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HISTORY
ITSO is a not-for-profit corporation that strives to be the preferred MLS® System and technology provider for its Member Associations. The products and services that ITSO provides enable the REALTORS® belonging to those Member Associations to deliver superior solutions to their clients. With regional MLS® Rules, a regional Arbitration Policy, and a regional Professional Standards regime, ITSO ensures there is consistency when using its MLS® System and holds its users accountable for their conduct. This model ensures there is professionalism among the users of the ITSO MLS® System, and consequently the desire is that clients will choose REALTORS® that belong to an ITSO Member Association.
Information Technology Systems Ontario (ITSO) was established in 2020 to provide Ontario REALTORS® with seamless access to complete and accurate MLS® Listing data and technology.
For the better part of the last century, local Real Estate Associations in the Province maintained their own MLS® System databases, rules and policies. While there was a time where this structure was inconsequential to the average consumer, growing municipalities, increased consumer mobility, and economic pressures were quickly rendering jurisdictional boundaries irrelevant in the trading of real estate. The segregation of data and inconsistent practices were causing unnecessary confusion, inefficiency and frustration in the industry.
Born out of a grassroots need to resolve this shared dilemma, several clusters of neighbouring Associations simultaneously came together to seek better ways of exchanging listing information amongst their members. The problem was revisited by many Associations throughout the 1990’s and early 2000’s until advancements in technology and a natural progression towards these common goals opened the doors to realizing the idea.
By 2018, these regional initiatives had evolved into two distinct neighbouring groups known as Ontario Regional Technology & Information Systems Inc. (ORTIS) and Ontario Collective (OC). Both groups were already established on the Matrix™ MLS® System platform provided by Corelogic, which acted as a catalyst in the resulting merger of 20 Associations data into what is now known as Information Technology Systems Ontario (ITSO) in August of 2020.
By this time, the benefits of collaboration had expanded well beyond the early visions of a regionalized database, as both groups had experienced the increased access to services made possible through economies of scale. Today, ITSO not only provides seamless access to MLS® Listing data from much of the Province with all Members operating under a standard set of MLS® Rules, Policies and Governance structure. It also provides Member Associations with significant savings on additional technology tools for their REALTOR® Members.
ITSO is governed by a Board of Directors elected by the membership, who meet regularly to review operations, determine policies, develop long-range plans, and ensure the financial stability of the organization.
Many REALTOR® volunteers from our Member Associations also contribute to the smooth operation of the ITSO; indeed, some programs and services could not be offered without the dedication and generosity of these volunteers. All these volunteers are an integral and respected part of the organization and lend a high degree of professionalism and expertise to ITSO activities in which they are involved
What differentiates ITSO from other regional systems are our mission, vision and values, and from that foundation, the governance structure that naturally flows from it. We are proud of it. We are not interested in providing services to any associations but rather want to welcome them to the ITSO family.