REALTOR® Safety Month in Canada: Where Awareness Falls Short and Leadership Must Step Up
By Rob Andress | Street Safe Self Defence Training Company
October 1, 2026 | Opinion
September is over. The safety posts are moving down the feed. Canadian REALTORS® are still heading into unfamiliar properties, meeting prospective clients and working alone. Realtor Safety Month in Canada, where awareness falls short and leadership must step up.
The question now is simple:
What changed for the agent walking through that door?
REALTOR® Safety Month should leave people better prepared and organizations more accountable. Wherever it ends with reminders and no follow-through, I believe it has failed its purpose.
Give credit where action happened
It would be inaccurate to claim nobody did anything. Here are the Canadian examples verified for this review:
| Organization | Publicly documented activity |
|---|---|
| Cornerstone Association of REALTORS® — Ontario | A September 11, 2026 Safety Month article and an advertised September 24, two-hour workshop covering awareness, verbal strategies, physical responses and REALTOR® scenarios. [1] |
| London St. Thomas Association of REALTORS® — Ontario | A dedicated 2026 Safety Month page with reminders about concerning behaviour, social media, marketing exposure, driving and leaving unsafe situations. [2] |
| Association of Interior REALTORS® — British Columbia | A September Safety Month post encouraging verification, location sharing, personal information protection and attention to instincts. [3] |
| REALTORS® Association of Edmonton — Alberta | An ongoing program publicly described as monthly safety webinars and twice-yearly in-person sessions with Beth and me. This source establishes continuing programming, rather than specific September 2026 delivery dates. [4] |
| CREA — national association | A September 23, 2026 Safety Month article promoting personal safety and cybersecurity modules, brokerage discussions and AI risk resources. [5] |
These are verified examples, not an exhaustive audit. Public posts do not reveal everything delivered through member portals or internal communications. An advertised workshop also does not establish attendance or results.
But acknowledgment should lead to examination.
What did these efforts accomplish beyond being available?
CREA’s information has value. It also has limits.
CREA’s September 23 Safety Month article asks members to consider whether someone knows where they are going, whether they have a plan if something feels wrong and what they would do without their phone. It encourages discussion with brokers and promotes a 30-minute personal safety module and a 45-minute cybersecurity module. Completing both earns a shareable safety badge. [5]
These are legitimate topics. Digital crime belongs in the conversation. Basic precautions can support a safety plan.
My concern is the distance between raising a question and preparing someone to act on the answer.
Telling someone your location needs a check-in arrangement, someone monitoring it and a response if contact is missed.
Having a plan needs decisions made before an appointment: when to stop, how to leave and how to obtain help.
Discussing brokerage protocols needs to lead to procedures people understand, practise and consistently use.
A reminder becomes more useful when someone teaches the member how to carry it out.
The article reports no course completion figures, demonstrated skills, changes to brokerage procedures or measured safety improvements. That is a gap in the evidence presented, not proof that no results exist. I have not reviewed the full courses, and their length alone does not establish their quality.
Still, CREA should be able to explain how its resources reach members and how their impact is assessed.
The industry already has reason to act
CREA’s fall 2023 member safety survey received more than 1,400 responses. Its February 2024 survey summary reported that 9.6% of respondents had been victims of a crime while working as REALTORS®. It also reported that 55% had met a client alone at a secluded location or property in the preceding 12 months, and fewer than 25% had taken a REALTOR®-specific safety course. [6]
These are findings among survey respondents. The crime figure includes crime generally and should not be presented as an assault rate.
The findings nevertheless warrant a serious response: accessible education, practical working procedures and a clear explanation of who is responsible for follow-through.
Members should not have to wait for another September to receive that support.
“Be aware” needs to mean something
What exactly should an agent recognize?
Pressure to abandon established appointment procedures? Repeated boundary violations? Someone interfering with their movement or making it difficult to leave?
Training should help agents assess behaviour in context and decide what to do. It should give them practice setting boundaries, stopping an appointment, disengaging and obtaining assistance.
