There was a time when Realtor meant something. It conjured images of polished professionals, steady hands on the tiller, people guided by ethics, not ego.
Today, the word feels less like a badge of honour and more like a brand you’d whisper about at a cocktail party before someone asks, “Oh, are you one of those?”
A shared word with split reputations
Canada’s real estate professionals use the word Realtor by permission. It is not ours. The trademark is co-owned by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) and the National Association of Realtors (NAR) in the United States. CREA’s financial statements show no money changing hands through their joint company, Realtor Canada Inc., but the symbolic connection is undeniable.
And lately, that connection has been a problem.
Over the past two years, NAR has been mired in scandal, not the petty variety, but the kind that burns trust to the ground. Multiple U.S. class-action lawsuits have accused NAR of price-fixing and collusion around commission structures, culminating in a massive settlement that could reshape how real estate is practiced across America.
While those legal battles play out, an even darker story has emerged: the sexual harassment and workplace abuse scandal that forced NAR president Kenny Parcell to resign in 2023.
When leadership fails
The New York Times investigation that broke the story read like something out of a corporate horror novel. Former employees described a culture of fear and silence, where senior executives faced repeated accusations of harassment and retaliation. Parcell allegedly sent explicit messages to subordinates, made unwanted advances, and fostered what insiders called a “boys’-club environment.” NAR apologized, launched internal reviews, and promised reform. But the damage was done. The organization built to uphold ethics could not even uphold its own.
For Canadian agents watching from across the border, the embarrassment is hard to ignore. The public does not parse the difference between CREA and NAR. To most consumers, a Realtor is a Realtor. When NAR sinks, the whole fleet lists with it.
When allies walk away
Redfin’s decision to cut ties with NAR in 2023 was a turning point. CEO Glenn Kelman had tried for years to reform the organization from within, pushing for transparency and modernization. Instead, he was met with resistance, outdated commission policies, and, as he said, “a pattern of alleged sexual harassment that betrayed the ideals the association was founded on.”
So Redfin left. Not quietly, not diplomatically, but with a statement that echoed across the industry: “Enough is enough.”
It was not just about money or antitrust risk. It was about integrity. If one of the largest, most visible brokerages in America could no longer stomach the association, what does that say about the health of the brand itself?
Control without independence is not freedom
Here in Canada, CREA controls the trademark rights to the word Realtor, but not the narrative. We carry a name that is not truly ours, tied to an organization in another country that keeps proving it cannot manage its own moral compass.
We do not pay dues to NAR, but we pay something harder to measure — reputational cost. Every time another headline breaks, Canadian agents brace for the fallout. Conversations with clients shift from home values to ethics. The word that once distinguished us now puts us on the defensive.
Who am I to say so?
I am a new agent. My licence cuts me if I turn around too fast. I have not worn off the corners or creased it into the soft parchment that comes with a dozen years in the field. I came into this industry through being an assistant in the aughts, then a real estate photographer in this decade. Three generations of my family have worked in real estate. My grandfather was a bit of a shark in the Lower Mainland, back when women did not do this job.
I debated getting my licence for a long time because, to be honest, this profession has baggage. Maybe it was getting licensed through the NAR lawsuit era, or maybe it was the public perception of what we do, but it gave me pause.
I’m passionate about finding people homes, but I’m not passionate about the wince that sometimes comes with the word Realtor. You will not find Realtor in my branding, and I do not use it with clients. That is my choice. I am not asking every agent to redo their signs and billboards — that expense in this market!? But what I want to do is plant a seed.
It is time to build our own brand
The easy answer is to say “it is just a word.” But language matters. Words carry reputation, and reputation builds trust or erodes it. When the word Realtor drags behind it lawsuits, harassment scandals, and tone-deaf apologies, maybe it is time to ask if we still need it. The word Realtor ties us to NAR’s shenanigans, and if 2025 has taught us anything, it is that a strong Canadian identity is important.
Imagine rebranding the profession under a distinctly Canadian identity — one that does not require shared custody with an organization still trying to find its moral footing. A name that signals independence, modern ethics, and national pride. Something that says, “We represent our clients and our communities, not another country’s baggage.”
The word Realtor once stood for something bigger. But words can lose their meaning. Maybe the most professional thing we can do now is outgrow it.
After all, integrity is not trademarked. And maybe, finally, it’s time Canadians stopped renting their professional identity from the United States of America.
Interesting perspective. While the inter-dependency between USA and Canada goes beyond a Real Estate brand, your article is well articulated and definitely food for thought. However, will change of usage of the term alone change the perceptions about the profession , in Canada ?
This is an interesting perspective, but I respectfully disagree.
Canadians should not be tainted by misdeeds that occur at NAR or elsewhere in USA. One bad person does not ruin years of accomplishments and fairness.
Not all licencees are “realtors” as this word can only be used by those who belong and respect rules of conduct from their local, provincial and national associations.
Rather that looking for a new name and branding it, CREA could use OUR advertising money to promote the distinction between realtors and non realtors. There are costs and reasons to be a realtor and they should be protected.
I’ve read your recent “opinion” piece, suggesting the word “Realtor®️” is baggage — and I have to adamantly disagree. To me, that word carries weight, not baggage. It represents decades of hard work, ethics, and professional standards that many of us have fought to uphold.
Every industry has its bad apples, but removing a title doesn’t erase them. The solution isn’t to run from the word “Realtor®️” — it’s to continue restoring pride in it through professionalism and accountability.
To anyone new coming into this business: don’t try to redefine or dismantle what’s been built. Learn it. Respect it. Improve on it. Cancel culture does not belong here! Many of us have spent years cleaning up this industry, continuing to do so, and rebuilding trust with the public. You don’t earn credibility by throwing stones at the foundation others laid — you earn it by adding value and doing better work.
