The RE industry is an interesting and fucked up one in many respects.
1) The barriers to entry are low, and that's why there are now 52,000 agents in the GTA. 1/3 of them make zero sales a year. Half make 1 sale or less a year. But it's a lucrative gig for those that excel at it. To make an average living wage, an agent has to sell over 4 properties (due to desk fees, license fees, brokerage split - 70/30, etc) to earn about $55k/year. That's easier said than done and so it's a part time gig for most. Think about how often you buy or sell a home. One deal and your agent is shit out of luck for years on your return business. But that's just how the business works, so no need to shed tears for agents. 15k agents did more than 4 sales in 2017. Let's double that and say a really good wage (over $110k/year) for selling 8 properties per year. 7000 agents in the GTA did that in 2017. 2500 agents did 15 sales, 1300 agents did 20 sales... and so on.
The yearly agent license renewal fee is $1500 which is largely an industry cash grab in itself. 52k agents paying $1500 per year is $78 million per year. All that money, for what? Maintaining the TREB database? lol
2) Agents have access to MLS which gives agents an advantage that Joe Blow can't compete with. Agents can pull up sales stats, make comparisons, and promote much easier than a person without that access. Hopefully this will change soon when the court throws out the industry's challenge to keep that info "private". Sites like mongohouse.com are popping up posting sales data. You just have to register a free account. In addition to gaining access to the stats, perhaps it should be made so that Joe Blow can list his property on MLS by himself.
3) Agents are salespeople and most don't give a shit about you. I buy rental properties thru a friend who is an agent and I always do my own homework. If I didn't, I would overpay. I use him because he gives me kickbacks and offers very helpful ancillary services/contacts that keep costs down on maintaining and renovating properties (i.e. contractor buddies).
4) Perception/expertise - at the end of the day, whether it's warranted or not, most people are not confident about buying or selling their home alone. It's one of the biggest financial decisions of a person's life so they understandably defer to 'experts'. Although a lot of the agreements and processes are standardized (as are the use of common sense clauses, conditions) to the point of almost being formalities, if you don't know, you just don't know and it becomes too risky for most people to undertake. This is why there may be room for agents long into the future.
In 2020, OREA will no longer be involved in the education of new agents. Real estate agent licensing is going to become a college course. I'm actually going to take the course before that happens so that I have an RE license since I buy real estate and it'll save me from paying commissions. I get my mortgage agent license mid July for the same reason. Rather than just being a buyer/seller/landlord which are all front end positions, I want to have full access to all aspects on the back end too - get my own mortgages and handle buy/sales myself. It all makes sense since RE is my bread and butter and it's always been of interest to me.
