Greater access to real estate data will foster the development of new tools and services, benefiting consumers engaged in real estate transactions in Quebec
The Competition Bureau has reached a consent agreement with the Quebec Professional Association of Real Estate Brokers (QPAREB) to address competition concerns related to the access and use of real estate data available in Quebec.
Following its investigation, the Bureau concluded that QPAREB and its subsidiary, Société Centris, had engaged in conduct contrary to the abuse of dominance provisions of the Competition Act. Specifically, QPAREB refused or omitted to make a real estate data feed available to its members and imposed restrictions on how this data could be used.
The Bureau believes these practices were likely to impede innovation and limit competition in the real estate brokerage services market.
As part of the settlement, QPAREB has agreed to provide its members with a real estate data feed containing all information relevant to the provision of real estate brokerage services, including sale prices, listing history, property characteristics, and more.
Greater access to data will support the development of new tools and services for the benefit of brokers and their clients transacting in Quebec. It will also increase market efficiency and transparency by making information more readily available in an accessible online format.
