Challenging the Sale of Israeli Settlement Real Estate in Canada
For interviews or additional information, please contact: media@globalecho.law
CASE SUMMARY
On behalf of six Canadian citizens, primarily from Palestinian and Jewish communities, Global Echo and Canadian Lawyers for International Human Rights (CLAIHR) have filed a complaint with Canada’s Competition Bureau challenging the deceptive marketing of illegal Israeli settlement real estate to Canadian consumers. This is the first known legal action to use competition law to challenge the marketing of Israeli settlement real estate.
The 130-page complaint asks the Competition Bureau to investigate a longstanding and ongoing pattern of alleged misrepresentation about the location of settlement properties for sale at Israeli real estate events in Canada. The complainants allege that four Israeli companies—Tivuch Shelly, Noam Homes, Meny Group, and Effi Capital—and one Canadian company, Cohen Group, exhibited settlement real estate at one or more events in Montreal and Toronto, both situated on traditional territory of Indigenous Peoples, between 2024 and 2026, and they assert that these companies’ activities are representative examples of this alleged widespread practice.
Montreal is situated on unceded Indigenous lands historically stewarded by the Kanien’kehá:ka Nation, and Toronto rests on traditional territory bound by the Dish With One Spoon Wampum Covenant and Treaty 13.
According to the complaint, exhibitions held in Montreal and Toronto between 2024 and 2026 at the Great Israeli Real Estate Event and the Israel Real Estate Briefing promoted the sale of residential properties that included real estate located in Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory (OPT), specifically the West Bank including East Jerusalem. Many of these properties were advertised to Canadian consumers as being located “in Israel.”
For example, the complaint alleges that Tivuch Shelly displayed a banner proclaiming “Find Your Dream Home in Israel” and included properties in Adam and Ma’ale Adumim, both illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Under Section 74.01(1) of Canada’s Competition Act, businesses must not make false or misleading representations to consumers for the purposes of promoting their business interests. The complaint argues that advertising settlement properties as “Israeli” conceals their true location in occupied Palestinian territory and deprives consumers of material information necessary to make informed purchasing decisions.
The complaint builds on established Canadian legal precedent concerning the marketing of Israeli settlement products. In Kattenburg v. Canada (Attorney General), the Federal Court held that wines produced in Israeli settlements could not accurately be labelled as “Product of Israel,” finding that Israeli settlements are not located within the territorial boundaries of Israel. The complainants argue that the same principle applies to the marketing of settlement real estate to Canadian consumers.
Using the Competition Act’s “six-resident” complaint procedure, the complainants ask the Commissioner of Competition to conduct a formal inquiry into this broader pattern of alleged representations and determine whether it contravenes the Competition Act.
CASE TIMELINE
March 2024Great Israeli Real Estate Event 2024
The Great Israeli Real Estate Event is held in Montreal and Toronto, where multiple real estate companies market residential properties located in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank to Canadian consumers.July 2024ICJ Advisory Opinion
The International Court of Justice issues an Advisory Opinion that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory is unlawful and finds that all states must ensure they do not aid or assist in maintaining the unlawful situation, including through trade or investment.March 2025Israel Real Estate Event 2025
On 20 March 2025, another Israeli real estate fair is held in Toronto.September 2025Canadian recognition of Palestine
Canada officially recognizes the State of Palestine.April & May 2026Great Israeli Real Estate Event 2026
Further Israeli real estate events are held in Toronto, including the Israel Real Estate Briefing on 28 April 2026 and the Great Israeli Real Estate Event on 3 May 2026.August 2026Canadian Business Advisory
Canada issues an advisory to Canadian businesses against doing business with Israeli settlements.September 2026Canadian Settlement Trade Ban Announced
On 8 September 2026, Canada joins the UK and France in announcing that it will introduce measures to ban the import of settlement goods and possibly bar other economic engagement with settlements.21 October 2026Competition Bureau Complaint Filed
Six concerned Canadian citizens, Global Echo Litigation Center, and CLAIHR file a complaint with Canada’s Competition Bureau alleging a broader pattern of false and misleading representations in the marketing of Israeli settlement real estate to Canadian consumers, relying on five companies as representative examples.
THE COMPLAINT
The complaint focuses on advertisements displayed during “the Great Israeli Real Estate Event” in March 2024 and the “Israel Real Estate Briefing” in April 2026, as well as on the companies’ websites, and alleges a consistent pattern of representing settlement properties as though they were located inside Israel, using the following companies as representative examples.
For example, the complaint alleges that:
- Tivuch Shelly distributed brochures marketing the “Shirat Ziyon” development in Adam-Givat Binyamin, describing the project’s location as near “Israel’s capital”, without clarifying that it is not located within Israel. Additionally, the brochures advertised that the Amana group is the project’s developer. On 27 June 2024, Canada sanctioned Amana under the Special Economic Measures (Extremist Settler Violence) Regulations. The Government of Canada stated that Amana was sanctioned for its role in “facilitating, supporting or financially contributing to acts of violence by Israeli extremist settlers against Palestinian civilians and their property.”