The Realtor®️ name still means something. It stands for service, trust, and commitment to doing right by clients and our communities. That’s not baggage — that’s legacy.
If you want to use different tools in this profession, have at it. But don’t try and change the landscape that has been our system for ever. Instead, build on the legacy, show the world that YES – A REALTOR®️ IS SYNONYMOUS WITH TRUST!
I mean if REM is looking for engagement, this article is certainly one that should be doing that. 🙂
Thought-provoking piece. The Realtor name carries both legacy and liability a symbol of professionalism for decades, yet now weighed down by reputational baggage not entirely of our making. We need to carefully weigh whether the legacy strengthens our credibility or limits our future. Either way, the conversation about building a truly Canadian identity in real estate is long overdue.
Absolutely disagree. However it does open and interesting dialogue. The problem, if there is one, is NOT the name ‘Realtor” – the problem is the public perception of us, and for much of that poor perception, we have no one to blame but ourselves. We are the only ones who can change it. If we want to be seen as professionals and respected by the public, then we have to insist that our regulators get tough with those who damage our reputation. Our regulator here in B.C. has made a great start with increased fines, suspensions, etc. but we still have a long way to go. There are still far too many people licensed who are only in the business because they see a big paycheck and have no real concern about how they achieve that. Far too many can’t even understand basic English which in turn begs the question how they ever were licensed in the beginning. What we don’t need is more mickey-mouse TV ads like CREA was using for a while. They did nothing to help. In fact the opposite is likely true. Want to be seen as professional and have the name Realtor be respected? Then let’s start acting like it.
Lauren, I have been to many of NAR Conferences over the past decades from Orlando, New Orleans, Chicago, I think Nashville and also San Francisco.
Though the NAR association had good intentions it become flawed with bureaucracy that turned the organization towards chaos after the Antitrust fiasco in the early 1990’s, followed by selling the word REALTOR.com to a 3rd party for profit, and the recent commission scandal. Maybe CREA should rethink their recent “for-profit” stance for our Canadian association.
As a keen observer at the NAR events along with our REMAX European conferences abroad in Berlin, Amsterdam and Lisbon, I still think that Canada has the BEST organized real estate in the world for us REALTORS, bar none.
The deal that CREA has with NAR about owning REALTOR.ca, is the BEST for Canada owing the trademarked name. If it isn’t broke, why fix it; because you don’t like it! The NAR, US woes, is about their organization, and it is theirs to muck-up.
It is NOT Canada’s [CREA] responsibility, and certainly NOT yours either, to FIX their Sh!t. In time you will see why we Canadians ARE a BETTER fit for the word, REALTOR. Continue writing Lauren; I look forward to your next REM piece.
Signed: Rod Doris, Real Estate Broker.
Licensed in Ontario on October 24, 1989.
REALTOR® is the brand, so too is MLS® .And the latter is owned by CREA, the former is a trademark of the National Association of REALTORS®; it is controlled but not owned by CREA.
Doubtful there is a but a handful of Canadians or foreign real estate byers, even those from the US, who know or think about CREA, or OREA, or any local MLS®, much less NAR.
The argument made is the brand has been irreparably damaged and rebrand is crucial. That seems unnecessary overkill. The brand may, and only may, have been weakened. The anti trust issue is resolved by court correction. The serious staff indiscretion is obvious personnel and not professional performance related behaviour.
Loss of a major, yet fractional market share player, is unlikely to kill a brand existing since 1916.
Even so, there is pressure from the anti trust, commission rulings.
Because a rose by any other name will smell as sweet, one should really expect that a rebranding will be seen as only an attempt to put lipstick on ‘one of those’.
A rebrand is more than a name reboot. It must include new standards, ethics, certification, licensing, and public trust — it’s far larger than a new advertising strategy. Credible national revision of the brand is $40M to $70M by some estimates. The complexity of our organization arrangements in Canada likely impacts these costs up not down. And massive, necessary, advertising campaigns suggest these costs could be double. Costs is not the argument running contrary to the suggestion, it is that spending is not the panacea, rebranding our behaviour to the name is.
For instance, some data suggests the CPA Canada rebrand was upwards to $50M, and that is 13 years ago. NAR annual advertising, without a rebrand emphasis is nearing $50M annually,
Words, as the columnists rightly points out, carry meaning. Changing the brand is not for the feint of heart, one has to have deep pockets and trust the outcome is a yellow brick road to return home. Supposition the issue that drives us being ‘one of those’ is the word REALTOR® misses that perhaps it is not the word and is the way we have behaved. Getting better, proving we are better, and serving the public better is really the solution.
Better to put our tens of millions towards those improvements. A new name is not necessary, getting organizational bureaucracy (as one person notes) out of the way and our professional conduct in the heart of service to clients is the solution.
This magazine has really been on a slide ever since “new” people have taken it over. I’ve seen your requests for contributors for your “rad” but a self-confessed NEWBIE with an opinion (although not very well received) on the word Realtor?
Have you even sold a property yet? When you get “your feet wet” you may have something to say… should you ever make any money as a Realtor… with an attitude like yours you’ll probably end up working with the Real Estate Board… they are rife with no talent!
A bit of a “tongue in cheek” answer:
I suggest in Canada we should change the spelling to match the way most say the word. Instead of Realtor spell it Realitor and while your at it change Realty to Reality. It’s bothered me for 20 years that most of our professionals cannot even pronounce their profession correctly. How professional is that? Well that is reality so maybe is time to bend to slang pronunciation. Comments?