A person who makes a valuation for real property on behalf of another for compensation, or holds oneself out as a real estate appraiser, must obtain a real estate appraiser licence from the Real Estate Council of Alberta (RECA).
Note about Bill 20
The Government of Alberta passed Bill 20, the Real Estate Amendment Act 2020, on June 18, 2020. Upon proclamation of the Bill, the Real Estate Council of Alberta (RECA) will no longer regulate real estate appraisers. As of today, the Bill has not yet been proclaimed or come into force.
Until the Bill comes into force, RECA is obligated to continue its legislative responsibility to regulate the real estate appraiser industry through investigating complaints and enforcing the standards set out in the Real Estate Act and Rules.
Activities that require a licence:
Appraisers can be called upon as consultants or valuation specialists to provide opinions on:
Appraisers produce appraisal reports based on the specifications of a property and the variables that help determine its market value. All appraisal reports contain an estimate of value, the effective date of the appraisal, the appraiser’s certificate and signature, the purpose of the appraisal, the qualifying conditions, the conditions of the neighbourhood, an identification of the property and its ownership, an analysis and interpretation of the data and the assumptions made, the processing of the data by one or more of the three approaches to value, and other descriptive support material such as maps, plans, charts and photographs.
Appraisers must follow the appraisal standards of one of the professional appraisal association(s):