Commercial Real Estate Agents: directory of firms

Commercial work is not a licence-free corner of the industry. In Ontario, anyone trading in real estate must be registered and employed by a registered brokerage, and RECO states that registrant obligations under the Trust in Real Estate Services Act are the same for commercial and residential property, including record-keeping requirements. Use the same public registrant search you would use for a house purchase.

Quebec deserves particular attention. The OACIQ has been implementing a licensing structure based on separate rights to practise in residential and commercial real estate brokerage, so that brokers' skills line up with the activities they perform. A broker holding both rights may carry out all residential and commercial brokerage activities. Check the register of licence holders for the right to practise that covers your transaction, not merely that a licence exists.

In Alberta, commercial real estate is one of the practice areas the Real Estate Council of Alberta licenses, and ProCheck shows the category of licence a professional holds. In British Columbia, commercial sales sit within trading services under the Real Estate Services Act, and BCFSA's search displays licence category and level along with conditions and discipline history.

This is the difference that catches business owners out, and it is worth stating plainly: the consumer-style protections that govern residential renting generally do not apply to commercial space. A commercial lease is a negotiated contract between businesses, and the contract, rather than a protective statute, is what governs the relationship.

Ontario illustrates the point. Commercial tenancies fall under the Commercial Tenancies Act rather than the Residential Tenancies Act, and a signed lease may take precedence over that Act. The province states that the Commercial Tenancies Act does not regulate rent increases, so without an agreement addressing it a landlord can increase rent by any amount at any time; nor does it set out maintenance responsibilities, which must be written into the lease. The government does not get involved in commercial landlord and tenant disputes: parties go to the Small Claims Court for smaller money claims and otherwise to the Superior Court of Justice. If a tenancy's character is genuinely unclear, either side can ask the Landlord and Tenant Board to determine whether it is residential.

The practical consequence is that almost everything you would want protected has to be negotiated into the document before signing. Bring a lawyer in early, not after the offer to lease is signed.

Remuneration in commercial brokerage is negotiated and set out in the listing or representation agreement. On a lease it is commonly the landlord who pays the brokers involved, including a broker acting for the tenant, which means an occupier can often be represented without paying the broker directly. Never assume this: ask at the first meeting who pays your broker, how it is calculated, and whether anything would ever fall to you.

Ask, too, how remuneration behaves in the situations that actually arise, such as a renewal or an expansion later in the term, a deal that is restructured, or a purchase that completes after the agreement has expired. Beyond the broker, budget for legal fees, a building condition assessment, environmental work, measurement or space planning, and any consultant needed for permitted-use questions.