Quebec real estate association to provide automated data access under settlement

Canada’s Competition Bureau has reached a 10-year settlement with the Quebec Professional Association of Real Estate Brokers (QPAREB) regarding access to property data. The agreement follows an investigation into whether the association and its subsidiary, Centris, violated abuse of dominance rules by restricting how member brokers accessed and used real estate information.

Under the terms of the consent agreement, QPAREB must provide brokers with an automated, structured data feed. This feed will include essential information such as asking and sale prices, property characteristics, listing histories, location details, and photographs. The regulator noted that previous restrictions were likely to “impede innovation and limit competition in the real estate brokerage services market.”

Access to automated feeds is expected to allow brokers to develop new tools, including market valuation services, property comparison tools, and data visualization platforms. QPAREB stated it intends to implement the settlement measures over the next year, noting that the solution is tailored to the specific legal landscape of Quebec.