More Ontario Realtors now have access to more data as the PropTx MLS database expands to include listings from most boards in the province.
PropTx, a wholly-owned and for-profit subsidiary of the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB), promises members access to a centralized MLS, a long-standing priority among Realtors, according to TRREB CEO John DiMichele.
“This has been a strategic focus, and through the creation of PropTx, was a key mandate for the organization,” says DiMichele. “The participating boards and associations were essential collaborators, recognizing that working together benefits all Realtors. A unified MLS database ensures consistency and continuity as it matures.”
Participating boards and associations currently have access to the PropTx MLS system, with the final stages of data transition underway. DiMichele explains several enhancements are expected in the first quarter of 2025, including expanded mandatory fields and the integration of pre-populated external data sets. These updates are based on feedback from participating boards and new users of the platform.
Participating boards and associations
The following boards and associations are part of the PropTx MLS collaboration:
- Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (including the former Brampton Real Estate Board)
- Central Lakes Association of Realtors (including Durham, Quinte, Northumberland, Peterborough, and Kawartha Lakes)
- London and St. Thomas Association of Realtors
- Niagara Association of Realtors (NAR)
- Kingston & Area Real Estate Association (KAREA)
- Timmins, Cochrane & Timiskaming District Association of Realtors
- Ottawa Real Estate Board
- Cornwall & District Real Estate Board
- Renfrew County Real Estate Board
- Rideau-St Lawrence Real Estate Board
- Oakville, Milton & District Real Estate Board (OMDREB)
- One Point Association of Realtors (formerly Lakelands, Guelph & District, Huron Perth, and Grey Bruce Owen Sound)
- Woodstock, Ingersoll Tillsonburg & Area Association of Realtors (WITAAR)
- North Bay & Area Realtors Association (NBARA)
DiMichele explains that through PropTx, members of these associations have access to more data than ever before, and that will expand as new features are introduced.
“The move towards a single MLS database creates incredible efficiencies for Realtors, both in the operation of their business as well as in the cost of operating their business,” DiMichele says. “The move towards a single MLS database reduces the need for interboarding MLS listings as well as paying for multiple real estate board and association memberships.”
TRREB’s CEO calls PropTx a for-Realtors-by-Realtors solution, “The long-term strategic goal of PropTx is to continue to offer a range of best-in-class tools, insights, and applications to improve the transaction experience for realtors and the clients they serve efficiently and effectively.”
Impact on ITSO
More boards transitioning to PropTx marks a shift for the Information Technology Systems of Ontario (ITSO), a not-for-profit corporation established in 2020 with the primary goal of creating a unified MLS.
Geoff Halford, ITSO chair, says the organization was initially created to increase access to MLS data through the operation of a regional MLS System when associations were not ready to amalgamate but wanted to share data. Halford says this purpose may no longer be relevant.
Member boards such as KAREA, NAR, OMDREB, NBARA, WITAAR, and OnePoint are leaving or have left ITSO in favour of PropTx.
Halford acknowledges the evolving landscape and its potential impact. “We are proud of the success we had creating a regional system that at its peak brought together 23 real estate associations and more than 24,000 users who had access to data from 29 of the real estate associations in the province, but we also understand that the landscape is quickly changing,” he said, adding ITSO remains committed to supporting its current member associations, ensuring that the system continues to meet their needs.
“We are disappointed that a solution could not be arranged with TRREB that would have fostered competition in the MLS services market…” Geoff Halford, ITSO chair
ITSO will operate its MLS system for its remaining three member boards, the Barrie & District Association of Realtors (BDAR), Brantford Regional Real Estate Association (BRREA), and Cornerstone Association of Realtors, for the next two years under the current MLS Services Agreement.
“We will be reviewing what is in the best interests of our members and the future of ITSO over the course of the next two years,” says Halford.”There are other MLS Systems in Ontario and in other provinces that operate with far fewer users than ITSO, so we know such a system is viable, but we also understand the political pressure that our remaining members face to solve the problem of fragmented data access.
“We are disappointed that a solution could not be arranged with TRREB that would have fostered competition in the MLS services market and enabled all realtors in the province to access all the MLS data they need in the system of their choice.”
