Designated representation is the TRESA model where a brokerage names one or more specific registrants — not the whole firm — as a client’s designated representative. RECO Bulletin 2.2 states that representative alone is responsible for promoting and protecting that client’s best interests and for protecting their confidential information, and that other agents at the same brokerage cannot be told the client’s motivation to buy or sell without written consent.
Designated representation was introduced across Ontario on December 1, 2023, as part of TRESA’s Phase 2 changes. RECO’s Information Guide tells buyers and sellers to ask the real estate agent what type of representation the brokerage offers. If a brokerage offers this model, the representation agreement must include “the name of your designated representative”, prominently, on the agreement itself.
More than one registrant at a brokerage can be named as a client’s designated representative on the same file, and the brokerage cannot swap in a different one without the client’s agreement — RECO’s guide notes the brokerage may only ask to appoint someone else if, for example, the original representative stops working with the brokerage, or is otherwise not available to provide the services outlined in the agreement.
The model changes how multiple representation works, too: it is triggered only when the same designated representative serves more than one client with competing interests in the same transaction, not whenever the brokerage as a whole is on both sides of a deal. That distinction is the main reason designated representation exists.
A brokerage signs a seller to a designated representation agreement naming Agent A. A different buyer at the same brokerage is represented under a separate designated representation agreement naming Agent B, and that buyer wants to make an offer on Agent A’s listing. Because the designated representatives are different people, RECO’s guide confirms this is not multiple representation and requires no written disclosure or consent step. Agent A owes the seller undivided loyalty and cannot share the seller’s confidential motivation with Agent B without written consent; Agent B owes the same to the buyer. Compare that to brokerage representation, where the same scenario would be multiple representation from the moment the offer is made, because the brokerage itself sits on both sides.
See also: designated agent vs brokerage agency, multiple representation and informed consent.
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