Buyer Agency Agreements in BC: What You Sign When You Buy

When you start looking for a home with a REALTOR®, you will be given a disclosure form about representation, and you may be asked to sign a buyer agency agreement. Here is what that agreement is in BC, what it covers, how your agent is paid and how it ends, so you know what you are agreeing to before you sign.

The short version

What a buyer agency agreement is

Under BC's Real Estate Services Rules, a service agreement is an agreement between a brokerage and a client under which a licensee provides real estate services. On the buying side it is often called a buyer agency agreement. BCREA's standard form, the Buyer's Agency Exclusive Contract, is a legally binding service agreement. The contract is between you and the brokerage; Greater Vancouver REALTORS® notes that the individual agent isn't a party to it.

Buyers and sellers are treated differently. The Rules require a written service agreement before a brokerage represents a seller, unless the seller waives it, which I explain in Listing Agreements in BC. For buyers, BCFSA, the regulator, says written agreements are not mandatory. It adds that without one, it can be very hard to make sure everyone is doing what they agreed to, or to prove a complaint.

BCFSA's discussion paper, Strengthening Confidence in Real Estate Services, open for comment from November 18, 2025 to January 31, 2026, floated mandatory service agreements with buyer clients. That would take a change to the Rules; for now, a written agreement is still optional for buyers.

Exclusive or non-exclusive

• Exclusive. With the Buyer's Agency Exclusive Contract, you agree to work with one brokerage for the term. BCREA says it sets out the services, confirms the remuneration and when it is earned and payable, and covers the possibility that your agent also works with other buyers who are shown the same homes.
• Non-exclusive. You can be a client without signing a contract. In that case, BCREA recommends a Buyer Agency Acknowledgement, which describes the level of service you will receive and records that the relationship is not exclusive.
• Limited to an area. BCFSA notes that a buyer may want the agreement limited to a geographic area, so they can work with another agent in a different area at the same time. That can help if you are looking in both Vancouver and the Fraser Valley.

What the agreement covers

BCFSA lists what a buyer's service agreement includes:

• The parties. The names and addresses of everyone signing.
• The term. How long the agreement lasts, from its start to its expiry.
• The search area. Where the agent agrees to help you find a property. BCREA's forms call this the market area.
• Payment. The remuneration, if any, that you must pay the brokerage.
• Your personal information. How it will be used. BCREA also has a separate Privacy Notice and Consent form.

Any change, such as a later expiry date, a different area or different remuneration, is made in writing and signed by both sides; BCREA has an Amendment of Buyer's Agency Exclusive Contract for this. BCFSA says electronic signatures are valid in BC if they are on the contract itself, and your agent must give you a fully signed copy.

What your agent owes you

Once you are a client, the Rules require your agent's brokerage and its licensees to:

• Work for you. Act in your best interests, follow your lawful instructions and act only within the authority you give.
• Protect your information. Keep it confidential, including your reasons for buying, the most you would pay and the terms you prefer.
• Tell you what they know. Disclose all known material information and pass on all offers promptly, objectively and without bias.
• Look into the home. Use reasonable efforts to discover relevant facts about any property you are considering.
• Avoid conflicts. Take reasonable steps to avoid conflicts of interest, and disclose any conflict to you promptly in writing.
• Know their limits. Advise you to get independent advice on matters outside their expertise, such as legal or tax questions.

Some of these duties can be modified by written agreement, so read any clause that limits the services. How brokerages assign agents, and why your agent can't also represent the seller, is covered in my post on dual agency.

How your agent is paid

Commission is negotiable, and BCFSA says that as a buyer, there is a good chance some or all of your agent's commission will come from the seller. Here is how the pieces fit:

• The cooperating commission. A seller's listing agreement sets out any share of the commission the listing brokerage will pay a cooperating brokerage, meaning the brokerage working for the buyer.
• What you might pay. Your agreement states the remuneration, if any, that you owe. Ask how a cooperating commission counts toward it, and what you would owe if a seller offers less than your agreement says, or nothing.
• Disclosure. If your agent's brokerage will be paid by someone other than you, such as the listing brokerage, your agent must tell you in writing, with the source and the amount or how it will be worked out. The same applies to referral fees, for example from an inspector or lender they recommend.
• Private sales. If the seller has no agent, BCREA's Fee Agreement Seller Pays lets your brokerage be paid by the seller without representing them.
• GST. CRA says a registered agent's services related to selling or renting real property are generally taxable, even when the property is exempt, so ask whether GST will be added to anything you pay your brokerage directly.

How it fits with the representation form

Before an agent provides trading services to you, they must give you BCFSA's Disclosure of Representation in Trading Services. It says whether they will represent you as a client or deal with you as a non-client, explains the duties of loyalty, full disclosure, avoiding conflicts and confidentiality owed to clients, tells you how to contact BCFSA and mentions buyers' right to cancel some purchase contracts. It says plainly that it is not a contract, and initialling it is optional.

The form starts the relationship; the agreement writes down its terms. The form itself says that when you become a client, you may be asked to sign a written agreement setting out both parties' responsibilities. If you never sign one, the form may be the only written record that you are a client, and BCREA notes that working on that basis alone leaves room for disputes over services that were never agreed.

Ending an agreement

• At expiry. The agreement ends when its term runs out.
• Early, by agreement. Greater Vancouver REALTORS® notes that contracts can be cancelled only by mutual consent, so unless your contract allows early termination, you and the brokerage must both agree to end it. BCREA's Cancellation of Buyer's Agency Exclusive Contract records the release and states whether it is conditional or unconditional, so read what any condition keeps in place.
• If you're unhappy. Raise it with your agent first, then with their managing broker in writing, and talk to a lawyer about a contract dispute. BCFSA can investigate a licensee's conduct and discipline misconduct, but it can't make a licensee perform a contract or award damages.

Questions to ask before you sign

• Is this agreement exclusive, and what area does it cover?
• When does it start, and when does it expire?
• What services will you provide, and is anything left out?
• What is your remuneration, who pays it, and what do I owe if the seller offers your brokerage less, or nothing?
• Would I owe anything if I bought a home during the term without you, or after it ends, on a home you showed me?
• If it isn't working, how can we end it early?

Questions buyers often ask me

Do I have to sign a buyer agency agreement in BC?

No. BC's rules require written service agreements for sellers, not buyers, and BCFSA says they aren't mandatory for buyers. You can still be a client without one, but a written agreement makes the services and the payment clear.

Who pays my buyer's agent?

Often the seller, through the share of the commission the listing brokerage pays your brokerage, but your agreement may say you pay some or all of it. If anyone other than you pays your agent's brokerage, your agent must tell you in writing who is paying and how much.

Can I work with more than one REALTOR® at a time?

Under an exclusive agreement, not within its area and term. You can limit an agreement to one area and work with another agent elsewhere, or work with agents on a non-exclusive basis, and it is fair to tell each agent about the other.

Is the Disclosure of Representation in Trading Services a contract?

No, and the form says so. It tells you whether the agent will represent you as a client and what duties clients and non-clients are owed, and initialling it is optional.

Can I cancel a buyer agency agreement early?

Generally only if your brokerage agrees, so read the contract for any terms on ending it. BCREA has a cancellation form that records whether the release is conditional or unconditional.

Ready to start looking? See what sellers sign when they list, why one agent can't represent both sides and what happens from offer to keys.

This article is general information, not legal advice. Agreements differ, so read yours and get legal advice if any term is unclear; the details come from BC's Real Estate Services Rules and from BCFSA, BCREA, Greater Vancouver REALTORS® and CRA guidance that was current at the time of writing. For BCFSA's guide, see service agreements.