In the usual course of real estate transactions, REALTORS® may require from buyers and sellers, personal and property information. Some of this information may be considered private. Collecting and sharing this and the real estate transaction information is an essential part of the buying and selling process.

At the same time, few things are more important to individuals than their privacy. REALTORS® recognize the rights of buyers and sellers to protect and control their personal information. REALTORS® are committed to using fair information practices when dealing with your personal information.

The federal government and three provincial governments now have laws in place dealing with how companies can collect and use your personal information. In British Columbia and Alberta, businesses abide by the Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA) of each province; in Québec, it is the Act Respecting the Protection of Personal Information in the Private Sector.

In all other provinces and territories, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), the federal legislation, applies.

The basic concept of all of these laws is protection of consumer privacy. The laws require that consumers consent to the collection of their personal information, and provide restrictions on how that information may be used, disclosed, and kept. They allow consumers to access any of their own personal information that companies may have collected, and they provide for remedies in the event that the information on file is incomplete or inaccurate.

The CREA Privacy Code is based on the 10 principles of PIPEDA, the privacy legislation. Our Code has been in place since 2001, and is the declaration of organized real estate to the public that we respect the privacy rights of individuals and have adopted policies and procedures to protect those rights.

The Privacy Code of The Canadian Real Estate Association sets out the commitment of REALTORS® make regarding the privacy of your personal information.

We will:

• Obtain your consent when we collect, use or disclose your personal information
• Only use the information for the purposes we discussed with you
• Allow you access to your information
• Have privacy policies that are clear and understandable

Privacy Code

PRINCIPLE 1 – ACCOUNTABILITY
Members are responsible for the proper management of all personal information under their control, and shall designate one or more persons to be accountable for compliance.

PRINCIPLE 2 – IDENTIFYING THE PURPOSES OF PERSONAL INFORMATION
Members shall identify the purposes of collecting information before or at the time the information is collected.

PRINCIPLE 3 – OBTAINING CONSENT
The knowledge and consent of the consumer are required for the collection, use or disclosure of personal information except where inappropriate.

PRINCIPLE 4 – LIMITING COLLECTION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION
Members shall limit the collection of personal information to that which is necessary for the purposes identified.

PRINCIPLE 5 – LIMITING USE, DISCLOSURE AND RETENTION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION
Members shall use or disclose personal information only for the reason it was collected, except with the consent of the consumer or as required by law.

PRINCIPLE 6 – ACCURACY OF PERSONAL INFORMATION
Members shall keep personal information as accurate, complete, current and relevant as necessary for its identified purpose.

PRINCIPLE 7 – PROTECTING INFORMATION
Members shall protect personal information with safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of the information.

PRINCIPLE 8 – OPENNESS CONCERNING POLICIES AND PRACTICES
Members shall make readily available to consumers specific information about their policies and practices relating to the management of personal information.

PRINCIPLE 9 – CONSUMER ACCESS TO PERSONAL INFORMATION
Upon request, members shall inform a consumer of the existence, use and disclosure of his or her personal information and shall give the individual access to that information.

PRINCIPLE 10 – CHALLENGING COMPLIANCE
A consumer shall be able to address a challenge concerning compliance with the above principles to the designated accountable person or persons in the member office.

Frequently Asked Privacy Questions (FAQs)

1. What is personal information?
Personal information is any information about an identifiable individual. This does not include information which is publicly available such as a phone directory listing your name, address and telephone number.

2. How do REALTORS® collect personal information?
Most information will be obtained directly from you, the client. REALTORS® may also collect information from other sources such as credit bureaus and government agencies, as needed. At the time information is collected, you will be told what uses will be made of it, and your consent to that collection and use will be obtained.

3. What do REALTORS® do with my information?
Your information is used to facilitate the real estate transaction. Effectively marketing your house involves advertising the property in any medium, including electronic media (newspapers, real estate publications, Internet web sites) and will also disclosing property information to other salespersons and prospective buyers. If the listing is on MLS®, the property information will be given to the real estate Board or Boards operating the Multiple Listing Service(s)®.

The listing information will be distributed through the MLS® system to any persons authorized to use the service (which may include other REALTORS®, appraisers, government departments and others) and may be marketed by the Board in various media, including the Internet. Property information, including sales data, is kept in the MLS® database following the completion of the transaction and is available to users of the system for comparative market analysis and valuation purposes.

Both current and historical data is essential to the operation of the MLS® system and by placing your listing on the MLS® system, you are agreeing to allow this ongoing use of listing and sales information.

4. How do I find out what personal information a REALTOR® has about me?
You should be able to see your personal information held by a realty firm or real estate Board/Association by calling, writing or visiting the organization in person. There may be specific procedures you have to follow or forms you have to fill out, and the firm or Board/Association has the right to charge a minimal fee for the service.

5. Can I correct my personal information that is wrong?
Yes, you can. Contact the particular firm or Board/Association, explain the correction you are requesting and why. If you can show the information is inaccurate or incomplete, you can request that a document or record with the corrected information be included in the file.

