Ontario real estate agent email signature: what RECO expects

Does an email signature count as advertising under RECO's rules?

It can. RECO Bulletin 5.1, Advertising requirements, defines advertising as any notice, announcement or representation directed at the public, made by or on behalf of a brokerage or agent, that is intended to promote a brokerage or agent or their business, services or real estate trades, in any medium. It then names signatures: "Business cards, letterhead, email signatures, or cover sheets that contain promotional statements may be considered as 'advertising.'"

The wording is "may be considered", and it is tied to promotional statements. RECO gives no list of examples. In our reading, a line such as "Call me to sell your home" is a promotional statement, while a name, a title and a phone number, taken alone, are not what that sentence describes. The rules also apply to agents who work in teams.

What must the signature identify?

Bulletin 5.1 groups its identification rules under the heading "Tell the public who you are". For advertising, which can include a signature as described above, RECO sets these points:

Bulletin 5.1 adds that all text must be clearly legible to the intended audience, and asks whether the name of the employing brokerage is obvious to a buyer or seller.

What does a RECO-friendly signature look like?

These models follow the table above. Replace each bracket with the exact form registered with RECO, and keep the title that matches your registration.

1. Salesperson

[First and last name as registered with RECO]
Real Estate Salesperson
[Brokerage name as registered with RECO], Brokerage
[Phone number] | [Email address]

2. Broker

[First and last name as registered with RECO]
Real Estate Broker
[Brokerage name as registered with RECO], Brokerage
[Phone number] | [Email address]

3. Broker of record

[First and last name as registered with RECO]
Broker of Record
[Brokerage name as registered with RECO], Brokerage
[Phone number] | [Email address]

Every member of a team uses the same block with their own name and title, and the same brokerage line. If you are a REALTOR® and a member of CREA in good standing, you may use that term in place of the generic title, as Bulletin 5.2 lists.

Working in Quebec instead? The rules and the regulator differ: see the guide to the email signature of a real estate broker in Quebec.

What if my signature carries a promotional line or a banner?

This is where Bulletin 5.1 asks the most of you. Its questions for any advertising, which apply to a tagline or banner in a signature, include:

• Accurate and verifiable. "Are all statements factually correct, accurate, and verifiable?"
• Awards. If you mention one, give the source, the date and the essential details; for a team award, say it is a team achievement and give the size of the team.
• Volume or activity. If you state business volume or trading activity, explain how it was measured or calculated.
• Promises and offers. State the conditions and limitations, or say where to find them.
• Comparative claims. They must be truthful and supported by verifiable facts.

The same bulletin lists what to avoid: advertising must not include anything, image or text, that could reasonably be used to identify a party to a transaction or a specific property unless that person or the owner consents, and nothing that could reasonably be used to determine the contents of an agreement, such as its price, unless all the parties consent. A "sold" banner with an address or a price deserves that check before it goes in every email.

A promotional signature can also raise a separate question under Canada's anti-spam law; see our guide to CASL and email signatures.

How do I keep every agent's signature consistent?

The risk in a brokerage is drift: one agent shortens their name, another drops the brokerage line, a third adds a claim. Centralizing the signature removes the drift. In ATOM Signatures, the administrator sets the signature template and the Outlook add-in applies it when a message is composed; a promotional banner is a separate campaign with a start date, an optional end date and a time zone, aimed at groups, people or shared mailboxes. See the guides on signatures by Microsoft 365 group and on email signature templates. To compare tools, see email signature software in Canada.

ATOM Signatures inserts what your administrator configures; it does not check content against RECO's rules. Whether a signature complies remains the brokerage's decision.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• RECO — Bulletin 5.1, Advertising requirements: reco.on.ca
• RECO — Bulletin 5.2, Permitted terms: reco.on.ca

Bulletins consulted on November 3, 2026; RECO does not display a date on them, so check the current text before you rely on it. This is not legal advice.