The Canadian Real Estate Association partners with the National Association of REALTORS® in its application for .REALTOR Top Level Domain Extension

OTTAWA, June 12, 2012 /CNW/ - The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) has entered into an exclusive partnership agreement with the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) that will result in CREA members being able to operate websites using the .REALTOR Top Level Domain (TLD).

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the organization that controls the creation and distribution of domain names globally, has approved a procedure for establishing a new set of TLDs. If the NAR application is successful, CREA's partnership arrangement will provide CREA members an alternative to the familiar .ca and .com.  Only licensed real estate professionals who are members of CREA and subscribe to a strict Code of Ethics have the right to call themselves a REALTOR® in Canada, and only REALTORS® will be allowed to use the new .REALTOR TLD.

"This is great news for members," said Wayne Moen, CREA's President. "In a world where everything is increasingly connected, the .REALTOR domain will provide members an additional vehicle to market their services while identifying themselves as REALTORS®."

Moen continued: "Consumers turn to the Internet to begin their searches for homes, and our hope is that they come to recognize .REALTOR as the premiere site for valued real estate services in Canada and the United States.  When consumers visit a .REALTOR domain, they will know that the real estate practitioner is a member of CREA and that he or she is a trusted information source and a true real estate professional."

Additionally, in order to protect its MLS® trademark, CREA has applied for the .MLS Top Level Domain.

ICANN is expected to make a decision on the application sometime in 2013.

The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) is one of Canada's largest single-industry trade associations, representing more than 104,000 REALTORS® working through more than 100 real estate Boards and Associations.

Pierre Leduc, Media Relations
The Canadian Real Estate Association
P: 613-237-7111 or 613 884-1460
E: [email protected]