The Ontario listing agreement,
read clause by clause before you list.

The form is a contract between the seller and the brokerage, authorizing the brokerage to act for you when you offer the property for sale; RECO's guide says such an agreement must be in writing. Its very first line is a choice: you initial beside either "Multiple Listing Service® Agreement" or "Exclusive Listing Agreement". You are not entering an arrangement with an individual agent. You are contracting with a registered brokerage, which then assigns its people to serve you.

Two lines: the listing brokerage's name and phone number, and the seller's full name. From here on the form calls the brokerage the "Listing Brokerage". RECO's guide explains what sits behind the line: under brokerage representation, the brokerage and all of its agents represent you.

First the property being listed, then the right you grant: to act as your agent, "exclusive and irrevocable", from a stated time and date until 11:59 p.m. on the expiry date, a span the form calls the "Listing Period". The form then records that the length is negotiable between you and the brokerage, that an MLS® listing may be subject to the real estate board's minimum requirements, and that under TRESA the brokerage must obtain your initials next to the expiry date. RECO's guide adds two points: the expiry date has to be displayed prominently on the first page, and representation agreements have no fixed or standard length.

The listing price is written in figures and in words, so there is no discrepancy. The property is offered at that price and on the terms in the agreement, or at another price or on other terms acceptable to you. The last sentence is the one to read slowly: the price and terms are set at your personal request, after a full discussion with the brokerage's representative about the property's potential market value.

You represent and warrant that the property is not under any other listing agreement and that you have not agreed to pay commission to any other brokerage for its sale, and you initial beside it. In practice it matters because agents are not to communicate with another brokerage's client without consent, and this line confirms you have no other listing. If the home is to be co-listed with another brokerage, raise it first and have it written into a schedule. The next sentence makes Schedule A part of the agreement and lists any further schedules (B, C and so on), which might hold added terms or documents you provide, such as a survey. Schedule A is where the brokerage's services, confidentiality and representation are set out.

This clause is the dictionary for everything after it. "Seller" covers a vendor; a "buyer" covers anyone purchasing or thinking of purchasing; "self-represented assistance" means help given to a self-represented party; a "purchase" includes entering an exchange agreement, or obtaining an option to purchase that is later exercised. The sentence that matters most: for this agreement, a person who was introduced to the home or viewed it is treated as including their spouse, their heirs and estate representatives, their successors and assigns, and related or affiliated corporations, meaning companies where at least half of the shareholders, directors or officers are the same people as in the company that saw the property. "Commission" includes other remuneration; a "real estate board" includes an association; and "Public Marketing" takes its meaning from the Canadian Real Estate Association's REALTOR® Cooperation Policy.

The longest clause on the form, and it is about money, in five layers. First, total commission: for any valid offer acceptable to you, obtained from any source during the listing period, you pay the listing brokerage the agreed total, written as a share of the sale price or another way. Second, co-operating commission: you authorize the listing brokerage to co-operate with other registered brokerages and to offer them an agreed amount out of the total commission; every amount is plus applicable taxes and needs your initials, and the total is still payable if there is no co-operating brokerage. Third, the holdover: for a stated number of days after expiry, an agreement to buy made by you or on your behalf with someone who, during the listing period, was introduced to the home from any source or viewed it still triggers commission, reduced by whatever you pay under a new written commission agreement with another brokerage. Fourth, commission is still owed if a deal fails through your default or neglect, due on the scheduled closing date. Fifth, on a completed sale the deposit is applied to the commission first, and any shortfall plus taxes is yours to pay on demand.

It opens with your acknowledgement that the brokerage has given you written information explaining the relationships: representation of sellers and of buyers, sub-agency, multiple representation, and help for a party who represents themselves. Then you acknowledge two points: unless told otherwise, the co-operating brokerage represents the buyer's interests; and the listing brokerage may list properties similar to yours, which you accept without claiming a conflict of interest.

The second half deals with multiple representation. The listing brokerage may have buyer representation agreements with buyers interested in your home; to represent you and such a buyer together, it needs your written consent. Once you consent, it must be impartial, protect both sides equally and owe both a duty of full disclosure, but six things stay unsaid: that you may accept less than the list price (unless you instruct in writing), that the buyer may pay more than the offer, either party's motivation or personal information, what price to offer or accept, other offers' terms to the buyer (unless you direct in writing), and the buyer's other offers to you. Both sides still receive the facts about comparable sales, and whatever the brokerage knows about how the property could be used. The final paragraph covers designated representation: where you and the buyer are each represented by a designated representative of the brokerage, that is not multiple representation unless the same designated representative acts for two or more clients in the same deal, in which case written consent is needed.

You appoint the listing brokerage as your agent for giving and receiving notices and similar documents under any offer or agreement to purchase. Two exceptions: where the brokerage represents both you and the buyer (multiple representation) it cannot be the notice agent for either side, and when the buyer has no agent of their own, it cannot receive notices on that buyer's behalf. It lines up with the notice clause of the purchase agreement, Form 100, where a fax number or email address for notices is filled in.

You acknowledge that the listing brokerage may receive a finder's fee, reward or referral incentive, and you consent to it receiving and keeping any such benefit on top of the commission. When such a benefit actually arises, who pays it and how much should be disclosed to you separately.

During the listing period, you tell the listing brokerage immediately about every enquiry, from any source; any offer handed to you goes to the brokerage immediately, before you accept or reject it. If an enquiry made during the listing period leads to you accepting a valid offer, either before the listing ends or during the holdover that follows, you pay the agreed commission within five days of the brokerage's written demand.

