Competition Bureau says Quebec real estate board violated abuse of dominance rules

The Competition Bureau says it has reached a settlement with Quebec’s real estate industry association to loosen data-sharing restrictions that violated the Competition Act.

The watchdog says the Quebec Professional Association of Real Estate Brokers and its subsidiary, Société Centris, broke abuse of dominance rules by refusing to provide its members with a real estate data feed, while also restricting how such data could be used.

The bureau says lack of access to that data was likely meant to “impede innovation and limit competition in the real estate brokerage services market.”

As part of a consent agreement reached with the association, it will now provide its members with a real estate data feed containing information about sale prices, listing history and property characteristics.

Pierre-Olivier Simard, president of the QPAREB board of directors, says in a statement that the solution is “tailored to the Quebec reality,” given that Quebec’s laws are more restrictive than those in the rest of Canada when it comes to the protection of personal information.

The bureau launched its investigation into QPAREB’s data-sharing practices in 2023 after a previous case against the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board, in which the watchdog challenged rules that prevented brokers in that region from sharing certain real estate data with their clients through secure online platforms.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 15, 2026.