Application for licence issuance

Real estate brokers must determine whether to work for a real estate agency or to act on their own account.

For a real estate agency
The licence application must be signed by the agency executive officer or an authorized signatory of the agency where you will be working.

To operate within a business corporation: fill out an Application for authorization to practise within a business corporation, which must be signed by the agency executive officer or an authorized signatory of the agency. Read this article for more details.

On their own account

You may act on your own account as soon as you start practising, in compliance with your aptitudes, limits on knowledge and means available to you to carry out your activities. In this case, you will have certain obligations and restrictions to observe:

• You will have to open a trust account within 10 days following your licence issuance (in this regard, see the form Instructions concerning the obligations to open and maintain a trust account). Note that licensees are exempt from this obligation if they receive no deposit, advance on remuneration or costs from clients or any other sum for others. If a licensee is no longer in this situation, he or she must immediately notify the OACIQ in writing and comply with the obligations related to trust accounts.
• You will need to complete the Managing trust accounts training as soon as you are required to open a trust account
• You must attend a start-up session provided by the OACIQ Inspection Department (a notice to attend will be sent to you by email)
• You will not be able to hire real estate brokers
• You cannot act through a business corporation
• You will not be able to use a pseudonym

To apply for a real estate broker’s licence, you need to complete and provide the following documents:

• The Application for issuance – Real estate broker licence
• If you answered “Yes” to any of the questions in section VI “Declarations” of the licence application, you must also provide:
• The required form for any bankruptcy or criminal record disclosure
• All required supporting documents of this declaration
• Undergo a criminal record check if it has not been done in the last six months (see step 3)
• A proof showing your knowledge of the French language if you wrote the certification exam in English (in this regard, see the OQLF’s French exam) page)
• A photograph taken within less than 6 months, which will appear on your real estate broker licence and posted on the OACIQ Register of licence holders
• Payment of licence fees.

Applicable fees

The applicable fees for the licence issuance application and the subscription to InstanetForms^TM electronic forms vary depending on the month in which you wish to start or resume your practice. Note that if you carry out residential real estate transactions, you must subscribe to InstanetForms^TM electronic forms to access current versions of brokerage forms. To find out the exact amount payable for a broker’s licence, visit this page.

The applicable fees for a licence issuance include the following fees:

• The application examination fees
• Fees for checking criminal records, if any
• Practice fees
• Contribution to the Real Estate Indemnity Fund (FICI)
• Premium of the Fonds d’assurance responsabilité professionnelle du courtage immobilier du Québec (FARCIQ)
• Subscription fee to InstanetForms^TM electronic forms
• Applicable taxes.

Except for application examination and verification of criminal record fees, the applicable fees are calculated based on the remaining months until the end of April, including the month in which the licence is issued.  It will be more expensive to apply for a licence in June than in March.

Cancellation fees

If you cancel your licence application before issuance, you may be refunded the following fees:

• Practice fees
• Contribution to the Real Estate Indemnity Fund (FICI)
• Premium of the Fonds d’assurance responsabilité professionnelle du courtage immobilier du Québec (FARCIQ)
• Subscription to electronic forms, where applicable
• Applicable taxes.

The application examination and verification of criminal record fees are not refundable.

If your licence is issued and you request its immediate revocation, only the following fees will be refunded to you:

• Premium of FARCIQ
• Applicable taxes

Declarations in your licence issuance application

Any licence applicants must report to the OACIQ, regardless of the date on which the offence was committed or the decision rendered, any situation concerning them or regarding a legal person or partnership under their control. For more details, read the article Reporting is important!

If you respond positively to any of the questions in the Declarations section of the Application for licence issuance, your file will be examined to determine if it needs to be examined by the OACIQ Licence Issue and Maintenance Committee (LIMC). The role of this Committee is to determine whether public protection warrants the imposition of one of the measures set out in the Act. If applicable, in accordance with section 37 of the Real Estate Brokerage Act, the OACIQ may refuse to issue a licence or may impose conditions or restrictions thereon. Read this article for more details.

Please note that in this case, the licence issuance could be delayed.

It is not always clear whether an act, offence or bankruptcy is worth mentioning. If in doubt, it’s better to report such information since your licence may be revoked if it’s noted that you have failed to do so.

Criminal record check

Upon receipt of your licence application, an email with "Mintz Background Check Invitation" in the subject line will be sent to you so you can complete the Mintz digital form.
If your criminal record check was carried out less than six months ago, we will refer to the previously obtained results, and no email will be sent.

To avoid additional delays in the processing of your licence application, please follow the recommendations stated on this page Criminal record check. Even if you provide a certificate of good conduct issued by police, your application will be considered as incomplete.

In general, our processing times can take up to 10 business days. However, depending on the type of application and the nature of the regulatory compliance verifications required, these processing times can be extended. Once your licence is issued, you will receive a confirmation email and it will be available to download via the Brokers' Area.

Your name will appear on the OACIQ Register of licence holders available to the public on our website.