The Competition Bureau has reached a settlement with the Quebec Professional Association of Real Estate Brokers (QPAREB) after finding that the association and its subsidiary, Société Centris, restricted access to real estate data in violation of the Competition Act.

The bureau concluded that QPAREB and Société Centris engaged in conduct contrary to the act’s abuse of dominance provisions by refusing or failing to provide members with a real estate data feed and imposing restrictions on how the information could be used.

The watchdog said the practices were likely to “impede innovation and limit competition in the real estate brokerage services market.”

Under the agreement, QPAREB will provide members with access to a data feed containing information relevant to real estate transactions, including sale prices, listing histories and property characteristics.

The changes will also allow brokers to provide buyers and sellers with access to certain property information, including sold-property data, through secure online platforms known as virtual office websites (VOWs).

 

More tools for brokers and clients

 

Nathalie Bégin, director, brokerage practice at QPAREB, says the agreement will give brokers more opportunities to develop their own technology and offer additional services to clients.

“In the next 12 months that we’re gonna put the system in place, all the real estate brokers and agencies gonna have more tools,” she told Real Estate Magazine.

In addition to VOWs, secure websites operated by real estate agencies that allow clients to access certain property information and online brokerage services, the automated data feeds could also help brokerages develop property comparison tools, market valuation services and data visualization platforms, said the Competition Bureau.

 

 

Bégin says some QPAREB members have been requesting greater access to the data for years, particularly those interested in developing their own technology.

“They would like to have the data to be that it would be possible to create their own tools to be able to serve their customers,” she says.

However, she notes that brokerages will not be required to develop new technology or offer additional tools.

 

Competition Bureau investigated restrictions

 

The Competition Bureau launched its investigation into QPAREB’s data-sharing practices in 2023.

As part of that investigation, it obtained a Federal Court order requiring the association to provide information about the effects of its data restrictions and the reasons behind them.

The bureau maintains that greater access to real estate data will encourage competition, improve market transparency and allow brokers to develop services that provide consumers with more information when buying or selling property.

“Real estate data is crucial to some of the most important decisions Quebecers make when purchasing a property,” said Jeanne Pratt, interim commissioner of competition, in a statement.

“This agreement will promote innovation, enhance competition and help consumers make informed choices by providing more complete access to this data.”

 

Quebec’s privacy laws complicate data access

 

The settlement builds on a 2016 Competition Tribunal decision involving the Toronto Real Estate Board (now TRREB), which established an important precedent for access to real estate data.

Following that decision, most major real estate associations across Canada adjusted their data-sharing practices, according to the Competition Bureau.

But Bégin says Quebec’s stricter privacy legislation complicated the process of introducing similar changes in the province.

She maintains QPAREB was never opposed to expanding access to real estate data, but needed to ensure the information could be shared in accordance with provincial laws.

“The personal information, well, they are very strict over here, so we have to be careful before we can say that we’re going to give the information to the customer or not,” she says.

“We always have to watch if it’s conformed with the regulation. So it’s a little bit harder here.”

Pierre-Olivier Simard, president of QPAREB’s board of directors, made a similar point in the association’s announcement.

He said the agreement reflects several years of work to develop a solution suited to Quebec’s legal framework, particularly its more restrictive personal information protections.

 

Changes to roll out over the next year

 

QPAREB says it will implement the measures outlined in the agreement over the next 12 months, while ensuring compliance with provincial legislation, including the Real Estate Brokerage Act and Quebec’s privacy laws.

The association says the changes will introduce VOWs as an additional platform for clients to access real estate information through their brokers.

Automated data feeds will also allow agencies to develop their own services, potentially expanding the range of tools available to Quebec buyers and sellers.

The consent agreement has been registered with the Competition Tribunal and will remain in effect for 10 years. It is legally binding and carries the same force and effect as a court order.