The short answer...yes! I'm not just saying that because I am one either. If you analyze the situation, it makes sense.

Here is a common scenario:

You are looking to buy a house. Where do you start? 90% of people start their search online. So you have been scouring Realtor.ca and have a good idea of the price range of the area you are interested in. Now, you search the web and newspapers for open houses in that area. You take a few weekends to pop into the ones you can find. Maybe you find one you like, maybe you don't. Let's say you don't. Now you start calling the Listing Agents on other houses you are interested in. It takes an hour or so, but you have appointments to see 4 homes. Maybe you find one you like maybe you don't. Let's say you do.
You find one that you like, and decide you would like to write an offer. Now what? You call the Listing Agent again, and tell them you are interested and would like to write an offer. Guess what, the seller has already agreed to pay a "Buyer's Commission" to the agent that brings a buyer. Now you are paying the commission to the Seller's Realtor who is going to help you with the paperwork, but you did the most time consuming part of the work!

Here is another scenario:
You are looking to buy a house. Where do you start? You decide to call a local REALTOR® (hopefully me!) to get some advice. He tells you "Here is what we will do. I will ask you some questions to find out what you are looking for, and make sure you are pre-qualified with a good Mortgage Specialist. Oh, you aren't pre-qualified? Here are the names of some good Mortgage Specialists. After we have you qualified, we will decide which houses we are going to look at. I will make all of the arrangements for a time that suites you. I will pick you up (and probably stop at Timmy's to grab us a coffee) and drive you (burning my gas) to each home, and you can take a look at each one without any pressure. If we don't find the one, I will keep looking and make more appointments for you. If we do, I will have all of the necessary paperwork to write an offer for you. We'll sit down and have a coffee and go over the offer  and discuss the different costs associated with buying that home. I'll recommend some good Home Inspectors that you can contact for the inspection, and explain why you should get one. After we write up the offer, I will negotiate on your behalf the best possible price and conditions."  

Now, you paid the same commission in both scenario's, but one seems to have a little more value....doesn't it?