More Ontario Realtors now have access to more data as the PropTx MLS database expands to include listings from most boards in the province. 

PropTx, a wholly-owned and for-profit subsidiary of the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB), promises members access to a centralized MLS, a long-standing priority among Realtors, according to TRREB CEO John DiMichele. 

“This has been a strategic focus, and through the creation of PropTx, was a key mandate for the organization,” says DiMichele. “The participating boards and associations were essential collaborators, recognizing that working together benefits all Realtors. A unified MLS database ensures consistency and continuity as it matures.”

Participating boards and associations currently have access to the PropTx MLS system, with the final stages of data transition underway. DiMichele explains several enhancements are expected in the first quarter of 2025, including expanded mandatory fields and the integration of pre-populated external data sets. These updates are based on feedback from participating boards and new users of the platform.

Participating boards and associations

The following boards and associations are part of the PropTx MLS collaboration:

• Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (including the former Brampton Real Estate Board)
• Central Lakes Association of Realtors (including Durham, Quinte, Northumberland, Peterborough, and Kawartha Lakes)
• London and St. Thomas Association of Realtors
• Niagara Association of Realtors (NAR)
• Kingston & Area Real Estate Association (KAREA)
• Timmins, Cochrane & Timiskaming District Association of Realtors
• Ottawa Real Estate Board
• Cornwall & District Real Estate Board
• Renfrew County Real Estate Board
• Rideau-St Lawrence Real Estate Board
• Oakville, Milton & District Real Estate Board (OMDREB)
• One Point Association of Realtors (formerly Lakelands, Guelph & District, Huron Perth, and Grey Bruce Owen Sound)
• Woodstock, Ingersoll Tillsonburg & Area Association of Realtors (WITAAR)
• North Bay & Area Realtors Association (NBARA)

DiMichele explains that through PropTx, members of these associations have access to more data than ever before, and that will expand as new features are introduced.

“The move towards a single MLS database creates incredible efficiencies for Realtors, both in the operation of their business as well as in the cost of operating their business,” DiMichele says. “The move towards a single MLS database reduces the need for interboarding MLS listings as well as paying for multiple real estate board and association memberships.”

TRREB’s CEO calls PropTx a for-Realtors-by-Realtors solution, “The long-term strategic goal of PropTx is to continue to offer a range of best-in-class tools, insights, and applications to improve the transaction experience for realtors and the clients they serve efficiently and effectively.”

Impact on ITSO

More boards transitioning to PropTx marks a shift for the Information Technology Systems of Ontario (ITSO), a not-for-profit corporation established in 2020 with the primary goal of creating a unified MLS.

Geoff Halford, ITSO chair, says the organization was initially created to increase access to MLS data through the operation of a regional MLS System when associations were not ready to amalgamate but wanted to share data. Halford says this purpose may no longer be relevant.

Member boards such as KAREA, NAR, OMDREB, NBARA, WITAAR, and OnePoint are leaving or have left ITSO in favour of PropTx.

Halford acknowledges the evolving landscape and its potential impact. “We are proud of the success we had creating a regional system that at its peak brought together 23 real estate associations and more than 24,000 users who had access to data from 29 of the real estate associations in the province, but we also understand that the landscape is quickly changing,” he said, adding  ITSO remains committed to supporting its current member associations, ensuring that the system continues to meet their needs.

“We are disappointed that a solution could not be arranged with TRREB that would have fostered competition in the MLS services market…” Geoff Halford, ITSO chair

ITSO will operate its MLS system for its remaining three member boards, the Barrie & District Association of Realtors (BDAR), Brantford Regional Real Estate Association (BRREA), and Cornerstone Association of Realtors, for the next two years under the current MLS Services Agreement.

“We will be reviewing what is in the best interests of our members and the future of ITSO over the course of the next two years,” says Halford.”There are other MLS Systems in Ontario and in other provinces that operate with far fewer users than ITSO, so we know such a system is viable, but we also understand the political pressure that our remaining members face to solve the problem of fragmented data access.

“We are disappointed that a solution could not be arranged with TRREB that would have fostered competition in the MLS services market and enabled all realtors in the province to access all the MLS data they need in the system of their choice.” 

