Tomorrow, September 26, 2023, the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) will be upgrading its National Authentication Facility (NAF 1.0) to a new, more secure and user-friendly login experience, the new REALTOR.ca Single Sign-On (SSO).
If you haven’t already done so, please set up your new REALTOR.ca SSO account today following the steps outlined in CREA’s emails. Please note that, without such an account, you will not have access to CREA’s WEBForms®, LSTAR’s MLS® System, and LSTAR’s Member Hub.
In addition, the new REALTOR.ca SSO will affect both the “Team Settings” and the “Login As” functions. More specifically, if a REALTOR® Member does not have their Administrator and/or Personal Assistant set up as an alternate, the latter will not be able to access the above-mentioned platforms and products as the REALTOR®.
What is alternation, and when is it used in CREA products?
REALTORS® can give permission to other users (admins they work with, business partners, unlicensed assistants, team members, etc.) to impersonate them while using CREA’s products, as well as other products protected by the new REALTOR.ca SSO.
This means that they:
- Allow a person they trust to access products on their behalf and, based on their own access level, to view and edit information.
- Accept the risks associated with that activity, as the authorized person is accessing the products and making changes on their behalf.
Alternation is helpful and is useful in scenarios such as:
- In a partnership, where one REALTOR® is on vacation and wants to make sure that business continues in their absence without interruption;
- A team admin is accessing WEBForms® or Listing Statistics, creating reports and paperwork to be sent to a client on behalf of the REALTOR®; and/or
- An unlicensed assistant is entering listing details in WEBForms® as instructed by a REALTOR® in their office.
How do REALTORS® assign someone to be their alternate?
REALTOR® Members can add and revoke this permission as needed, including when they change brokerages and may want to revoke alternation options from admins in their previous office. This gives REALTORS® full ownership and control over the alternation process.
REALTORS® can set up alternates on member.realtor.ca by taking the following steps:
- REALTORS® must log in to https://member.realtor.ca/
- Select My Tools / My Profile
In the Alternates section of MY Profile page, select “Add Alternate.”
Enter the name of the person you want to set up as an alternate; perform a search.
Then, select the correct profile from the search results; hit “confirm” the permission. NOTE: If the same assistant is working for multiple brokerages, it is important to select the account associated with the correct brokerage/board that is the same as the member’s brokerage / board.
Any admins uploaded by the Board will be displayed as “read only”.
Is there a limit to how many alternates a user can have?
Theoretically, there is no limit. Several hundred users can be supported, but with large numbers, we recommend testing against a board test environment.
How does the user interface (UI) change for users with many alternates?
In cases of a large number of alternates, the UI changes to include paging, and a search option, which allows for the signed-in user to search by member’s name and the list gets filtered.
CREA’s alternation model is a permission-based system, giving REALTORS® control over their privacy. They are the ones who grant other users access and allow them to act on their behalf, including accessing their forms in WEBForms® or viewing and responding to client inquiries.
