Google Ads for real estate agents in Canada: what works, what it costs and which rules apply?

Which real estate searches are worth targeting?

Begin with one audience need and a service you can genuinely deliver. Someone searching for an agent to sell a property has different expectations from someone browsing neighbourhood listings. Your campaign should reflect that difference in keywords, ad copy and landing-page content. Avoid sending every visitor to the same broad homepage and hoping they work out what to do next.

Search campaigns can be a practical starting point because the query provides an explicit signal of interest. That does not make every property-related query commercially useful. Review actual search terms and exclude clearly irrelevant intent, such as jobs or services you do not offer. Avoid automatically excluding broad groups of people or assuming that targeting settings are exempt from housing rules.

Keep service coverage honest. If you serve a particular city or region, explain that coverage and check location settings rather than assuming a city name in a keyword controls who sees the ad. Broader campaign types may introduce additional placements and automation; use them only when you can evaluate their traffic, creative and measurement appropriately.

SAVN's real estate marketing includes lead generation, AI follow-up and CRM/drip setup. Those components address different stages of the process. Advertising creates opportunities, but your availability, offer, qualification and follow-through determine what happens after an enquiry arrives.

What should your landing page and follow-up do?

Match the page to the promise in the ad. A seller campaign should explain the seller service, your actual coverage and what happens after someone submits the form. A buyer page should make the intended service clear without implying that an enquiry creates exclusive access to listings unless that claim is accurate and supportable.

Ask only for information you need at that stage. Provide clear identification, contact details and an appropriate privacy notice. If you advertise an estimate of property value, explain the nature and limitations of the estimate. Do not present an automated estimate as a guaranteed sale price or suggest a guaranteed outcome that you cannot substantiate.

1. Check the ad and page together for a consistent offer, service area and required brokerage identification.
2. Test the form and call route on mobile, including the confirmation message and lead routing.
3. Decide who responds, which questions qualify the enquiry and when a human takes over.
4. Record consent information appropriately and separate service responses from ongoing promotional messaging.
5. Review lead quality in the CRM rather than counting every submission as a prospective transaction.

AI follow-up should use approved information and avoid inventing availability, listing facts or financial guidance. Define escalation rules and let a person handle sensitive or complex requests. PIPEDA and applicable provincial privacy laws may affect collection, vendor access, retention and disclosure of personal information. Review your CRM and automation practices with qualified advisers rather than treating convenience as permission.

What does Google Ads cost for a Canadian agent?

Separate your service fee from media spend and setup. There is no single Canadian cost per lead or monthly budget that applies to every agent. Location, search competition, campaign intent, landing-page quality and your definition of a qualified lead all matter. A cheap form submission may be less useful than a more expensive conversation with someone you can actually serve.

These real estate offers cover lead generation, AI follow-up and CRM/drip setup, but you should confirm the deliverables and limits of each tier. Ad spend is paid directly by the client to Google/Meta and is separate from these service prices. Confirm tax treatment and any additional requirements in your written proposal.

SAVN separately publishes Google Ads management at $499 CAD per month, with no markup on ad spend and payment to Google directly. Do not treat that standalone fee as the price of the full real estate follow-up package or automatically add it to a package. Ask which offer applies to your needs and what work it includes.

Source needed · Current CAD keyword forecasts for the agent's Canadian service area and campaign intent, followed by verified account data on qualified enquiries; distinguish forecasts from actual results. (Source: Google Ads Keyword Planner data for Canada and the advertiser's consent-appropriate CRM and campaign records)

Which provincial advertising rules must you check?

Real estate advertising requirements vary by province and can cover online ads, landing pages, social profiles and promotional messages. Check your provincial regulator's current rules and your brokerage's approval process before launching. Examples include RECO in Ontario, BCFSA in British Columbia, RECA in Alberta and OACIQ in Quebec. This guide is not legal advice or a substitute for those requirements.

Brokerage-name disclosure deserves particular attention. Confirm the exact registered names, permitted titles, visibility and format your regulator and brokerage require. Do not assume putting the brokerage name in a website footer satisfies every ad placement. Review the ad itself as well as the page, including mobile layouts where required text can become difficult to read.

Obtain the necessary permissions before using listing photos, property information, testimonials or another party's branding. Verify claims about awards, rankings, sales and special access. The Competition Act applies to misleading advertising claims, and a qualification hidden elsewhere may not correct a misleading overall impression. Have your brokerage or lawyer review uncertain claims and any advertised guarantees.

For commercial email and SMS follow-up, assess CASL requirements, including the applicable consent basis, sender identification and unsubscribe process. An enquiry is not a blanket permission for indefinite promotional messaging. Keep appropriate records and respect withdrawals. Your brokerage's policies may add requirements beyond the minimum platform settings or campaign workflow.

How do Google's housing and personalized advertising policies affect targeting?

Google treats real estate services and advertising that enables home sales or rentals as housing for these policies. Do not assume restrictions apply only to an individual property listing. Google's housing guidance describes targeting restrictions for the United States and Canada 1. Review the current policy and account controls before launch because platform rules and available settings can change.

Google's guidance prohibits housing targeting by age, gender, parental status and marital status, and restricts ZIP-code targeting. Its guidance permits city and country targeting, radius targeting subject to its minimum, and Canadian forward sortation areas, meaning the first three postal-code characters. Do not assume full postal-code targeting is permitted or copy a targeting template without reviewing its settings.

Audience use also requires care. Do not assume that customer lists, remarketing or an automated audience feature is permitted merely because it appears in the interface. Check the current personalized advertising rules for your campaign type and proposed audience, including restrictions on advertiser-curated audiences. Lawful collection of personal information does not itself establish platform eligibility for every advertising use.

Avoid ad copy that implies knowledge of sensitive personal circumstances or excludes protected groups. Review the destination page as well as targeting. If an ad is disapproved, identify the underlying issue and use the review or appeal process where appropriate; do not try to evade the policy through misleading wording or a replacement account.

What should you do next?

Choose one campaign objective, one suitable landing page and a budget you can evaluate responsibly. Before spending, complete brokerage review, check current regulator and platform rules, test tracking and agree on lead routing. Define a qualified enquiry and review actual conversations rather than reporting success from clicks alone.

Document what you will change if the campaign attracts the wrong intent, if follow-up is delayed or if measurement is incomplete. Keep claims proportionate to the evidence and involve your regulator, brokerage or lawyer when uncertain. Review SAVN's real estate marketing and book a call to discuss scope, package fit and the responsibilities your team will retain.