RCM and OLCM Credentials in Ontario: What Your Condo Manager's Letters Mean for London Boards
(From a Condominium Management Expert)
Practical Guidance for Smarter Governance in London & Sarnia, Ontario
A board in London Ontario is reading through management proposals. One manager signs off with OLCM, another with RCM, and a third with OLCM-L. The letters look official, but nobody around the table is quite sure what each one means, or whether one is better than another.
This guide explains the letters you are most likely to see after a condo manager's name in Ontario. It covers which credential is required by law and which are voluntary, what each one tells your board about training and experience, how to check them yourself, and what credentials cannot tell you about the service your building will get.
Does a condo manager in Ontario have to be licensed?
Yes. This is not legal advice, but generally speaking under Ontario law, section 34 (1) of the Condominium Management Services Act, 2015 says no person shall provide condominium management services unless licensed as a condominium management provider or as a condominium manager.
That means two licences matter to your board. The company itself needs a condominium management provider licence, and the individual managers working on your building each need their own licence as a condominium manager. Both are issued by the Condominium Management Regulatory Authority of Ontario, usually called the CMRAO. A professional designation is something extra on top. The licence is the legal minimum.
What do OLCM and OLCM-L mean after a condo manager's name?
OLCM stands for Ontario Licensed Condominium Manager. The CMRAO says a manager with a General Licence may use OLCM, and a manager with a Limited Licence may use OLCM-L. In other words, these letters are simply a short way of showing which CMRAO licence the person holds.
Ontario Regulation 123/17, section 6, sets out the classes of licence for condominium managers: limited, general and transitional general. Here is what the two you will see most often mean in practice:
• OLCM (General Licence): the manager has completed the CMRAO's education program and supervised work experience, and can provide condominium management services without supervision.
• OLCM-L (Limited Licence): the manager has completed the entry course and is working toward a General Licence. Under O. Reg. 123/17, section 8 (1), a limited licensee shall not provide condominium management services except under the supervision of a supervising licensee.
To move up to a General Licence, O. Reg. 123/17, section 11 (1), requires at least two years of supervised work experience within the five years before applying, along with the required education. The CMRAO says that supervised experience works out to 2,920 hours.
An OLCM-L on your building is not a warning sign. Every General Licensee started there. What your board should know is who the supervising licensee is and how involved they are. Our guide CMRAO-Compliant Condo Management: What Ontario Boards Should Expect goes deeper on the difference between the licence classes.
What does RCM mean, and is it required?
RCM stands for Registered Condominium Manager, a designation from the Association of Condominium Managers of Ontario, known as ACMO. It is voluntary. ACMO itself says the RCM is not the same as a General Licence from the CMRAO, and describes it as a designation that goes beyond the minimum licensing requirements.
According to ACMO, a manager applying for the RCM today must:
• Hold a General Licence from the CMRAO.
• Have at least three consecutive years of condominium management experience with primary responsibility for a condominium.
• Complete five ACMO certificate courses with a passing grade of 80%, according to ACMO's current rules, including two mandatory courses on ethics and on communication and conflict management.
• Have two sponsors confirm the work experience, and be an ACMO member.
So an RCM tells your board the manager holds a full licence and has chosen to do extra training and earn industry recognition. It does not replace the licence, and a manager without an RCM can still be fully licensed and very capable.
You may also see LCCI or ACCI, which come from the Canadian Condominium Institute, known as CCI. According to CCI, ACCI was retired in 2017 and existing holders were moved into the LCCI designation. These are open to condo professionals of many kinds, not only managers.
How can a London or Sarnia board check its manager's credentials?
Check the licence first, because it is the one the law requires. Section 76 (1) of the Condominium Management Services Act, 2015 requires the registrar to make the names of licensees, and other prescribed information, available to the public. You can search the CMRAO public register at cmrao.ca by the manager's name and by the company's name.
A simple routine for your board:
• Search both the company and your day-to-day manager on the CMRAO register, and confirm each licence is current.
• Note which licence class your manager holds. If it is a Limited Licence, ask who the supervising licensee is.
• For an RCM, ask the manager or check with ACMO directly.
• Ask how the manager keeps their training current. The CMRAO says General Licensees must complete at least 10 continuing professional education credits each licensing year to renew.
Doing this once a year, or whenever your building gets a new manager, takes a few minutes. It is part of the due diligence a board owes the corporation. This is not legal advice, but generally speaking under Ontario law, section 37 (1) of the Condominium Act, 1998 requires directors to act with the care, diligence and skill of a reasonably prudent person.
What credentials cannot tell your board about its manager
Letters prove training and a licence. They do not prove that calls get returned, that the monthly financials arrive on time, or that the same person will still know your building next year. Boards in London and Sarnia tell us those day-to-day things are what they actually feel.
So use credentials as the starting point, then look at the work itself. Are statements clear and on time? Do open items get closed? Does the manager explain a recommendation in plain words? At Sapphire, our team brings 25+ years of combined condo management experience to condominium management in London Ontario and condo management in Sarnia Ontario, and any board can look up our licences on the CMRAO register, the same as any other company.
If your board wants a second opinion on the financial side, you can request a free financial review on us.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Is an OLCM the same as a licensed condo manager in Ontario?
A: Yes. The CMRAO says OLCM is the designation a General Licence holder may use, and OLCM-L is the designation for a Limited Licence holder. Both are CMRAO licences under the Condominium Management Services Act, 2015.
Q: Is an RCM better than an OLCM?
A: They are different things. OLCM shows the CMRAO licence the law requires. RCM is a voluntary ACMO designation, and ACMO requires an RCM holder to also hold a General Licence. An RCM signals extra training on top of the licence, not a different kind of licence.
Q: Can a manager with a Limited Licence run our building?
A: Only under supervision. This is not legal advice, but generally speaking under Ontario law, O. Reg. 123/17, section 8 (1), says a limited licensee shall not provide condominium management services except under the supervision of a supervising licensee. Ask your management company who that supervisor is.
Related Reading
→ CMRAO-Compliant Condo Management: What Ontario Boards Should Expect
→ Checking Condo Management Company References: What Ontario Boards Should Do
→ What a Manager Who Answers Looks Like: Service Standards London Ontario Boards Should Expect