You agree to let the brokerage show the property and let prospective buyers inspect it fully during reasonable hours, and you give it the sole right to put "For Sale" and "Sold" signs on the property. You agree that the advertising can reveal which property it is; the brokerage has sole authority over every advertising decision during the listing period; and you will not hold it liable for acts or omissions in advertising, by it or anyone else, except for its gross negligence or wilful act. Finally you acknowledge that, under MLS® rules and CREA's REALTOR® Code of Ethics, once there is public marketing the listing goes on an MLS® System within three days, for co-operation with other REALTORS®.

You represent and warrant two things: that you have the exclusive authority and power to sign this authority to sell, and that you have told the listing brokerage about any third-party interests or claims that may affect the sale, for example mortgages, easements, options, a right of first refusal, or any other encumbrance.

Three layers. First, you will not hold the brokerage or its representatives responsible for loss of or damage to the property or its contents during the agreement, including theft, fire or vandalism, however caused and by whomever, except through the brokerage's gross negligence or wilful act. Second, if a warranty or representation you made in this agreement, or in an attached data form, proves untrue, you indemnify the listing brokerage, its representatives and any co-operating brokerage for the resulting liability, claims or losses, including lost commission. Third, you warrant that you carry insurance on the property, personal liability coverage included, for injury to visitors or damage to their property, and you indemnify the listing and co-operating brokerages and their people against claims by anyone who visits.

You warrant that, under Ontario's Family Law Act, your spouse's consent is not needed for this listing, unless your spouse has signed the spousal consent block further on. Settle the point when the agreement is signed, so that any consent the sale needs is not missing later.

You allow the listing brokerage to collect information about the property from regulators, governments, mortgagees and others, and you will sign further authorizations if reasonably needed. For that purpose you appoint the brokerage or its authorized representative as your attorney to sign the necessary documents, and you direct those bodies to release the information to the brokerage. The purpose is practical: confirming information before listing helps avoid misrepresenting the property.

Four layers. First, you consent to the brokerage collecting, using and disclosing your personal information to list and market the property, including advertising in any medium such as the internet and sharing property information with prospective buyers, other brokerages and others who help with the sale. Second, for an MLS® listing, you consent to the listing and sale information, and the photos, video, virtual tours, floor plans, surveys and descriptions you supply, going into the local board's MLS® database, and you indemnify the brokerage against claims arising from posting them. Third, you acknowledge that the database belongs to the board and can be licensed or resold; that during the listing and afterwards the board may share the information with authorized users such as brokerages, government departments, appraisers and municipal bodies, compile and publish statistics including historical data, and keep photos and similar material for members' comparative analyses; and that the information may be stored outside Canada. Fourth, an either-or initial: if the agreement expires or ends without a sale, whether you do or do not consent to other board members contacting you about listing again.

The agreement binds not only the people who sign it but also their heirs, executors and administrators, and their successors and assigns. In practice, the agreement does not simply end if the person who signed it dies.

Two sentences. First: where a provision added to the agreement, including any schedule, conflicts with the pre-printed text, the added provision wins to the extent of the conflict. Second: the agreement and its schedules are the entire agreement between you and the listing brokerage; nothing outside it, whether a side promise, a warranty, a collateral deal or a condition, affects it.

The agreement itself, and the notices, agreements and other messages that follow from it, can travel electronically, with signatures treated as originals. Sending the agreement back electronically is treated as confirming that you have kept a true copy. It ties in with TRESA's requirement that you get a copy immediately upon signing; see the acknowledgement card.

It applies only if the agreement is signed electronically: the parties consent to electronic signatures on it under Ontario's Electronic Commerce Act, 2000.

The listing brokerage undertakes to market the property on your behalf and to represent you in an effort to obtain a valid offer on the agreement's terms, or on other terms you are satisfied with. It is signed by a person "authorized to bind" the listing brokerage, with the date and the signer's name. How it advises you on offers received belongs among the services written into Schedule A.

You declare that you have read the agreement and understand it fully, that you accept its terms and sign under seal, and that any statements about the property in it, or on an accompanying data form, are true to the best of your knowledge, information and belief. There is a signature, seal, date and phone line for each of two sellers.

The seller's spouse signs here to consent to the listing under the Family Law Act and to agree to sign whatever documents are needed to carry the transaction forward, with signature, seal, date and phone. The block is typically for a spouse who is not on title; if, under Clause 10, consent is not required, it is left blank.

The salesperson, broker or broker of record representing you writes their name and signs, declaring that they are insured as TRESA requires. RECO's guide gives the background: agents in Ontario must be registered, and to register they must complete the required education and hold professional liability insurance as well as consumer deposit insurance.

You acknowledge two things: that you fully understand the terms, and that you received a copy of the agreement on a stated date. Each of two sellers signs and dates. It matches a TRESA requirement: the brokerage must give you a copy immediately upon signing.

Schedule A is attached to the agreement and forms part of it, restating the brokerage, the seller and the property so it is tied to the right document. Its purpose is stated plainly: to set out the details of the listing brokerage's services, confidentiality and representation, in addition to the body of the agreement and subject to Clause 14, meaning it prevails over the pre-printed text to the extent of any conflict. The form requires every party to initial it. RECO's guide says the agreement must clearly set out the services you will receive, and that there is no standard set, so each seller's list will differ. RECO's guide lists what a seller's agent can do: advise on market conditions and a strategy to attract buyers; market the home, including photos, video and virtual tours; refer you to professionals such as a lawyer or a stager; arrange and attend inspections and appraisals; arrange showings; advise on competing offers and on sharing offer contents; vet offers and buyers' ability to pay; negotiate; and guide the paperwork through closing.