The Competition Bureau is suing the Toronto Real Estate Board for allegedly denying services to customers over the Internet.
The suit, which will go before the Competition Tribunal, also alleges that the TREB won't allow agents to offer "innovative real estate brokerage services" online to customers.
According to the Competition Bureau, the case centres on the Toronto Multiple Listing Service system, which is an online viewing program that resembles a virtual showroom for thousands of homes.
"The vast majority of local real estate transactions make use of the Toronto MLS system, which is an essential tool for agents to help customers buy and sell homes," said a press release from the Competition Bureau.
However, the real estate board "is restricting how its member agents can provide information from the Toronto MLS system to their customers, thereby denying member agents the ability to provide innovative brokerage services over the Internet," according to the Competition Bureau.
With approximately 31,000 members, the TREB is the largest of its kind in Canada. It also owns and operates the listing service, which is detailed and has more information that what is on other sites like Realtor.ca, said the Competition Bureau.
"Today, consumers are demanding a greater selection of service and pricing options when buying or selling their homes and many agents are eager to accommodate them," Commissioner of Competition Melanie Aitken said in the news release.
"Yet TREB's leadership continues to impose anti-competitive restrictions on its members that deny consumer choice and stifle innovation."
Plus, the Bureau says that since access to the MLS is limited, consumers aren't able to focus their searches for homes and vet out undesirable properties. But if the MLS system was opened up, customers and agents would benefit, the bureau alleges.
"This enables customers to be more selective and focused, and agents to spend less time trying to find an appropriate property for a specific customer," the Competition Bureau stated.
The suit follows a decision from Canada's 101 real estate boards to give more choice to consumers about what services they want to pay for.
The deal was ratified last year after talks between the Canadian Real Estate Association, which represents 100,000 realtors, and the competition watchdog.
But the suit comes after a clause in the CREA amendments, which stated that local boards could alter the agreement if they wished, which essentially gutted the document's validity.
"When the Bureau identifies anti-competitive behaviour, our first preference is always to reach an agreement that fully resolves our concerns," Aitken said.
She noted that concerns over the practice were brought to the attention of the TREB, but officials felt it necessary to "seek a legally binding order."
With files from The Canadian Press
