Last week, the Competition Bureau announced it has entered into a consent agreement with the Yukon Real Estate Association (YREA) to address concerns with its membership practices in the sector. A similar consent agreement was also recently reached with the Northwest Territories.

The investigation found the YREA engaged in anti-competitive conduct by adopting a requirement that “certain prospective members must live in the Yukon for a year before they can become a member of the YREA.”

The Bureau concluded that the association’s conduct was contrary to the abuse of dominance provisions of the Competition Act.

It says, “Implementing and enforcing a residency requirement creates barriers to new forms of competition, especially for services offering consumers choices and fee structures that differ from traditional full-service real estate brokerage services.”

“Competition in the real estate sector is of critical importance to Canadians. It stimulates innovation, lowers prices and improves the consumer experience. Protecting competition in the real estate sector remains a top priority for the Competition Bureau,” Matthew Boswell, the Bureau’s commissioner of competition, says.

The investigation’s result includes the YREA not adopting or enforcing residency requirements, and ensuring non-discriminatory access to the market for future competitors.