May 6, 2025 – Gatineau
The Competition Bureau has obtained a second court order as it intensifies its investigation into potentially anti-competitive practices by the Quebec Professional Association of Real Estate Brokers (QPAREB) and its subsidiary, Société Centris, regarding restrictions on real estate data sharing.
The Federal Court order compels QPAREB to produce records detailing its relationships with business partners and provide data on real estate transactions across Quebec. This follows an earlier court order obtained in 2023 as part of the same investigation.
The Bureau is examining whether QPAREB’s control over the province’s Multiple Listing Service (MLS)—a centralized database of real estate listings and transactions—has been used to suppress competition. Specifically, the investigation is focused on whether QPAREB has hindered the emergence of innovative online brokerage services and maintained barriers that limit consumer access to valuable real estate data.
In Quebec, only licensed brokers can access the MLS system, which is not available to the general public. This level of control, the Bureau suggests, may have implications for both market competition and consumer choice.
The investigation falls under the Competition Act’s provisions on abuse of dominance—a form of anti-competitive conduct where a dominant entity uses its position to exclude or disadvantage rivals.
The Bureau’s concern echoes a landmark 2016 ruling by the Competition Tribunal against the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB), in which TREB was found to have used its control of real estate data to block innovation and restrict consumer access to information. That ruling set a precedent for how real estate boards across Canada may be held accountable for practices that limit competition.
The Bureau emphasized that the investigation is ongoing and no conclusions have been reached. However, the second court order signals a deepening of the probe into how real estate data is controlled and shared in Quebec—and its impact on market openness and innovation.