Halford adds, “It is especially disheartening to see Realtors who formerly used the ITSO system complain on social media about the quality and quantity of listing content they now have access to in their new MLS System, as ITSO and its members prided themselves on building a comprehensive database of detailed and accurate MLS listing content.”
Industry perspectives
Paul Czan, president of the Ottawa Real Estate Board, says the board joined PropTx last fall.
Czan explains, “This new platform promises a much better experience with more data readily available. Faster communication and smoother transactions, in a sense. Another thing is we’re able to have input on the system.”
OREB’s president has high hopes for PropTx’s impact. “I think it’s going to be a platform that’s going to bring stability and consistency amongst a bit of a shifting landscape in our industry, meaning that Realtors can be assured that they can have access to the same quality data as their counterparts in all the other regions.”
Editor’s note: The original article stated that the Ottawa Real Estate Board had left ITSO for PropTx. The board was not an ITSO member and the article has been updated to reflect that.
Mario Toneguzzi is a contributing writer for REM. He has more than 40 years of experience as a daily newspaper writer, columnist, and editor. He worked for 35 years at the Calgary Herald, covering sports, crime, politics, health, faith, city and breaking news, and business. He now works on his own as a freelance writer for several national publications and consultant in communications and media relations/training. Mario was named in 2021 as one of the Top 10 Business Journalists in the World by PR News – the only Canadian to make the list.
Ontario real estate board..that’s our future. One board One system. One form set.
I second that. It’s only a matter of time before the remaining three join. Itso is looking like its done, for not keeping up with the times in tech. I know some don’t like treb telling others as they put it, but it’s not treb its the tech that speaks for it self, in this matter.
Really really great to see. It’s about time someone took the bull by the horns and made a change for us Realtors. Now let’s get the remaining three on board.
EXACTLY!
Speak for yourselves. PropTX is an inferior product.
You’re joking right?! TRREB was the holdout for shared data. They refused to join ITSO because they didn’t like the security or the lack of control.
The money of a for profit was too enticing… why join the rest of the boards in a mutual sharing of data when you can force them to join yours and you can profit off of the data we provide.
Do some research. The bully is not the saviour here!
Sadly, the transition to PropTx has been disappointing not only to many members but to our clients who are now turning to 3rd party websites in order to get information we were once able to easily share with them.
100%
What Di Michelle does not say is how much money he will make being the head of a MLS monopoly in Ontario. It is no secret that all the data that will now be in the hands of a FOR PROFIT organization at the cost to Ontario Realtors is worth millions to a FOR PROFIT MLS provider. And if the entire new system turns out not to be the silver bullet solution, what recourse do all the Ontario realtors have at this point? None. Monopolies only benefit the head of that monopoly. And without competition costs have no limit. I would wait and see how this ” sounds too good to be true” drama plays out before TRREB starts patting itself on its back.
Competition bureau should get involved in this one…
It’s really nice to see some people actually see the risks associated with this!
PropTx is utter garbage in comparison to ITSO. Matrix is far superior, and Realm’s attempts at matrix are just pathetic. Toronto again being a bully and providing zero benefit to anyone but themselves.
So true! Why wouldn’t they provide a full service level version of Matrix to their members??
Because it wasn’t about giving them options… was about them pushing everyone to Realm so it “looks so powerful”.
ITSO Matrix just released a bunch of similar upgrades as well as AI, only difference is that Teranet (another monopoly) refused to add the changes they promised ITSO after PropTx lured them over with the promise of big payouts of the for profit margins.
Two monopolies coming together… the Canadian Dream right there.
Sounds good on paper – ensure boards maintain identity, system property integrates existing systems and provides fair interest for each board / their agents in system. Don’t want it to become a top-down lumbering dinosaur
Looking like TRREB members get priority help with Realm/PropTx issues…
And they are continuing to expand into the states while they haven’t even successfully on-boarded all of the Ontario boards (missing data, fields, step back in information we can give our clients)
Will be an interesting year ahead.
Hope the competition bureau steps in like others have suggested in these comments.
