Competition Bureau expands real estate sector probe to include Vancouver board

Houses are shown in Vancouver on Friday, August 19, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

The Competition Bureau says it has obtained a court order to expand its ongoing investigation into potential anti-competitive conduct in Canada’s real estate sector to include Greater Vancouver Realtors.

The bureau initially launched the probe in 2024, focusing on whether the Canadian Real Estate Association’s rules discourage realtors from offering lower commission rates or affect competition in other ways.

The scope of the investigation also included the question of whether CREA’s agent co-operation policy makes it harder for alternative listing services to compete with the major players or gives larger brokerages an unfair advantage over smaller ones.

The bureau says it is widening the investigation to determine how Vancouver’s real estate board enforces commission rules, including whether such policies discourage buyers’ agents from competing by offering lower commission rates or alternative pricing models.

The bureau also seeks to examine whether such rules encourage “steering,” a practice where agents are motivated to nudge buyers toward homes that offer higher commissions.

The Federal Court order requires Greater Vancouver Realtors to produce records and information relevant to the bureau’s investigation, which has not led to a conclusion of wrongdoing at this time.

The board’s CEO Jeff King said Greater Vancouver Realtors “takes its competition law obligations seriously” and is fully co-operating with the bureau.

“We are committed as an organization to following the letter of our legal and regulatory obligations and to demonstrating that our practices and business operations reflect this commitment over time,” King said in a statement.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 20, 2026.