CREA — owns MLS®/REALTOR®/Multiple Listing Service® registered trademarks; licences member boards; runs REALTOR.ca + DDF; sets national By-Laws, Rules, REALTOR® Code, Three Pillars of the MLS® Mark
Summary
Claim. The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) owns MLS®, REALTOR®, and Multiple Listing Service® registered trademarks; licenses member boards to operate "MLS® Systems"; runs REALTOR.ca and DDF; sets national By-Laws, Rules, the REALTOR® Code, and the Three Pillars of the MLS® Mark. MLS® must be used only as an adjective ("MLS® System"), never as a noun/database synonym, never in business/domain names/meta-tags.
Source. crea.ca, accessed 2026-06-21.
Confidence. Verified.
Caveats. Trademark rules are CREA-set and have evolved; the adjective-only rule is consistently enforced. Implied endorsement is a separate axis — a product cannot brand itself with or imply endorsement by the marks.
Implication / use. Anchors Rule: do not use MLS® / REALTOR® / Multiple Listing Service® marks as nouns; adjective-only ("MLS® System"); never in business / domain / meta-tag. Any product positioning that uses MLS® as a noun ("the MLS data") in marketing is on shaky ground.
Related entries
Referenced by (3)
- research-notes Research notes (capture-layer): inside the MLS box — what an Ontario member agent's account exposes, what goes unused, and what they're licensed to do with it (June 2026) relates-to
- rule Rule: do not use MLS® / REALTOR® / Multiple Listing Service® marks as nouns; adjective-only ("MLS® System"); never in business / domain / meta-tag depends-on
- reference CREA Data Distribution Facility (DDF®) — created 2012, opt-in via REALTOR Link®; multiple channels; feeds are consumer-grade (REALTOR.ca-level), NOT the deep layer relates-to