Proptx is truly garbage, forced on all realtors in Ontario solely because Treb pushed this with there member numbers and they keep feeding this garbage to media . There was absolutely no need for this disaster to have been forced on realtors outside of Toronto . I have been a realtor in Ottawa for over forty years and I have no need to have access to Toronto market ,nor do I want to see there stats I do not know the Toronto market I work and practice in Ottawa and I would never pretend to know a market outside of my trading district and drive to Toronto to sell or list a property I am not chasing another agents commission check in areas that i do not work or live in . Every city and trading area is different and cannot and should not be tied together , any professional in real estate will attest to that ,why do TreB agents come to Ottawa price out property to list or sell and not know the areas or streets or market ,and this system does not give them that info ,not there market or area and the system will never give them that no matter what stats Treb cooks up, not there market not professional and not representing you client on any level professionally . The new system is absolutely crap and still they forced it on our board and the others ,follow the money and who set it up ,self serving and we were never ask or taken a vote . Toronto pushed this on us and our boards did nothing to stop it , The Toronto board is too large and they are not the center of the universe
I concur!
Agreed!
The monopoly is alive and well with this one!!
I couldn’t agree more to your sentiments.
I heard there IS a clause in the contract that your board could pull out on… I also heard that lawyers advised boards NOT to sign based on how one sided the 9 year contract was in favour of the Monopoly.
Let’s get someone on board for contacting the competition bureau!
TREEB is acting like they’re the hero of this narrative when THEY were the reason we didn’t have a true data share in Ontario under ITSO. The money was too enticing & they wouldn’t be the dominant voice on ITSO therefore they wouldn’t join despite it being best for professionalism and their members. This nonsense has to stop.
Where is RECO in this? All that data going to agents who have no experience in other areas? Where is our mandate to provide contentious service? Competent service? Provide real opinions of value? What does a Toronto agent know about Westboro vs Vanier? Raw data never tells the full story.
We need members to contact the competition bureau because THEY will go after TRREB’s monopoly with the full extent of the law.
This roll-out of Proptx in Ottawa was not well thought out at all. Instead of a tool that works for us we are working for the tool . We even tossed well-thought out OREB rules in favour of “Prop-Tx” rules. May have been well intentioned and all that but wading through the constant cheat sheets, users updates, propaganda is a horrific distraction. The clients I serve are local to where I can be RECO accountable for knowing what I am doing. For clients that want to shop in other cities, I refer them out. Not seeing the value in this at all; perhaps my opinion may change in a year or two.
It sounds like no one is truly satisfied with the way we are receiving MLS data and all I can say is it hurts our clients the most. When we cannot access all the data on listings how are we being the best representatives possible?
We’re not. And we were already sharing data… it was the “saviour” TRREB who refused to join everyone else is sharing data.
Our clients and our professionalism is suffering in the name of profits.
Unfortunately the promises do not meet the reality. The ITSO system was a system built by REALTORS® for REALTORS® who serve a vast variety of geography and property types. It met the needs of urban, rural and waterfront REALTORS® with comprehensive data to serve both the REALTOR® and the client. The sad reality is PropTx doesn’t come close to meeting the needs of rural or waterfront REALTORS®. Waterfront lake names are not comprehensive. You cannot run a search based on lake name. Data is missing or incorrect, sale data is not even close to accurate. Subjecting REALTORS® to liability. The promises made to our Board of Directors and consequently to the membership of having a system exactly the same as what we were used at this point is an outright lie. While the demand is there for one provincial system, this isn’t the system to provide what REALTORS® need and deserve.
Contact your board & demand they revoke their contract. There is apparently a clause in the 9 YEAR CONTRACT that allows boards to pull out for the services not being what was promised.
Many boards were advised by their lawyers not to sign this one sided contract in support of the Monopoly & yet they did anyway.
Hold your elected officials responsible for this disaster to Realtor Professionalism & our client’s ability to receive full services from their agent!
It’s built for city sales and while PropTx will get better, realtors and our clients are the ones suffering.
Apparently there’s a clause in the contract that directors can demand to walk away from the 9 year contract for them not delivering what they’ve promised.
