History of the Alliance for Canadian Real Estate Education (ACRE)
During the early 1980s, an informal group of provincial Directors of Education began meeting twice a year to exchange information and share materials related to real estate education. In 1994, with the advent of the Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT) signed by the federal, provincial and territorial governments, a formal Education Directors Work Group was established to respond to the AIT labour mobility requirements and to establish minimum education standards. The Work Group had membership from all provincial and territorial jurisdictions and representation from the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) through its manager, Member Development.
The Work Group completed and validated The National Core Curriculum for Real Estate Salespeople in 1995. By 1998, they had also produced:
In January 1999, the Work Group officially became the Alliance for Canadian Real Estate Education incorporated under the Canadian Corporations Act as a not-for-profit organization. The ACRE membership is comprised of the senior education staff person from member provinces (e.g., directors of education) who work together to maintain excellence and leading educational standards in real estate education.
ACRE works to sustain and enhance the highest level of real estate education ensuring that practitioners meet both regulatory requirements and the public interest. ACRE supports and works with regulators, real estate associations and boards, and other real estate organizations that share this commitment to excellence in real estate education. ACRE protects the public interest through continuously supporting higher standards of professionalism in real estate.
In their first decade, ACRE added the following core curriculum documents to their repertoire:
ACRE's Mandate
The ACRE mandate is to:
- research and develop real estate education core curricula blueprints
- facilitate cooperation among jurisdictions to enhance efficiencies and reduce duplication of development and delivery cost
- develop, maintain and monitor standards to guide the administration and delivery of real estate education, and
- liaise with regulatory bodies and other professional associations on issues concerning registration/licensing education requirements
Also in 2006, the ACRE mandate was amended to add the following:
- develop courses in support of the mandate, where appropriate
This broader perspective now includes education design, validation and course offerings.
ACRE's Courses
In 2006, ACRE developed and delivered Agency Fundamentals - The National Perspective and Resource Guide in consultation with the Canadian Regulator's Group. This course represents the first national educational initiative achieved through the joint efforts of ACRE and the Canadian Regulators Group. The Real Estate Educators Association (REEA) chose Agency Fundamentals - The National Perspective as their North American Education Program of the Year for 2007. As well, the course won the Association of Real Estate License Law Officials (ARELLO) Education Award for 2007 in the Post-License Category.
In 2008, ACRE designed the Risk Management Strategies for Errors and Omission Insurance Course. In 2009, ACRE designed a national competition law compliance course for REALTORS® entitled Competition Law and REALTORS®, What You Say and Do Matters.
More details of ACRE's history and accomplishments are outlined in the ACRE Benchmarks brochure.
