COVID-19: Government Maintains Restrictions

March 23, 2020 - Government announced yesterday that the province of Alberta will remain in Step 2 of its path forward plan, with no easing of restrictions at this time. As such, professional services, such as real estate, must continue to be offered on an appointment only basis while indoor social gatherings are still prohibited.

As a reminder:

• • While traditional open houses may not operate, many REALTORS^® are still offering a service to clients that approximates open houses, called these preset viewing hours “appointment only open houses.” So long as there are no overlaps between appointments, presetting a window during which appointments will be taken still fulfils the government directive to professional service providers. Any advertisements must clearly indicate that appointments are required.
  • These appointments are limited to two family-unit members at a time. If a child must join out of necessity, they may attend in addition to the two family-unit members and precautions must be taken for social distancing, masks, and sanitizing.
  • Masks are mandatory for all showings. Anyone with a medical mask exemption must receive advance clearance from sellers, who can decide whether they will still permit the appointment.
  • When showing homes, any sellers’ instructions further limiting showings must be followed. Sellers cannot waive the open house restrictions.

We will continue to keep you updated once government transitions to a part of its plan which allows lifting of more restrictions.

If you have concerns about a peer’s adherence to these rules, we encourage you to alert your broker and consider submitting a professional standards complaint to adminjustice@albertarealtor.ca.

Please contact us at communications@albertarealtor.ca or visit AREA’s website for COVID-19 updates, showing tips, and best practice protocols.