General information only — not legal, tax, financial, or real-estate advice. Verify with a licensed BC professional before acting.
MLS® (Multiple Listing Service®) is a certification mark owned by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) and, in BC, jointly used with participating real estate boards. An MLS® listing is a residential or commercial property offered for sale through a REALTOR® member of a CREA-affiliated board, with agreed cooperation terms and data-sharing rules. MLS® data flows to REALTOR.ca and to authorized brokerage and third-party sites via the CREA Data Distribution Facility® (DDF®). Only REALTOR® members can list on MLS®; a for-sale-by-owner listing is not an MLS® listing. All MLS® use is governed by CREA trademark rules and the applicable board bylaws.
Only licensees who are members of a CREA-affiliated real estate board can list on MLS®. Consumers work with a licensed REALTOR® to have a property listed.
No. REALTOR.ca is a consumer website owned by CREA that displays a subset of MLS® listings. Full MLS® data includes fields (e.g. days on market history, listing office information) that are not displayed publicly on REALTOR.ca.
Yes. Under the CREA DDF®, participating brokerages can display MLS® listings on their own websites subject to CREA's trademark rules and technical standards.
Verify the specific statutory language, thresholds, deadlines and current guidance directly with the governing authority: