Backgrounder: Competition Bureau reaches agreement to increase access to Centris real estate data

Competition Bureau reaches agreement to increase access to Centris real estate data

The Competition Bureau has reached a consent agreement with the Quebec Professional Association of Real Estate Brokers (QPAREB) to address competition concerns related to the access and use of real estate data available in Quebec. The agreement is intended to improve real estate brokers’ access to the data they need to develop innovative tools and services, thereby promoting competition, transparency and efficiency in Quebec’s real estate market.

This consent agreements is registered with the Competition Tribunal and will remain in effect for a period of ten years. They are legally binding and have the same force and effect as a court order.

Nothing in the agreement relieves the parties of their obligations relating to privacy protection or compliance with applicable laws.

The Quebec Professional Association of Real Estate Brokers (QPAREB) manages a collaborative system used by real estate angecies and brokers that contains data on real estate transactions across Quebec. Real estate brokers rely on these data in the course of providing brokerage services, including listing properties for sale and comparing properties to determine their fair market value.

This system is not accessible to the public.

The collaborative system for real estate agencies and brokers includes information such as:

As part of the settlement, QPAREB will be required to implement a real estate data feed to make this data broadly accessible to its members.

A data feed is a mechanism that enables the automated transmission of information contained in the collaborative system in a structured, usable format. It includes all information and photographs relevant to the provision of real estate brokerage services.