MLS.ca is an Internet portal site operated by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA). Most real estate boards in Canada (the Toronto Real Estate Board being one of them), upload partial listing information to MLS.ca. MLS.ca has become a major advertising vehicle to market real estate. More than 1 million unique visitors a month visit MLS.ca.

The MLS (Multiple Listing Service) system is a broker-to-broker co-operative property selling system operated by the Toronto Real Estate Board. The key to the success of the MLS system is that brokers who list properties for sale and place their properties on the MLS system agree to follow a stringent set of MLS rules and policies which include:

• Agreeing to pay a portion of the listing commission to a co-operating broker (the agent representing the buyer)
• A guarantee of the accuracy of the information provided on the MLS system about the listed property a commitment to follow the rules of fair play as set out in the MLS rules and policies.
• An exclusive (non-MLS) listing is not allowed to be placed on the MLS system as there is no implicit agreement to co-operate or to pay a commission to a co-operating broker.

It is estimated that more than 95% of all sales of Toronto's real estate brokers are through the MLS system. The Toronto Real Estate Board is comprised of over 20,000 members who sold approximately 75,000 properties through the MLS system in 2003.

However, it is important to understand that MLS.ca is not the MLS system that agents use to facilitate the purchase and sale of properties. Agents use their respective board MLS systems which contain much more current and historical information and are current in real-time. The only consumer access to the real MLS system is through agents and their use of Property Match which provides consumers with new listings that match their criteria from the MLS system.