Last reviewed: 16 September 2026
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How Alberta's mortgage licensing tiers work: RECA, mortgage associates, and mortgage brokers
Our overview of Canadian mortgage broker regulation notes that Alberta licenses mortgage professionals through the Real Estate Council of Alberta (RECA) — the same body that licenses real estate agents in the province, reflecting Alberta's choice to pair mortgage brokering with real estate rather than with insurance. What that overview doesn't cover is that Alberta, unlike most other provinces, licenses mortgage professionals in two distinct tiers, not one.
Two tiers: mortgage associate first, mortgage broker later
Someone new to the industry in Alberta becomes licensed as a mortgage associate after completing RECA's required pre-licensing education — the Fundamentals of Mortgage Brokerage course, followed by the Practice of Mortgage Brokerage course, each with its own exam. A mortgage associate can only apply to become a licensed mortgage broker — the tier authorized to operate independently rather than under a broker's supervision — after accumulating a minimum of two years' experience as a licensed associate within the preceding five years, plus completing RECA's separate Mortgage Broker Program and its exam. The two-year clock applies to the associate-to-broker step specifically; it isn't required to obtain the initial associate license.
Licensing runs on an annual cycle, not Ontario's two-year one
Unlike Ontario's FSRA, which renews mortgage agent and broker licenses on a two-year cycle (see our explainer on Ontario's continuing education requirement), RECA runs Alberta mortgage licensing on an annual renewal cycle — a real, checkable structural difference between two provinces that otherwise sound similar on paper.
A mandatory private-lending course attached to the 2025/2026 renewal
For the 2025/2026 licensing year, RECA made completion of a specific Mortgage Broker Private Lending Relicensing Course — administered by the Alberta Mortgage Brokers Association — a precondition for renewal: licensees could not begin the standard renewal process, which opened August 18, 2025 and closed September 30, 2025, until that course was completed. The course itself runs online and self-paced, takes roughly 17 hours on average, and requires a minimum score of 70% on each test to pass. RECA has not published this as a permanent annual fixture tied specifically to private lending; a reader checking Alberta's current cycle should confirm against RECA's own current renewal requirements rather than assume the exact same course recurs every year.
What an active RECA license does and doesn't tell you
An active status on RECA's public registry (searchable by name or license number) confirms the person holds a current mortgage associate or mortgage broker license in Alberta as of the date checked — including that any applicable renewal education was completed. It doesn't tell you which tier's exact scope of authority applies to your specific transaction, or anything about that person's errors-and-omissions coverage; see our companion explainer on E&O insurance requirements by province for Alberta's specific minimum.