Canada’s Competition Tribunal Orders Toronto Real Estate Board to Remove Anti-Competitive Restrictions on Virtual Office Websites

On June 3, 2016, Canada’s Competition Tribunal issued an Order lifting Toronto Real Estate Board’s (TREB) restrictions on its member agents’ access to important data, including historical listings and sale prices, for display online through virtual office websites.  This Order followed the reasons issued by the Competition Tribunal (Tribunal) on April 27, 2016, concluding that TREB had abused its dominant position in the Toronto residential real estate services market, restricting the ability of its member realtors to offer innovative services over the internet (2016 CACT 7).

In 2011, the Competition Bureau challenged TREB’s anti-competitive practices before the Competition Tribunal (Tribunal), asserting that TREB violated Section 79 of the Competition Act (Act) by restricting its members’ use of data in the MLS® system, thereby abusing its market power. This application was dismissed (2013 CACT 9).  However, the Federal Court of Appeal overturned the Tribunal’s decision and ordered the Tribunal to reconsider the matter (2014 FC 29). 

The Competition Bureau issued a statement welcoming the Order.  TREB has appealed.