- Noam Homes promoted itself as “Your Real Estate Agency in Jerusalem” while advertising projects in six locations, four of which—Efrat, Gush Etzion, Ma’ale Adumim, and Mitzpe Yaricho—are Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. On its website, properties in Giv’at Ze’ev are advertised as being located in “Giv’at Ze’ev, Israel.”
- The Meny Group promoted its “Aliyah Program” beneath a map of “Greater Israel” that erased the distinction between Israel and the occupied Palestinian and Syrian territories, presenting them as a single territory, while advertising homes for sale in settlements including Sha’are Tikva and Mevo Modi’im.
- Effi Capital and Cohen Group invited buyers to “Own a Piece of Jerusalem” in Givat Bereshit, a project located in Givat HaMatos—an Israeli settlement in occupied East Jerusalem, which Cohen Group’s website describes as being located in “Givat Hamatos, Jerusalem, Israel”. Givat HaMatos has been criticized for further isolating the Palestinian neighbourhood of Beit Safafa from Bethlehem and undermining the territorial continuity needed for East Jerusalem to serve as the capital of a future Palestinian state.
The complaint argues that these alleged representations are materially false or misleading because they conceal the geographic and legal status of the properties being offered for sale. The allegations in the complaint have not yet been investigated by the Competition Bureau or proven before a court or tribunal. If the Competition Bureau determines that Canada’s Competition Act has been violated, available remedies may include corrective notices, administrative monetary penalties, and other measures designed to prevent future deceptive marketing.
Global Echo sought comment from all five companies but did not receive any response. However, following the London, England stop of the Great Israeli Real Estate Event in June 2026, Tivuch Shelly told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that the company “never actively promoted” properties located in the settlement of Ma’ale Adumim at the event and blacked out the words, “Ma’ale Adumim” from their promotional display, but acknowledged providing brochures advertising properties in this settlement to select individuals. As detailed above, the company visibly promoted these properties at the event stops in Canada.
WHY THIS CASE MATTERS
By presenting settlement properties as though they are located within Israel, the complaint argues that Canadian consumers may have been deprived of essential information about what they were being asked to purchase.
The complaint builds upon well-established Canadian policy and legal precedent regarding Israeli settlements. Canada has consistently maintained that Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory are not part of the sovereign territory of Israel, does not recognize Israel’s annexation of East Jerusalem, and has long considered the settlements to be contrary to the Fourth Geneva Convention. Following Canada’s recognition of the State of Palestine in 2025, these principles take on added significance, reinforcing Canada’s commitment to ensuring that settlements are not treated as though they are a part of Israel’s sovereign territory. On 21 August 2026, the Government of Canada issued an advisory to Canadian businesses “against engaging in economic and financial activities associated with Israeli settlements,” including but not limited to “investments, financial transactions, procurement, purchases and tourism linked to settlement activities.”
Canadian courts have previously addressed the central issue raised by this complaint. In Kattenburg v. Canada (Attorney General), the Federal Court of Canada concluded that wines produced in Israeli settlements could not accurately be labelled as “Product of Israel.” On judicial review of the decision by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, the Court reasoned that it was undisputed that Israeli settlements are not located within the territorial boundaries of Israel, and held that continuing to market settlement wines as “Product of Israel” was inaccurate and misleading under Canada’s Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act.
Like Kattenburg, this complaint concerns representations made to Canadian consumers that allegedly obscure the true location of goods originating in and property located in Israeli settlements. This complaint applies the same underlying principle to the marketing of settlement real estate: the complainants argue that representing homes located in Occupied Palestinian Territory as being “in Israel” similarly deprives consumers of material information and constitutes a false or misleading representation under Canada’s Competition Act.
The complaint further alleges that the identity of the entities responsible for developing settlement projects may itself constitute material information for consumers. For example, one of the developments promoted to Canadian consumers, the “Adam Project,” was developed by Binyanei Bar Amana, a subsidiary of Amana, which was subsequently sanctioned by the Government of Canada on 27 June 2024. The complainants argue that this illustrates why accurate information concerning both the location of properties and the identity of their developers may be material to a Canadian consumer's purchasing decision.
More broadly, the case raises important questions about whether deceptive commercial practices in Canada may facilitate internationally unlawful activity that Canada is obligated to prevent. The complaint argues that marketing settlement properties abroad forms part of a coordinated effort to attract foreign buyers and investment into settlements that contribute to the continued expansion of Israel’s settlement enterprise in occupied territory.
The complaint therefore seeks not only to protect Canadian consumers from misleading advertising but also to ensure that Canadian markets are not used to further gross violations of international law—including war crimes—through representations that obscure the true location and legal status of properties being promoted for sale at real estate events in Canada, which risk normalizing gross violations of international law. In doing so, this legal action seeks to reinforce Canada’s commitment to transparency, the rule of law, and its international legal obligations.
