Alberta Real Estate, Mortgage & Condo Licensing
RECA's pre-licensing exams are the legal gate to working in real estate, mortgage brokerage, or condominium management in Alberta — you cannot be licensed by the Real Estate Council of Alberta until you pass them. There are nine course exams across the three industries, each requiring a flat 70% to clear, with only two attempts before you have to re-enrol in the course. This page breaks down exactly which exam you need, how they're structured, how OnVUE online proctoring works, and how to get through them right the first time.
Pay Only After You Pass
No upfront fee — you settle only after your verified passing result. We advertise guaranteed results — 100% pass guaranteed or money back.
How the RECA pre-licensing pathway is built — at a glance
120
Each Fundamentals exam is 120 multiple-choice questions in 3 hours, covering the foundational law and concepts every licensee in that industry must know before practising.
100
Each Practice exam is 100 multiple-choice questions in 3 hours, drilling into the day-to-day duties of one sector — residential, commercial, property management, rural, mortgage, or condominium.
9
Across the three RECA industries there are nine pre-licensing exams. You sit only the Fundamentals and Practice exam(s) that match the licence you're applying for.
Every exam gives you three hours. Once you complete a RECA course you have a three-month window to use both of your two exam attempts — there is no third attempt without re-enrolling and re-paying for the course. That tight window is what trips up most candidates juggling exams with a full-time job.
There is no scaled score and no curve — it is a straight percentage of correct answers, and you need 70% to pass. On a 120-question Fundamentals paper that means missing roughly 36 questions is the failure line. The Practice of Commercial Real Estate and Practice of Mortgage Brokerage exams permit an approved physical calculator; the others do not.
Every RECA pre-licensing exam, grouped by industry — find the one your licence requires
| Industry | Course Exam | Questions | Who it's for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Real Estate | Fundamentals of Real Estate | 120 | Required base exam for every real estate licensee |
| Practice of Residential Real Estate | 100 | Residential sales and leasing associates | |
| Practice of Commercial Real Estate | 100 | Commercial brokerage associates (calculator allowed) | |
| Practice of Property Management | 100 | Property management associates | |
| Practice of Rural Real Estate | 100 | Rural and agricultural property associates | |
| Mortgage Brokerage | Fundamentals of Mortgage Brokerage | 120 | Required base exam for mortgage associates |
| Practice of Mortgage Brokerage | 100 | Mortgage brokerage associates (calculator allowed) | |
| Condominium Management | Fundamentals of Condominium Management | 120 | Required base exam for condo managers |
| Practice of Condominium Management | 100 | Condominium management associates |
All nine exams share the same rules: 3 hours, 70% to pass, $235 CAD per attempt, two attempts within three months. A broker designation requires additional broker-specific education on top of the associate exams above.
A representative weighting of a RECA Fundamentals exam — the heart of every licence path
The Real Estate Act, the Rules, the Residential Tenancies Act, and the legal framework that governs Alberta transactions — the densest and most heavily examined material.
Fiduciary duties, client vs. customer relationships, disclosure obligations, and how an associate represents parties in a transaction.
Professional standards, conflicts of interest, trust accounting basics, and the conduct expectations RECA enforces on every licensee.
Offers, contracts, conditions, financing concepts, and the mechanics of moving a deal from listing to close within Alberta's rules.
Weightings shown are indicative of a Fundamentals exam; RECA does not publish an exact public blueprint. The recurring theme candidates report is volume — the exams reward precise recall of Alberta-specific legislation under a clock, not general real-estate intuition you might bring from another province.
Two ways to sit a RECA exam — and what OnVUE expects on test day
You sit the exam in a quiet, monitored Pearson VUE centre in Alberta or elsewhere in Canada. Staff verify your government photo ID, store your belongings, and watch the room. Permitted calculators are supplied for the commercial and mortgage Practice exams. The fee is $235 CAD per attempt.
You take the exam from a private room at home or office, monitored by a live OnVUE proctor through Pearson VUE's software. You run a system test in advance, check in up to 30 minutes early, show photo ID, and do a 360-degree room scan. You must be physically in Canada to sit a RECA exam either way.
Run the OnVUE system test on the same device and network you'll use on the day. You need Windows 10 or macOS 14+, a single display, webcam, and stable internet — no VPNs, virtual machines, or external monitors.
A valid, unexpired government photo ID matching your booking name. The proctor reviews a 360-degree scan of the room; your desk must be clear apart from your computer and an unmarked drink.
Stay in the webcam view and alone the entire time. No notes, paper, phones, headphones, or breaks. Arriving more than 15 minutes late forfeits the appointment and an attempt.
RECA pre-licensing exams are mandatory to practise in Alberta
Course completion is required — and the legislation is dense
Difficulty: The real challenge isn't the concept difficulty — it's the sheer volume of Alberta-specific legislation tested at a flat 70% bar with only two attempts. Candidates routinely report that a single weak chapter (often trust accounting or the Rules) drags the whole percentage below the line. That all-or-nothing window is exactly the pressure our help is built to remove.
RECA's two-attempt, three-month window over an OnVUE-proctored exam is a high-stakes squeeze: fail twice and you re-pay for the whole course. Exam Assist pairs you with a specialist who knows the Alberta legislation and the OnVUE environment, working on a pay-after-you-pass model — so the risk sits with us, not you. No upfront fee, guaranteed results: Exam Assist handles the sitting end to end, and you settle only after the verified result.
Tell us which RECA exam you need (Fundamentals or Practice, and which sector), your delivery method, and your deadline. Takes a couple of minutes over WhatsApp, Telegram, or Discord.
We review your remaining attempts and timeline and tell you plainly whether it's realistic — before any money is discussed. If it isn't a fit, we say so.
Exam Assist handles the sitting end to end. You're matched with a RECA specialist who maps the work around the Alberta legislation, the 70% bar, and the OnVUE proctoring setup — discreetly and confidentially.
You only pay once your passing result is confirmed. No verified result, nothing owed.
Navigate the OnVUE check-in, system test, and live-proctor monitoring with experienced support.
For at-home, webcam-monitored exams like OnVUE — guidance tailored to live remote-proctoring rules.
Start a confidential conversation about your RECA exam — pay only after a verified pass.
Start a private, pay-after-you-pass conversation about the exam your Alberta licence needs.
Straight answers about the RECA pre-licensing exams
Service and sibling licensing exams
Pair with a specialist who knows the Alberta legislation and OnVUE on a results-first arrangement. No upfront fee — settle only after a verified pass.
Start the conversation Real EstateThe US-side salesperson licensing exam — the analog of RECA's residential pathway for agents licensing in the United States.
View exam Real EstateThe broker-level licensing exam — the senior designation that, like RECA's broker path, sits above the associate licence.
View exam CFAThe first level of the CFA charter — another rigorous, finance-focused professional licensing exam taken at Pearson VUE centres.
View examGet expert RECA help with no upfront fee — you settle only after your verified passing result. Honest feasibility answer first, results-first arrangement always.