Ontario's 2026 salesperson path under TRESA: the four RECO-approved education providers, the five courses plus two simulations, the exams and retake rules, brokerage hiring, RECO registration, and the real all-in cost.
Applies in: Ontario
Ontario's real-estate licensing changed materially in 2025, and most online guides have not caught up. The old Humber-only, REBBA-era program ended on September 30, 2025; on October 1 the new TRESA-aligned Real Estate Salesperson Program launched with four approved education providers, a single RECO-designed curriculum, standardized exams, and one published base price. This page follows that 2026 program, not the old one.
The process is a pipeline with hard deadlines between stages, not a school you enrol in once:
No licence exists at the end of step 1 alone. Education makes you eligible to register; RECO registration makes you an agent.
RECO's entry bar is administrative, not academic. You need to be at least 18, hold a Canadian high school diploma or equivalent (or an accepted alternative — details below), and have status in Canada (citizen, permanent resident, or valid permit). No degree, no sales background, and no property experience is required. There is one hard ceiling: age and diploma are non-negotiable, everything else is paperwork.
If you do not have a diploma, do not assume an admission exam will substitute for it. Humber's admission page accepts a Canadian or US secondary school diploma, a GED, a Canadian Adult Education Certificate, or an acceptable post-secondary equivalent, plus proof of English proficiency — it describes no admission-exam route. Third-party guides describe a Humber admission test (the REAT) taken before Course 1, but they disagree on its format and fee, and Humber's own admission page does not state them. Confirm the exact route with the provider you choose before you apply, and do not budget around an exam whose fee and pass mark you have not seen on the provider's own page. (The $125 figure attached to Humber in older guides is Humber's non-refundable application fee, not an exam retake fee.)
Do not leave this until the registration application. Criminal charges and convictions must be disclosed to RECO on an application for registration, regardless of when they occurred or how they were resolved. Disclosure does not automatically mean refusal, but RECO needs enough detail to make an informed decision, and a current criminal record and judicial matters check must accompany a disclosure of a charge or conviction, with supporting documentation. The same suitability lens applies to discipline history with another regulator and to any false statement on an application. If any of this applies to you, read RECO's registration policy on applicant and registrant criminal history before you apply, and be ready to disclose fully. See RECO's registration FAQ.
This is the genuinely new part. From 2019 to 2025, Humber Polytechnic was the only RECO-approved education provider in Ontario. The October 2025 TRESA-aligned launch opened the field:
| Provider | Minimum pre-registration cost | Application fee | Delivery shape |
|---|---|---|---|
| Algonquin College | $4,140 | $75 | Weekly live online group sessions, moderated forums |
| Career College Group | $4,140 self-paced / $4,785 cohort | $75 | Self-paced or 40–50-week structured cohort with live sessions |
| Fleming College | $4,140 | $75 | Service-focused; real-time phone/chat/email support |
| Humber Polytechnic | $4,140 | $125 | The 2019–2025 incumbent |
Three things to note:
Choose on delivery format and support responsiveness, not curriculum. A self-directed learner picks any provider; someone who wants scheduled accountability should look hard at the cohort option; someone who wants hand-holding should weight support channels over the $50 application-fee difference.
The program runs in a strict sequence — you must pass each course before the next unlocks. Five courses, two simulation sessions, and invigilated exams after the coursework. The two simulations are the practical heart of the program: interactive, instructor-led sessions where you practice offers, representation, forms, condo and freehold transactions, and negotiation. Course material is voluminous — students report 1,000 to 3,000 pages per course — and the exams test applied recall, not memorization. Course 1 (currently marketed as Real Estate Essentials) sets the pattern: 75 multiple-choice questions in 2 hours, reported pass/fail — RECO publishes no percentage pass mark, so any percentage you see quoted is not official. You get two attempts at each course exam; a second attempt costs $120, and failing twice means repurchasing and repeating the course before you can write again.
Two numbers matter here more than the curriculum details:
Nothing about the education hires you. You cannot register with RECO without being employed by a registered brokerage, and you must register within 12 months of completing the pre-registration courses — so the brokerage search is not a post-graduation activity, it is a final-courses activity. Typical commission splits for new agents run 50/50 to 90/10 in your favour depending on training and lead supply; the big franchises trade splits for brand and training, boutiques trade leaner economics for less hand-holding. Questions worth asking in interviews: desk fees, what training is actually delivered, whether leads are supplied or self-generated, and what the broker-of-record's mentorship looks like in practice.
