"I am pleased that CREA members have voted in favour of this agreement," said Melanie Aitken, Commissioner of Competition. "This resolution is welcome news for both consumers and real estate agents in Canada. For Canadian homeowners, it ensures that they will have the freedom to choose which services they want from a real estate agent and to pay for only those services. For real estate agents, it ensures that they will be able to offer the variety of services and prices that meet the needs of consumers." In February 2010, the Commissioner of Competition challenged, before the Competition Tribunal, anti-competitive rules imposed by CREA on real estate agents who list residential properties using the Multiple Listing Service System® (MLS®) . The Bureau launched its challenge following three years of discussions and several months of intensive negotiations. After being approached by CREA to resume negotiations, the Bureau announced on September 30, 2010, that it had reached an agreement in principle that fully resolved the Commissioner’s concerns.
The deal will prevent members of the association which represents more than 96,000 REALTOR® across Canada, from discriminating against real-estate agents who only offer posting services. While association has said it does not believe such rules currently exist, it nonetheless acknowledges that if such practices are in place, they must be repealed or boards will lose their licence to operate under the Multiple Listing Service or MLS® trademarks. MLS® is owned by the association and accounts for roughly 90 per cent of Canadian home sales. "This 10-year agreement brings a close to a long process of negotiation with the Competition Bureau and will allow CREA and REALTORS® to do what they do best — help people with the biggest financial decision of their lives, buying and selling a home in these challenging economic times," association president Georges Pahud said in a statement.
In February, the bureau launched a complaint against association, saying its practices were anti-competitive. The industry responded with sweeping changes that opened the window for agents to provide a series of a-la-carte options that include consumers merely listing their house on the system and handling the rest of the transaction themselves. The agreement between the two parties sets the changes in stone. "As a result of an agreement ratified today by members of the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), Canadians will have the ability to choose which services they want from a real-estate agent when selling their home, and to pay only for those selected services," the Competition Bureau said. "At the same time, the consent agreement between the Competition Bureau and CREA will ensure that real-estate agents have the flexibility to provide innovative service and pricing options to customers." The agreement is effective immediately.
More Competition in Real Estate Markets.
Competition Bureau wants REALTORS® to offer range of services.
From the Competition Bureau
As a result of an agreement recently ratified by members of the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), Canadians will have the ability to choose which services they want from a real estate agent when selling their home, and to pay only for those selected services. At the same time, the consent agreement between the Competition Bureau and CREA will ensure that real estate agents have the flexibility to provide innovative service and pricing options to customers. The agreement will be filed with the Competition Tribunal and effective immediately.
Under this agreement, the Canadian Real Estate Association must eliminate its ability to adopt anti-competitive rules.