Toronto, Ontario, Canada (AHN) – Nearly all of the boards belonging to the Canadian Real Estate Association approved a deal Sunday with the Competition Bureau that will change drastically the way residential property is purchased and sold in Canada.

Some 97 percent of 100 boards approved the settlement. Among the major features of the deal is that real estate agents would be permitted to offer different services through the Multiple Listing Service, which handles about 90 percent of real estate transactions in Canada

The MLS was the source of anti-competitive charges by Melanie Aitken, the Commissioner of Competition that lead to the suit. She charged that MLS locked out discount real estate services.

The agreement stipulates only real estate agents will allowed to post on MLS, but homeowners could pay only for the services they want, not a commission on the entire deal.

The CREA has about 100,000 agents.

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