6. Is there a review process?
Yes. If you have any questions or concerns about the way your personal information has been collected, used or disclosed or if access to your personal information has been improperly refused, or if the company has refused to correct erroneous information, try to settle the matter directly with the firm. It has procedures in place to respond to complaints. If you’re not satisfied, you can contact the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, at info@privcom.gc.ca or by calling 1-800-282-1376.

Privacy information from the Canadian Real Estate Association.

Your privacy is of the utmost importance. The information collected on this website is used solely for internal use and will never be sold, released or rented in any form to any person, business/corporation, agency or group. The data gathered is used to help provide you with the best service and information possible.

This policy is in place to honour and protect the privacy of visitors to our site. Its purpose is to provide you with a detailed outline of the types of data we collect and how we can possibly use that information.

We do not gather personally identifiable data on our site unless you have chosen to give it to us. Even when you choose to give us information, we keep it confidential. When users visit the teamct.ca website, we gather some basic information that does not identify individual users. This can include the amount of incoming traffic visiting the site, which pages are visited and for how long, where the visitors come from, what ISP they are using and other such data. We use the data we collect to increase the quality of our web site, enhance or customize the information we offer, and make your time on our site as beneficial and smooth as possible.

Cookies - How We Use Them

A cookie is a small file sent to your browser from a Web server to be stored on your computer. A cookie cannot give access to your computer or any information stored on your computer. We use cookies to allow the Site to respond to you as an individual by gathering and remembering information about your preferences when using the Site so when you next visit the Site your preferences for using the Site are already set. Cookies are also used to personalize the content you view on the Site (such as your Update Feed). You can choose to accept or decline cookies. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can modify your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer. This may prevent you from taking full advantage of the website. To view more information regarding cookie settings please visit:

• For Microsoft Internet Explorer: https://support.microsoft.com/en-ca/help/17442/windows-internet-explorer-delete-manage-cookies
• For Google Chrome: https://www.google.com/support/chrome/bin/answer.py?answer=95647
• For Mozilla Firefox: https://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Enabling%20and%20disabling%20cookies
• For Apple Safari: https://support.apple.com/en-ca/guide/safari/sfri11471/mac

Online Advertising

We may use Google AdWords Remarketing to advertise this website across the Internet. AdWords remarketing will display relevant ads tailored to you based on what parts of this website you have viewed by placing a cookie on your machine. THIS COOKIE DOES NOT IN ANYWAY IDENTIFY YOU OR GIVE ACCESS TO YOUR COMPUTER The cookie is used to say "This person visited this page, so show them ads relating to that page." Google AdWords Remarketing allows us to tailor our marketing to better suit your needs and only display ads that are relevant to you.

If you do not wish to participate in potential Google AdWords Remarketing, you can opt out by visiting Google's Ads Preferences Manager. You can also opt out of any third-party vendor's use of cookies by visiting www.networkadvertising.org/choices/

Automatically Collected Information

Similar to most other websites, this site automatically collects basic information such as the visitor's IP (Internet Protocol) address, the date and the time that the site is accessed, which sections were visited, and the content downloaded. This non-identifiable information is gathered solely for website and system administration purposes. The site might use cookies in the use of making your experience on the site more operational and to correctly link to the information you are requesting.

When logged into an account on this website, including a VOW (Virtual Office Website) account, your browsing activity is logged and made available to TEAM CT. This includes information about your account activation, pages you've viewed, listings you've viewed or saved, when you've logged in or out of your account, password changes, contact information changes, lead form submissions and MLS® searches you've subscribed to, unsubscribed from, deleted, viewed or saved.

Visitor Information Reporting

Site visitor reports are generated to help us understand visitor demographics and usage patterns. Personal and confidential information regarding our real estate dealings is provided privately to us as a normal part of conducting business.

Your Personal Information

Completing the Contact form, creating an account on this website, or signing up for services requires the voluntary submissions of contact information such as name, e-mail address, password and phone number. If you choose to use this site for VOW (Virtual Office Website) access we will require your name, valid email, valid phone number and password. 

Use Of Personal Information

TEAM CT and/or their assistants and/or associated agents may from time to time use the personal information gathered via this website to communicate with whomever provided the information in regards to business or items related to real estate, their experience on the website and other such related matters.

TEAM CT and/or their assistants and/or associated agents and the website software provider will have access to the personal information gathered via your account. Personal information may be shared with the associated real estate board or council for auditing and/or legal purposes as required.

Business Transfer Disclosure

Should another licensed real estate agent or assistant be required to assist TEAM CT in regards to client communications or business doings for reasons such as the TEAM CT  agents and/or their assistants being ill, absent or any other such reasons; said aforementioned agent or assistant is understood to act for and as TEAM CT for all purposes related to our privacy policies and protection.

External Website Links

You should be aware of the fact that if you click on a link that takes you to an external website, you will be subject to that website's own privacy policy. We cannot be responsible for the doings of third-parties and urge you to educate yourself on their own privacy policies.

Your Consent to Collect Information

By using this website, you are providing consent for us to collect and use information as described in this privacy policy. From time to time we update this privacy policy and will post such changes on this page. To make sure you are aware of such changes and up to date on our privacy policy, we recommend that you review this page frequently.

Updates or amendments to this Privacy Policy

How to contact us