I wanted to take a different lens and approach. Instead of chasing after the bad actors – because they’re always going to exist – I wanted to develop a way that I could shine a bright light on people who play by the rules,” he said.

Verification also cracks down on identity fraud, said Inouye. He said he’s had complaints come across his desk about agent conduct, and he can’t find the agent because they did not provide their legal name to their client.

How it works

Verification is a flat fee of $150 and takes up to 72 hours to complete.

Each piece of information, including legal name, years licensed and legal location of practice, is confirmed by third-party providers. 

Agents who pass verification are given a QR code for clients to scan to see their status. They also receive a badge to put on their social media and email signature.

Inouye is clear that the endeavour is not meant to be a money-maker, and says the organization will be happy to break even on costs. 

Remax becomes an early adopter

A few hundred agents have been verified so far, said Inouye. His goal is to have as many agents verified as possible from coast to coast. 

He took a big step in that direction when Remax Canada became the first national real estate brand to adopt the service and make it available to more than 25,000 agents across its Canadian network.

In a statement, Remax Canada president Don Kottick said by adopting REIC Verified, they’re reminding Canadians that “professional excellence and transparency matter.”

Inouye said he didn’t necessarily expect to be launching the initiative by partnering with real estate brands. 

“I thought I was going to be dealing with organized real estate. I thought that they were going to roll this out amongst their entire membership, but it certainly didn’t work out that way.”

He said regulators have not been active participants thus far, but he’s working with two provincial regulators to form partnerships.

Bracing for resistance

Inouye suspects there will be pushback to the initiative. 

“I believe that this industry has done the minimum a regulator requires forever, and they’ve gotten used to it, and now I’m asking them to do more,” he said. “I’m asking them to consider a different perspective. But maybe, just maybe, the public has a right to know this stuff.”

He said the need for verification is at an all-time high, given the extreme cases of misconduct in real estate in recent years. 

Last year, news of a $10.5-million shortfall in the trust account of iPro Realty Ltd. rocked the entire industry. The handling of the situation by Real Estate Council of Ontario (RECO) led the regulator to be placed under the control of a government administrator. 

Also in 2025, former Calgary Realtor Eric Drinkwater was permanently banned from trading in real estate in Alberta after admitting to defrauding 71 people out of more than $3.5 million through a Ponzi scheme. In its decision, the independent hearing panel described his conduct as “among the most severe” the Real Estate Council of Alberta has ever addressed.

“I think that the majority of people in the market who are doing this for a living work hard, they’re professionals, they do a good job,” said Inouye. “But there are a lot that are not, and if there’s anything that we learned from iPro, it’s that even the people that we didn’t think were doing things were doing things in plain sight.”