You cannot de-escalate what you never recognized.
Verification, office meetings, check-ins and safety technology can support a plan. They do not establish that someone’s intentions are safe. Members need to understand each measure’s purpose and limitations.
The goal is usable preparation when an interaction changes. Our REALTOR® safety and violence prevention program explains the behaviour, space management and appointment risks our training addresses.
Why does action stop short?
We cannot establish leadership’s motives or budget decisions from an article. But we can identify questions that deserve answers.
Is availability being mistaken for delivery? A course in a catalogue is an opportunity. How many members complete it, and how does the organization reach those who do not?
Who owns the next step? CREA, provincial associations, local boards and brokerages have different roles. Who is responsible for appointment procedures, missed check-ins, incident follow-up and continuing education?
What counts as success? Posts and registrations are easy to count. Leadership should also assess learning and whether working practices change.
Does support survive a lost transaction? Members need confidence that their brokerage will support a reasonable decision to refuse or end an appointment on safety grounds.
These are questions about implementation and accountability. Organizations should answer them before presenting campaign activity as evidence of protection.
Ongoing preparation is possible
Edmonton’s publicly described safety program shows an approach that continues beyond September. Beth and I deliver that program, so I have a direct professional interest in it. I cite it as an example of continuing preparation, not proof that one provider is the only answer or that training eliminates risk.
Every organization should be able to describe its own plan: who it reaches, what it teaches, how members practise, how incidents are reported and what happens when weaknesses emerge.
Incident numbers also need careful interpretation. More reports can reflect better reporting. Fewer reports alone do not prove greater safety.
October is the test
Safety Month gives leadership a platform. What happens afterward gives members a reason to trust it.
My challenge to Canadian organized real estate is straightforward:
Show members what you delivered, who it reached, what changed and what happens next.
Where the answer stops at a campaign, I call it a leadership failure.
At Street Safe, our purpose is clear: “Stop the Before, so the After Never Happens.” Preparation belongs in everyday work, with practical options and organizational support before an encounter becomes dangerous.
Every agent deserves to come home safely. Boards and brokerages can explore Street Safe’s REALTOR® training options, while members can find further education in the Street Safe Learning Centre.
If organized real estate cannot establish and sustain meaningful safety standards, is it time for provincial governments to examine whether occupational health and safety protections adequately address the risks REALTORS® face?
About the Author
Rob Andress is a real estate broker, Violence Prevention Specialist and co-founder of Street Safe Self Defence Training Company. He brings more than three decades of real estate experience to his work educating REALTORS® about behavioural threat recognition, situational awareness, conflict management and personal safety.
Rob’s qualifications include SAS and SAS-AP certifications and Advanced Practitioner status in Situational Awareness. His published professional profile also lists training and certifications in de-escalation, trauma-informed practice, family dynamics of violence, threat assessment and behavioural awareness.
Together with Beth Andress, he developed Know Thy Enemy — Prospect or Predator, a REALTOR® safety program addressing targeting, luring, appointment risks, pre-attack indicators and practical responses. The REALTORS® Association of Edmonton identifies Rob and Beth as its REALTOR® safety and violence prevention experts.
His guiding principle: “Stop the Before, so the After Never Happens.”
Disclosure: Rob co-owns a company that provides paid safety training and delivers the Edmonton program discussed in this article.
Sources
Public sources reviewed October 1, 2026.
- Cornerstone: September is REALTOR® Safety Month; Cornerstone’s LinkedIn article; September 24 workshop listing.
- LSTAR: REALTOR® Safety Month — Tips & Resources 2026.
- Association of Interior REALTORS®: public LinkedIn updates.
- REALTORS® Association of Edmonton: Meet our RAE Instructors.
- CREA: Resources to Help REALTORS® Stay Safe In-Person and Online this REALTOR® Safety Month — September 23, 2026.
- CREA: How REALTORS® Can Prioritize Safety on the Job — February 29, 2024.
