CREA has formed a partnership with the National Association of Realtors (NAR) that would allow CREA members 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 .ca and .com, says CREA. Only CREA members could use the TLDs in Canada.

“This is great news for members,” says Wayne Moen, CREA’s president, in a statement. “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.”

CREA says that “in order to protect its MLS trademark,” it has also applied for the .mls top level domain.

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