What is dual agency in BC and is it legal?

Direct answer

Dual agency, one licensee representing both sides of the same trade, has been prohibited in BC since June 15, 2018. The prohibition is section 63 of the Real Estate Services Rules. A brokerage may still have two of its licensees on opposite sides of the same deal, and section 63(2) says in as many words that this is not dual agency; what is prohibited is one licensee holding both. The definition is wider than most people expect. It covers seller and buyer, lessor and lessee, assignor and assignee, and also two or more buyers with competing interests in the same property, which is how a Lower Mainland buyer usually meets this rule: in a multiple-offer week, one licensee cannot write for two of their own clients on the same listing. Section 65 then leaves that licensee two choices, and only two. Step off the trade entirely, or keep one client and release the other in writing, on a form that names the conflict, lists the duties they will no longer owe, and states that they may already hold confidential information about the party being released. Section 64 is the only exception, for a property in a remote location under-served by licensees where using two is impracticable. Nobody grants it: the brokerage assesses it itself, then before acting must disclose to each party on a form approved by the superintendent, carrying a statement signed by the managing broker giving the reasons, and sign a written dual-agency agreement with each of them. The disclosure goes to the superintendent only after those agreements are signed. Separately, every client must be given the Disclosure of Representation in Trading Services form before substantive trading services begin, which is earlier than most people expect and usually before a first showing.