What is the BC Designated Agency rule?

Direct answer

BC moved from a brokerage-agency model to a "designated agency" model on June 15, 2018 (BCFSA Real Estate Services Rules amendment). Under designated agency, the AGENCY relationship is between the client and one or more SPECIFIC LICENSEES (the "designated agents"), not the brokerage as a whole. This means: a brokerage can represent both the buyer and the seller in the same transaction as long as different licensees within the brokerage are designated for each side; one licensee can no longer serve as a "dual agent" representing both parties personally. Every licensee must provide a Disclosure of Representation in Trading Services form to a client before any substantive trading discussion, and a Disclosure to Unrepresented Parties form before substantive contact with someone the licensee does NOT represent. Designated agency was introduced after BCFSA's 2018 reforms responding to the 2016 Final Report on Real Estate Regulation in BC, which found that brokerage-wide dual agency had created systemic conflicts of interest. Practitioner truth: designated agency does NOT mean the buyer is unrepresented when the seller's brokerage has the listing — it means the buyer has their own designated licensee within or outside that brokerage who owes the buyer fiduciary duties.