RECA's mortgage education program: Fundamentals, Practice, and what comes next.

Fundamentals of Mortgage Brokerage comes first — it's the course every new mortgage associate must complete before anything else. Practice of Mortgage Brokerage follows, and both require passing an accompanying exam through a RECA-recognized provider before you're eligible for licensing.

See the full path to becoming a mortgage associate for where these two courses fit alongside eligibility, brokerage sponsorship, and RECA's suitability review.

RECA maintains a list of recognized course providers rather than delivering the curriculum itself. For mortgage, that includes the Alberta Mortgage Brokers Association (AMBA) and Alberta Real Estate School, among others, each publishing their own exam pass-rate statistics that RECA makes publicly available for comparison.

RECA is explicit on this point: “while it may be tempting to choose the shortest or least expensive course, it's important to select a program that will adequately prepare you to provide competent service in your chosen sector.” Our course selection guide walks through what else to weigh beyond price.

RECA publishes exam success-rate statistics for each recognized provider twice a year. For the two providers currently delivering Fundamentals and Practice of Mortgage Brokerage — the Alberta Mortgage Brokers Association (AMBA) and Alberta Real Estate School — the published numbers sit in a comparable range rather than showing one as a clearly safer bet.

These figures move every time RECA refreshes them and reflect learner performance at a point in time, not a guarantee of any individual's result — check RECA's Pre-licensing Education page directly for the current release. As RECA itself frames it, the stat is a data point for comparing providers, not the deciding factor on its own.

Yes — and it applies to everyone, not just new entrants. Starting May 2025, RECA requires all mortgage licensees to complete the Mandatory Re-Licensing Education on Private Lending before renewing, administered by the Alberta Mortgage Brokers Association. It sits alongside your regular renewal, not in place of the Fundamentals and Practice courses new associates already completed.

RECA frames the course's purpose narrowly and practically: it's meant to help mortgage licensees understand how private lending works for both borrowers and lenders, recognize when a private loan is the appropriate option for a client, and guide that client on entering or exiting a private loan at the right time. It applies whether you're renewing on schedule or reinstating a lapsed licence — RECA requires it before either can go through.

We cover the full renewal cycle, including this requirement, in Alberta mortgage licence renewal, explained.

Advancing from mortgage associate to mortgage broker isn't automatic, and it's not just a matter of time served. RECA requires at least two years of licensed experience as a mortgage associate within the last five years, plus completion of the separate Mortgage Broker Program and its accompanying exam.

We cover the practical differences between the two licence classes — and who supervises whom — in mortgage broker vs. mortgage associate in Alberta.

AMBA is currently the only RECA-recognized provider for the Mortgage Broker Program, the course and exam required to move from associate to broker. Its published results run smaller in volume than the entry-level courses simply because far fewer licensees sit this exam at any given time — RECA recorded 12 exam attempts with a 75% success rate for Jan–Dec 2025, and 6 attempts with an 83% success rate in the first half of 2026.

The smaller sample size is worth keeping in mind before reading too much into the higher headline number — a handful of attempts moves the percentage more than a few hundred would. See mortgage broker vs. mortgage associate in Alberta for what actually changes once that exam is behind you.

Passing Fundamentals and Practice doesn't itself make you licensed — you still need a sponsoring brokerage and RECA's formal approval before you can start working files. Once that's in place, the education requirement shifts from one-time coursework to an ongoing renewal cycle, and building a client base becomes the actual job.

That's the point where Treadstone's fulfillment and growth support tends to matter most — new associates who can lean on processing help spend their first year closing files instead of drowning in them.