A coalition of Canadian lawyers and civil society members has filed a complaint with the Competition Bureau alleging Israeli real estate companies misled Canadians about the locations of West Bank properties.
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A group of Canadian lawyers and civil society members has filed a complaint with the Competition Bureau over real estate events in Toronto and Montreal, alleging that Israeli real estate companies and a Canadian marketing firm promoted properties in the occupied West Bank while misleading consumers to believe they were in Israel.
The complaint, submitted by the Global Echo Litigation Center and the Canadian Lawyers for International Human Rights, seeks review of allegations involving at least four Israeli real estate companies and one Canadian marketing company. The Competition Bureau said it will review the complaint and determine whether an investigation into the companies is warranted.
According to the complaint, the evidence includes photos, social media posts and promotional materials tied to condo projects marketed at real estate events between 2024 and 2026. One photo described in the complaint shows an Israeli real estate company’s booth at the 2024 Great Israeli Real Estate Event in Montreal, advertising condo developments in Ma’ale Adumim and Adam—settlements in the occupied West Bank—alongside Israeli real estate.
The complaint alleges that the same 2024 event included another Israeli company advertising itself as “your real estate agency in Jerusalem” while listing the locations of four West Bank settlements and two Israeli cities.
The complaint also points to language on an Israeli company’s website describing homes in West Bank settlements—including Efrat, Mitzpe Yericho and Ma’ale Adumim—as being in Israel. It further alleges that a Canadian marketing firm assisting North Americans in buying Israeli real estate similarly listed a West Bank condo development as being in Israel online, while using more ambiguous language at an event in Toronto.
At the 2026 Israel Real Estate Briefing in Toronto, the complaint alleges the Canadian marketing firm promoted a condo project in the Givat HaMatos settlement, located in East Jerusalem in the occupied West Bank, using the tagline “own a piece of Jerusalem.”
The lawyers behind the complaint argue that the ambiguity is not enough to clear the companies from potential liability under the Competition Act. They cite a “general impression” test used by courts, saying an advertisement that is literally true but omits essential information that could influence consumer behaviour could still be misleading.
James Yap—described in the complaint materials as president of a lawyers’ association and a Windsor university law professor—said Canadians who may have purchased West Bank properties could face serious legal consequences under international law. He also said the complaint represents an opportunity for the Canadian government to take action in line with its stated position on international law and settlement illegality.
A competition law expert, Ariel Katz, said in comments included with the filing that he found the evidence compelling, but could not say whether the Competition Bureau would be likely to launch an inquiry. Katz also said that while the complaint focuses on alleged false advertising, the West Bank properties at issue are considered illegal under international law, which could potentially affect how Canada treats such marketing.
The complaint is filed against a backdrop of Canada’s August advisory to businesses to avoid engaging with Israeli settlements, warning of legal and financial risk, and longstanding international positions that Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal.
Global Echo Litigation Center founder Emily Schaeffer Omer-Man said her organization has been monitoring a “circuit” of Israeli real estate events in countries including the United States, the United Kingdom and France, and that the complaint gives Canada a chance to respond to similar sales practices.
Among the complainants, Marlee Wasser said she views the sale of settlement property in Canada as normalizing genocide in the West Bank. Other material in the filing also references a local protest restriction in Vaughan, Ont., after protesters demonstrated outside a synagogue where an Israeli real estate event was being held in 2024.
For Basel Adra, a documentarian and community engagement manager at Global Echo Litigation Center, the complaint is framed as a chance for Canada to “what’s right.” The materials accompanying the filing also reference UN data reported in June by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, which it says found an average of six settler attacks on Palestinian communities in the West Bank each day in 2026 so far that caused casualties or property damage—higher than any other year on record.
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