As long as you and the client agree to, and not one day more — TRESA leaves the term entirely to negotiation.
Short answer
There is no minimum or maximum duration set by RECO for a buyer or seller representation agreement. It can run for a single showing, a few weeks, or several months — whatever the two of you agree and write into the contract. The number that actually matters to a client, though, is usually not the expiry date. It's the holdover clause that can survive it.
Representation agreements in Ontario must be in writing and presented as soon as possible — but the required contents are about disclosure, not duration. RECO's own guidance is explicit that “there is no set time or standard term” for the agreement: it can be in place for a day, a few weeks, or months, according to the RECO Information Guide. The one hard rule is presentation: the expiry date must appear prominently on the first page, so a client can never claim they didn't know when the contract ended.
Most agreements also carry a holdover clause, and it is the part clients (and some newer agents) genuinely misread. The RECO Information Guide walks through its own worked example: a buyer agreement with a 30-day holdover, where the agent shows the client a home before the contract expires. If that client buys the same home after the agreement expires but inside the 30-day holdover window, they can still owe your brokerage commission. Note that 30 days is this specific example in RECO's guide, not a fixed rule — the holdover period, like the term itself, is negotiable per agreement and has no province-wide standard.
OREA's standard forms — Form 300 for a buyer representation agreement, Form 200 for a seller representation agreement — are what most Ontario brokerages actually use, and both leave the term as a field you fill in, not a fixed clause. A short first agreement (a single showing, or two weeks) is a reasonable way to earn a new client's trust before asking for a longer commitment; a longer term with a clear holdover protects your commission on a deal that closes just after expiry. Whatever you choose, put the reasoning in the client conversation, not just the contract — a client who understands why the holdover exists is far less likely to dispute it later. See how a holdover clause is defined and what happens when one is contested in a real expired-agreement dispute.
A 30-minute call is enough to tell you whether your process holds up.