Registration runs through MyWeb, RECO's online portal, once you have a brokerage offer. The five-step application is: create a MyWeb account, submit your education completion certificate (your provider sends it to RECO directly), provide personal identification, consent to a criminal background check, and pay the fees with proof of errors-and-omissions insurance. RECO's own fee schedule puts a new registration at $356 in 2026 — a $306 registration fee plus a $50 processing fee — rising to $602 from January 1, 2027 ($398 plus $204), when the 2023 fee reduction is reversed. Applications are not processed until payment is received, and RECO publishes no fixed processing time for a new application, so apply as soon as your brokerage offer is in hand. Then you are a registered salesperson: legally able to trade anywhere in Ontario under your brokerage. There is no separate Toronto licence — provincial registration covers the whole province.
Registration is not the finish line; it is the start of articling. Within your first 24 months you must complete a mandatory Compliance course plus two elective courses, at roughly $655 minimum. You do this while trading and earning commissions — articling is continuing education alongside real work, not a supervised waiting period. After the two-year cycle, registration renews on the standard cycle with continuing-education obligations.
A broker-trainer who walks candidates through this puts the honest version first: the barrier is not the exams, it is the first two years after them. The business is pure commission with no base salary; the first months can pass with no closings; and the costs do not stop at registration — real estate board dues, MLS and lockbox fees, desk fees, marketing and lead generation, a vehicle, and professional memberships all run while commissions arrive on a delay. All-in from first course to active selling, expect $4,500–$6,000 minimum in education and registration, then $1,500–$3,500 a year in recurring fees before you spend anything on marketing. The question to settle before you start is not "can I pass the courses" — it is "can I fund the climb to the first closings." Treat it as a side gig and client work rarely bends to your spare hours; most people who do this well do it full-time once registered.
Related: how to become a real estate broker in Ontario (the upgrade path once you are an agent), how to become a mortgage agent in Ontario (the financing-side licence), how to get a real estate licence in BC (the other province's salesperson path), how to start freelancing in Canada (the self-employment mechanics that commission income requires), and how to start a drone business in Canada (what a certified drone operator does for listings), and Licensed Occupations in Ontario (every verified licence and credential in Ontario, with the regulator that issues it).
| Pre-registration program (all four providers, base) | ~$4,140 incl. six exams + HST |
|---|---|
| Application fee | $75–$125 |
| RECO registration + processing (new salesperson) | $356 in 2026; $602 from Jan 1, 2027 |
| Criminal background check | $50–$100 |
| E&O insurance (annual) | ~$500 |
| Post-registration phase | ~$655 minimum |
A working candidate studying 10–15 hours a week typically takes 12–18 months to reach RECO registration; full-time study can compress it to 6–9 months. RECO's program design puts hard clocks on you: 24 months to finish the pre-registration education, then 12 months to find a brokerage and register, then 24 months to complete the post-registration articling phase.
The pre-registration program costs a minimum of about $4,140 across all four providers — that figure includes the six exams; HST and retakes are extra. RECO's own fee schedule puts a new registration at $356 in 2026 ($306 registration plus a $50 processing fee), rising to $602 from January 1, 2027 ($398 plus $204). Add errors-and-omissions insurance (about $500 a year) plus board and MLS fees once you are trading. Realistic out-of-pocket from first course to active selling is about $4,500–$6,000 minimum, before first-year business costs. Confirm every figure against your provider and RECO's published fee schedule before you budget.
No. Humber Polytechnic was the sole provider from 2019 to 2025, but when the old program ended on September 30, 2025 and the new TRESA-aligned program launched October 1, 2025, four providers became approved: Algonquin College, Career College Group, Fleming College, and Humber Polytechnic. All four deliver the same RECO-designed curriculum and the same minimum pre-registration cost.
RECO reports exam results pass/fail only and publishes no percentage pass mark — any specific percentage you see quoted is not official. Course 1 (Real Estate Essentials) is 75 multiple-choice questions in 2 hours, per RECO's Learner Exam Handbook. Courses must be passed in strict sequence — you do not move on until the current exam is done. You get two attempts at each course exam; a second attempt costs $120, and failing twice means repurchasing and repeating the course. Plan for exam retakes in your budget and your timeline.
Humber's admission page accepts a Canadian or US secondary school diploma, a GED, a Canadian Adult Education Certificate, or an acceptable post-secondary equivalent, plus proof of English proficiency. There is no published no-diploma admission-exam route on that page, and third-party guides disagree on the admission test's format and fee — confirm the exact route with whichever of the four providers you choose before you apply.
Yes — most candidates do, which is why the typical timeline is 12–18 months rather than the aggressive 6–9. The risk is not the difficulty of the material; it is losing momentum in the middle of the program. The 24-month pre-registration clock means stalling has a real cost.
You do not need one to study, but you cannot register with RECO without being employed by a registered brokerage, and you must register within 12 months of completing the pre-registration courses. Starting brokerage conversations during your final courses typically saves one to two months of idle time.
You enter the post-registration (articling) phase: a mandatory Compliance course plus two elective courses within 24 months, at roughly $655 minimum. You are a working, commission-earning salesperson the whole time — articling is not a waiting period, it is continuing education while you trade.