In Ontario, a real estate agent and a broker are both licensed by the Real Estate Council of Ontario, but a broker has completed extra training and can run a brokerage while an agent works under one. A REALTOR is any registered agent or broker who also belongs to the Canadian Real Estate Association. The difference between a real estate agent, a broker, and a REALTOR comes down to licensing level and professional membership.
Anyone who helps you buy or sell property in the province has to be registered with the Real Estate Council of Ontario, known as RECO. Registration falls into three categories: salesperson, broker, and brokerage. The rules come from the Trust in Real Estate Services Act, which replaced the older Real Estate and Business Brokers Act in December 2023. You can confirm someone's registration for free through RECO's public registrant search before you sign anything.
Agent versus broker
"Real estate agent" is the everyday word for a registered salesperson, and it is the entry point into the profession. To qualify, a person completes the pre-registration courses now delivered by Humber College on behalf of RECO, passes the exams, then joins a brokerage. A salesperson cannot operate alone. They trade in real estate under the brokerage that employs them.
A broker has gone further. Ontario requires at least 24 months of registered experience as a salesperson within the previous three years, plus a separate broker education program, before someone can register at that level. Brokers can take on management duties a salesperson cannot, and every brokerage has one broker of record, the person legally accountable for how the business follows the rules. This is a different job from a mortgage broker, who arranges financing rather than property sales.
Where REALTOR fits
REALTOR is not a licensing level. It is a trademark used under the Canadian Real Estate Association. A salesperson or broker becomes a REALTOR by joining CREA through a local board such as the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board and agreeing to the REALTOR Code on top of RECO's rules. Most Ontario agents are members, which is why people treat the words as interchangeable. They are not. Every REALTOR is a licensed agent or broker, yet licensing and CREA membership remain two separate things.
Whichever title someone holds, their duties to you depend on their role in the transaction. That role shapes how a buyer's agent works for you and how agents get paid once a sale closes.
Related reading: What Does a Buyer's Agent Do in Ontario?, What Does a Listing Agent Do in Ontario?, and How Do Real Estate Agents Get Paid in Ontario?