I hope boards do this because we shouldn’t be the Guinea pigs used for building a system that’s apparently better built on the backs of our data that we don’t profit from.
Makes me wonder if the directors of boards actually did any evaluation of the risks.
Proptx is a vastly inferior product to our previous MLS system. Very sad to see us shifting from local real estate (which is mandated by RECO) to making it very easy for realtors to trade in areas that they know nothing about. If someone wants to trade outside of the area they live, they could simply join another board. Having 4000 agents sign onto a terrible product was not a great idea. The lack of data, lack of very important fields (year built, model, builder, en suite, etc) is absolutely ridiculous. Would have been a good idea to have a realtor help with beta testing…
Proptx is a vastly inferior product to our previous MLS system. Very sad to see us shifting from a focus on local real estate (which is mandated by RECO), to making it very easy for realtors to trade in areas they know nothing about. If someone wants to trade outside of the area they live, they could simply join two boards. Having 4000 agents sign onto a terrible product was not a great idea. The lack of data, lack of very important fields (year built, model, builder, en suite, etc) is absolutely ridiculous. Would have been a good idea to have a realtor help with beta testing…
From the feedback I have received from both brokers and agents, the functionality is inferior to ITSO. One of my biggest issues with Poptx is not only are they for profit but they are implementing rules for brokerages such as paying the co operating brokerage within 7 days. That is ridiculous, what if there were holidays, what if the lawyers office was late sending the payment. How can they force a brokerage or threaten a fine when the funds are not in the brokerages hands to pay out? And then ask the listing brokerage to go after the commission if not received from the lawyers. This will harm small brokerages significantly and a tech company should not be implementing these rules.
I’ve heard many of the lawyers advised the boards not to sign this VERY one sided contract with PropTx and they all chose to do it anyway!
Cornerstone release a very thorough Q and A after their SGM explaining why they chose not to go with PropTx.
Did these other boards even do a risk assessment? There are so many problems with this system but they are being touted as the hero’s of Ontario real estate. What a joke!
For Profit, what a scam!
We know who is making the money.
Why institute a new system when the one we had was working?
Great that TRREB, OREA, CREA, RECO all want realtors to be Professional!
Then we get a new system shoved down our throats and TRREB & ProTX are so Professional that Our Forms we use to Sign Contracts are NOT even up to date with all the particular field that are required to be filled when uploading onto to the MLS. We have basically uploaded listing that is basically different than what the Client Signed.
They need to get their act together and up to date!
Or, boards should walk away and go back to ITSO!
This article is acting like TRREB are the hero after decades of refusing to data share.
Even better would be a competition bureau investigation that would FORCE TRREB to share data which would create true competition for services vs forcing everyone to their awful platform that is for profit.
Boards need to be held accountable for this fiasco! Especially those who were apparently told NOT TO SIGN by their lawyers because it was so one sided but chose to anyway. Where’s the risk evaluations? Where’s the due diligence of our professional associations?!
Did any of these boards assess the risks?? Some associations have been on PropTx for almost 2 quarters and STILL have no historical data!!
Definitely raising the bar on professionalism here…
And when has a for profit monopoly EVER benefited the consumer long term??!!!
Funny how OMDREB president was so pro PropTx in his quote but they have lost 44% of their members who went to TRREB directly (to save a couple hundred dollars) which only strengthens TRREBs monopoly on the voting structures at OREA & CREA.
The governance is broken, programs pushed through that should be voluntary because the monopoly wants it… this is not the direction that best serves all Realtors in Ontario no matter how they try to spin it.
As I reflect on nearly 40 years in the real estate industry, I find the recent adoption of the PropTx MLS system particularly concerning. This system, owned by TRREB as a for-profit entity, is concerning not just for its operational shortcomings but also because it centralizes control of our data in the hands of one board. The absence of critical property details and the inadequacy in addressing the needs of rural realtors are significant issues. Additionally, the monopoly on MLS by a single board undermines the competitive essence necessary for innovation and quality in our field.
It is imperative that we reconsider this path and strive for a system that ensures comprehensive, accurate data access and supports all stakeholders equitably, without compromising the competitive dynamics of our market.