FINTRAC and TRESA paperwork without the panic

Two sets of rules shape the paperwork on every Ontario trade: FINTRAC, the federal anti-money-laundering regime, and TRESA, the provincial legislation that governs how registrants disclose and represent. Neither is complicated once you know what to collect and when to collect it. This guide walks through both. It is education, not legal or compliance advice; RECO's bulletins and FINTRAC's guidance are the authorities, and your broker of record is the person to ask about your brokerage's forms.

FINTRAC: who you identify, and when

Real estate brokers and salespeople are reporting entities under the federal Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act. In practice, that means you verify the identity of every client you represent in a purchase or sale, and you take reasonable measures to identify an unrepresented party on the other side of the deal. Verify early. Waiting until a deal is firm leaves you chasing documents while conditions run.

For an individual, FINTRAC accepts three verification methods:

• • Government-issued photo ID. You must be satisfied the document is authentic, valid and current, which normally means examining the physical card in person. A photo of a driver's licence sent over text does not meet that standard on its own.
• • Credit file. A Canadian credit file that has existed for at least three years and matches the client's name and details.
• • Dual process. Two independent, reliable sources that together confirm name and address, name and date of birth, or name and a financial account.

For a corporation, you confirm the entity exists and who stands behind it: a certificate of incorporation or a current corporate registry record, the names of the directors, and information on beneficial owners who hold 25 per cent or more. Record where each piece came from and the date you checked.

The records FINTRAC expects you to keep

• • A client information record for every purchase or sale you act on.
• • A receipt-of-funds record whenever funds are received, at any amount, unless they come from a financial entity or a public body.
• • A large cash transaction record and report when $10,000 or more in cash arrives.
• • A suspicious transaction report whenever there are reasonable grounds to suspect a transaction relates to money laundering, whether or not the deal completes.

Keep these records for at least five years. That retention window is also the argument for storing them properly, which the last section covers.

TRESA Phase 2: the baseline on every file

TRESA's Phase 2 rules have been in force since December 1, 2023. Three things belong on essentially every client file, before the work starts:

• • The RECO Information Guide, delivered and explained to every prospective client and every self-represented party before you provide services or sign a representation agreement.
• • A representation agreement with the mandatory content: effective date, an initialed expiry date, remuneration, the services you will provide, and how the agreement ends. Writing is best practice rather than a statutory requirement, but the mandatory-content rules make a written agreement the practical default.
• • If your brokerage uses designated representation, the agreement also names the designated representative and states that the brokerage itself does not represent the client.

The situational disclosures, and when they bite

The rest of TRESA's disclosure obligations apply only in specific situations. The trap is rarely the form itself; it is the timing.

• • Multiple representation: written disclosure and each client's consent before the consumer makes an offer. Consent gathered at offer time is too late. Two different designated representatives on opposite sides of a trade is not multiple representation.
• • Self-represented parties: disclose that you do not represent them and give them the Guide and the SRP acknowledgement before providing any assistance.
• • Your own interest in a property or trade, including a related person or your PREC: written disclosure and acknowledgement before any offer is made or received.
• • A financial benefit from a third party, such as a lender, inspector or stager: disclose in writing as soon as you know you might receive it.
• • Conflicts of interest: disclose as soon as one arises, advise the client to get independent advice, and obtain consent to continue.
• • Material facts: take reasonable steps to determine them, then disclose promptly. This one is ongoing, not one-and-done.
• • Competing offers: tell everyone who has made an offer how many competing written offers exist. Offer contents may be shared only on the seller's written direction, and the identity of an offeror can never be shared.

Collecting IDs without text or email

Government ID is exactly the data an identity thief wants, and PIPEDA makes a breach your problem. Text messages and email attachments are the worst way to collect it: the images sit unencrypted in sent folders, inboxes, phone backups and carrier servers indefinitely, far beyond any retention plan you set.

• • In person, examine the physical document and record the details: document type, number, issuing jurisdiction, expiry and the date you verified. Recording the details is the requirement; hoarding loose photocopies just widens your exposure.
• • Remotely, use the credit-file or dual-process method, or a tool that actually authenticates the ID document rather than accepting a bare photo.
• • Store whatever you keep in encrypted, access-controlled storage, not a shared drive or an inbox.
• • Calendar the destruction date, and securely dispose of records once the five-year window has passed.

This is the job Listing Launchpad's client intake link does: you send the client a private link, they enter their details and upload ID photos straight to encrypted storage that only you can access, and the per-client tracker shows which TRESA disclosures and FINTRAC records are done, outstanding or not applicable to that file.

The pattern that keeps files clean is the same across both regimes: collect at the start of the relationship, write down the date, and store the record somewhere you could confidently show an auditor. Panic comes from doing paperwork at offer time. Almost all of it belongs weeks earlier.