After a young realtor was slain in February, the real estate boards in Victoria and Vancouver Island are telling their realtors to use new safety measures, including panic buttons.
The death of 24-year-old Lindsay Buziak has been a terrible reminder of the dangers that realtors face every day on the job, said Chris Markham of the Victoria Real Estate Board.
"Victoria is a small community, and it shook us," Markham told CTV News.
Buziak was discovered stabbed to death inside a vacant home in Victoria last month.
She told friends she was uneasy about an appointment to show the property that had been made at the last minute.
No one has been arrested and charged in the death.
Realtors will have wireless lock box keys capable of sending panic alerts, and a new software program will be available to agents at the touch of a finger.
"It will allow members to communicate with themselves and allows the office to communicate with entire groups," said Markham.
Cathy Travis has been selling real estate in Victoria for five years. She takes her personal security seriously.
"We do work on our own most of the time," she said.
That includes showing properties at odd hours on very short notice.
"I think in the past we have tried to really go out of our way to please the clients and now in light of this unfortunate incident in Victoria, all realtors are taking another look at how they present themselves and at what time of day and with whom," she said.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Janet Dirks