Halford adds, “It is especially disheartening to see Realtors who formerly used the ITSO system complain on social media about the quality and quantity of listing content they now have access to in their new MLS System, as ITSO and its members prided themselves on building a comprehensive database of detailed and accurate MLS listing content.”

Industry perspectives

Paul Czan, president of the Ottawa Real Estate Board, says the board joined PropTx last fall.

Czan explains, “This new platform promises a much better experience with more data readily available. Faster communication and smoother transactions, in a sense. Another thing is we’re able to have input on the system.”

OREB’s president has high hopes for PropTx’s impact.  “I think it’s going to be a platform that’s going to bring stability and consistency amongst a bit of a shifting landscape in our industry, meaning that Realtors can be assured that they can have access to the same quality data as their counterparts in all the other regions.”

Editor’s note: The original article stated that the Ottawa Real Estate Board had left ITSO for PropTx. The board was not an ITSO member and the article has been updated to reflect that.

Simon Fiore wasn’t trying to disrupt the real estate industry when he was sitting in his office at Re/Max Associates in Winnipeg back in 2017. He was simply another realtor struggling with the task all realtors dread doing the most: filling out FINTRAC paperwork.

A consistent lag

If you’ve closed real estate deals recently, you’ve likely dealt with FINTRAC (Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada) forms. They are a specific set of paperwork required to be completed to help combat money laundering and terrorist activity financing in Canada.

Susan Scott, who managed sales, compliance and conveyancing at Fiore’s brokerage during this time, would often ask Fiore and the other realtors for their FINTRAC paperwork, as it lagged behind well after transaction papers were submitted.

“I was like many agents struggling with these forms and not handing them in in a timely fashion,” says Fiore.

One day Fiore said to Scott, “One of these days, Sue, I’m going to create a FINTRAC app.”

She simply responded with, “Go for it.”

The rest is digital history.

There’s an app for that

Fintracker is an online tool designed to assist real estate agents by automating the process of completing FINTRAC forms.

“I decided that I wanted to streamline this process and automate it all. So, we started off simply trying to solve this for my little brokerage here in Winnipeg, which then led us to listening to compliance officers, agents and other experts across the country, evolving the app to what it is. Today, it’s a one-stop-shop solution,” explains Fiore.

Fiore took a leap of faith when deciding to leave his successful career as a realtor in order to pursue developing Fintracker, in the hopes of solving this problem for the industry. But, trying to convince real estate agents used to the same industry practices for years to try and use a new technology wasn’t easy at first.

“The first three years were very discouraging, as nobody wanted to pay attention. Then, we signed the Barrie Board (BDAR) and they were the catalyst for board-level clients. During the pandemic, Fintracker became in high demand for its ability to identify non-physically present clients with a remote ID process.”

Eventually, other realtors started coming around to Fiore’s vision.

Getting buy-in

Leonard Howell, broker of record at Sam McDadi Real Estate in Mississauga, was an early adopter of the technology.

“When I saw the product, I thought, ‘this can make life a lot easier for our agents’,” states Howell. “Having a tool that makes things easier, I was all-in, it was a no-brainer. Now, I can tell which agents are using the Fintracker app and which ones aren’t based on the paperwork that’s coming in.”

Karen Yolevski, chief operating officer of Royal LePage Real Estate Services agrees.

“FINTRAC is one of those areas that is inherently complicated. There are a number of forms, a number of questions. Sometimes the information requested can be quite onerous, to both the realtor and the consumer,” explains Yolevski.

“Fintracker took the issue of FINTRAC forms and information gathering and created a process flow that’s easier to follow and harder to make a mistake in; much less onerous to deal with than paper forms.”

What’s next

So, what does the future hold for the relationship between real estate and technology?

“When I first started with Fintracker, I was the least tech-savvy agent in the country,” says Fiore. “That’s why I wanted to create a tool that was not only easy to use but made sense to the average realtor. But, what I’ve been seeing and what I’ve learned in the last six years of working with the tech space is that AI and technology are going to eventually have a very competitive product against the agent.”

Don’t worry – this doesn’t necessarily mean that a robot will be selling your next home anytime soon.

“Something that AI and technology will never replace is agents,” says Fiore. “So, I think technology is always going to try and replace us, but one-on-one and face-to-face interactions, gaining trust and building relationships are still the keys.”