Does a business broker need a licence in Manitoba?

This page covers Manitoba’s rules. Under the Act, a person must not provide real estate services, for or in expectation of remuneration, unless registered in a registration category that permits those services or exempted by the Act or regulations.

What counts as real estate services

In Manitoba, real estate services include trading services, property management services, private sale services and any other service in respect of real estate that the regulations prescribe. Trading services, in respect of a trade in real estate, include finding another person to engage in the trade and negotiating its price or other terms. A trade in real estate is a transaction or potential transaction for the purchase or sale of real estate, for its leasing or for any other form of acquisition or disposition of real estate.

Who is exempt

Section 4 of the Act lists persons exempt from the requirement to be registered. They include a lawyer who acts in the course of and as part of the practice of law, and an executor or administrator acting under the terms of a will, marriage settlement or deed of trust.

Registration categories

The regulation prescribes these brokerage registration categories: real estate brokerage, property management brokerage, private sales brokerage and restricted brokerage. A person registered in a brokerage category may provide the services listed for that category but not other real estate services, unless also registered in a category that permits them. For a real estate brokerage, the regulation’s table lists all real estate services. A registrant must not provide real estate services except on behalf of the brokerage in relation to which they are registered. The Real Estate Division describes the Act as requiring registration of real estate salespeople and brokers, and of property management, private sales and restricted brokerages.

What these sources do not settle

The sources read for this page do not say whether selling a business with no real property is a trade in real estate. The Division says it drafted the legislation introducing the Real Estate Services Act, working closely with the Manitoba Real Estate Association and other groups. Ask the Division, or a Manitoba lawyer, whether a business-only sale needs a registrant.

To see the steps to registration, read how to become a business broker in Manitoba. For the national picture, see whether business brokers need a licence in Canada.