Real Estate 101

Real Estate Banners in Quebec: The Role

By Georges Matar · May 3, 2026 · 8 min read

The choice of a banner comes up early in the conversation, and almost always in the wrong place. People compare logos when the real question is narrower: in a real estate file, what actually depends on the brand, and what would be identical with any licensed broker?

The need to draw that line is documented. A Léger survey conducted for the OACIQ from March 20 to 22, 2026, among 1,001 Quebecers shows that 62% of them rate their knowledge of the main risks in residential real estate at 6 or less. The average score on the knowledge test was 13.5 correct answers out of 20, and only 4% of respondents got everything right.

So here is the dividing line, item by item.

The licence and the body that issues it

In Quebec, a real estate broker holds a licence issued by the OACIQ, regardless of the agency they are attached to. The same regulation applies to everyone: the Regulation respecting brokerage requirements, professional conduct of brokers and advertising.

Its section 1 requires the licence holder to disclose that status to every person dealt with in a brokerage transaction, and to produce the licence on request. Its section 5 requires the holder to verify the information provided to the public and to be able at all times to prove its accuracy. Its section 4 prohibits offering services with any distinction, exclusion or preference based on a ground of discrimination set out in section 10 of the Charter of human rights and freedoms. Its section 6 prohibits inserting in a contract of professional services a clause that would exclude the holder’s professional civil liability.

A banner can neither add to nor subtract from these obligations.

The two funds behind the licence

The Real Estate Indemnity Fund, the FICI, covers victims of fraud, fraudulent tactics or misappropriation of funds committed by a licence holder. The maximum compensation is $100,000 per claim for an act committed on or after May 10, 2018, and $35,000 for an earlier act. The claim must be filed within two years of becoming aware of the alleged act.

What the FICI does not cover deserves to be said clearly: it does not address good-faith errors or ordinary ethical faults, because fraud and deceit involve a voluntary element. And if the person paid for the brokerage transaction does not hold a valid licence, there is no recourse to the Fund.

FARCIQ is the mandatory professional liability insurer of brokers and agencies. It compensates the loss resulting from an unintentional fault, error or omission. Three conditions must be met: an unintentional fault, a financial loss, and a causal link between the two. The OACIQ itself points out that violating ethical rules does not automatically entitle anyone to compensation from FARCIQ.

The mandatory forms

The OACIQ has developed some fifty brokerage forms. In residential transactions, brokers are required to use the mandatory forms: the brokerage contract to sell, exclusive or non-exclusive, with the obligation to present both types to you; Declarations by the seller of the immovable; the brokerage contract to purchase, without which a broker can neither advise the buyer on the price to offer nor negotiate on their behalf; the promise to purchase, the counter-proposal, the annexes and the Amendments form.

That same regulation also governs the broker’s conduct around these documents. Its section 46.7 requires the broker, before having a mandatory form that they have completed signed, to allow the parties to take cognizance of its terms and conditions and to provide all explanations and answers to the questions asked. As for the term, the OACIQ states that no brokerage contract developed by the Organization may renew automatically, and the mandatory form provides that if no end date and time are entered, the contract ends 30 days after it is made.

The text of the promise to purchase you will sign with a RE/MAX broker is therefore exactly the same as at any other agency. That is by design.

RE/MAX Québec adds programs offered by participating brokers. They replace nothing described above: they come on top. And each one has conditions that are checked before, not after.

Tranquilli-T: legal assistance, and its limits

Tranquilli-T is given free of charge to the eligible client in the form of a protection certificate, once all the conditions of the promise to purchase have been fulfilled, except the signing of the deed of sale. The program has five components: delay and withdrawal, death, legal assistance, small claims, and assistance toward an amicable settlement.

The legal information phone service is provided by lawyers who are members of the Barreau du Québec and experienced in real estate transactions, Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., except Quebec statutory holidays. The number and length of calls are unlimited during the protection period.

What it does not do: lawyers are not admitted before the Small Claims Division, so you have to represent yourself there. The three hours provided are meant to guide you and give you document templates, not to argue your case. And the program excludes new construction, land, abandoned properties, repossessions except on the buyer’s side, as well as partnerships, companies and developers. The sale price must not exceed $5,000,000. RE/MAX Québec points out that the content of its website is not a contract and that the terms, limitations and exclusions are set out in the policy.

Integri-T: the warranty, its cost and what it excludes

Integri-T protects the buyer up to $50,000 against hidden defects for 3 years following the deed of sale. When the buyer also joins the warranty, the seller’s liability is limited to the first $5,000.

The program changed partners on October 1, 2026: it is now offered in collaboration with GBQ, Garantie des bâtiments, an independent surety company, and no longer with ACQ Résidentiel. The forms, the warranty text and the contact information were all replaced on that date. An older Integri-T document is no longer the one that applies.

Unlike Tranquilli-T, it is not free, but its price came down with the change of partner: from $975 plus taxes when the seller pays for it, from $675 plus taxes when the buyer does. These are starting prices, and rates can change without notice: the fee schedule is available from your broker or from customer service.

The conditions matter as much as the ceiling. A recent pre-purchase inspection report, produced by an inspector who belongs to a recognized association, is required for the building to be assessed and the warranty to take effect: no inspection, no warranty. A vacant, neglected or repossessed building is not eligible, and in a co-ownership the unit is treated as the main building. Above all, items that an inspector detected and recorded in the report are removed from coverage: the warranty applies to what was hidden, not to what was written down. Finally, it must be put in place before the notarial deed is signed, and the clause must appear in the promise to purchase. After the notary, there is no catching up.

Coproprie-T: competence, not a cheque

Coproprie-T is a training program for brokers, developed with Me Yves Joli-Coeur, founder of CondoLegal.com: workshops, video capsules, podcasts and practical sheets on divided and undivided co-ownership law.

Let’s be precise, because the name can be misleading: it is neither insurance nor a warranty. No money is paid to anyone. The benefit comes upstream, in the checks carried out on the contingency fund, the minutes of meetings and the declaration of co-ownership before you sign.

The fourth program, My RE/MAX Discounts, is not a protection at all: it is free access to discounts with partners, after the transaction. Useful, but it belongs in the right box.

Checking a licence takes thirty seconds

The OACIQ keeps a public register of licence holders, updated daily. You can search by name or by licence number, and filter by agency, by region or by authorized field of practice, residential or commercial.

Two details few people use. A checkbox lets you include in the search brokers whose licence is suspended or revoked: tick it, otherwise a problematic file may simply not show up. And the register displays disciplinary measures as well as the training courses completed.

The register is available at registre.oaciq.com. For a mortgage broker, the check is done elsewhere: that profession falls under the Autorité des marchés financiers, as explained in the article on the difference between a broker, an agent and a REALTOR.

A brand does not guarantee the quality of any particular broker’s work. It does not speed up a sale, it does not produce a better price, and it replaces neither the analysis of comparables, nor the reading of a co-ownership file, nor the preparation of a negotiation.

What it does, in this case, is more modest and more verifiable: it adds legal coverage given free of charge to the eligible client during the critical period, a financial warranty against hidden defects, paid for by the seller, if the file is eligible and set up in time, and ongoing co-ownership training for the brokers who take it. The rest depends on the person, and is judged by their method.

Want to know whether your file is eligible for Integri-T or Tranquilli-T, and what that involves before signing? Write to me, and we will go over the conditions together.