On April 15, the Competition Tribunal announced that it has dismissed an Application initiated by the Commissioner of Competition against the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB), and ordered costs payable by the Commissioner of Competition to TREB.
The Competition Tribunal stated that its decision is based on its finding that the Toronto Real Estate Board was not acting anti-competitively. This decision allows TREB to continue with its current Virtual Office Website (VOW) policy. These VOWs allow consumers to access REALTOR Members’ secure password-protected websites displaying MLS listing data.
According to TREB, the result reinforces that protecting privacy is not anti-competitive. “TREB fought against the Competition Bureau’s actions that would have forced TREB to dismantle the safeguards of the MLS system,” said Von Palmer, Chief Privacy Officer.