The Competition Bureau may continue its investigation into the Association professionnelle des courtiers immobiliers du Québec (APCIQ) and its subsidiary, Centris. The Federal Court of Canada issued an order requiring the association to provide written documents and information.
The Competition Bureau is interested in the restrictions surrounding the sharing of real estate data held by the APCIQ. It manages a system allowing both agencies and real estate brokers in Quebec to collaborate in their work. This system, which is not publicly accessible, contains data on real estate transactions carried out in the province.
As part of its investigation, the competition regulatory body is trying to determine whether the APCIQ “has engaged in certain practices that harm competition in the market for real estate brokerage services or that prevent the development of innovative online brokerages in Quebec”.
As the investigation is still ongoing, “no findings have been made as to possible wrongdoing at this time,” the Competition Bureau said Monday morning in a statement.
An Ontario precedent
Note, however, that in 2016, after five years of proceedings, the Competition Tribunal ruled in favor of the organization in a similar case. It was then shown in court that the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) had used tactics that had the effect of restricting, for real estate brokers and consumers, access to data on past sales of residential properties.
The court found that TREB had exercised anti-competitive control in the market because of its control over the MLS system. This had the effect of hindering the emergence of virtual online brokerage offices.
The TREB had appealed this decision, but had come up against a dismissal from the Federal Court of Appeal, then the refusal of the Supreme Court. In doing so, the brokerage organization had to review some of its practices, including restricting access to real estate data to its members.
This dispatch was produced with the financial assistance of the Meta Exchange and The Canadian Press for the news.