Yes. Manitoba's Real Estate Services Act bans false or deceptive information in any advertisement about a trade, and nothing in the Act, the regulation or the public notices names virtual staging. The Winnipeg board's MLS® rules are members-only, and the claim circulating online that it requires labelling could not be sourced, so this page does not repeat it.
Manitoba's regulator has barred a registrant for misrepresenting a property's condition in its promotional listings, which is the same conduct an altered photo would be.
Regulator: Manitoba Financial Services Agency, Real Estate Division · Association: Manitoba Real Estate Association · MLS / boards: Winnipeg Regional Real Estate Board (rules members-only)
Governing text: The Real Estate Services Act, C.C.S.M. c. R21, ss. 34, 37(1) · MSC and MREA Internet Best Practices Guidelines (2010)
Quoted as written, with the source and the day we read it.
“A registrant must not (a) make, or permit another person to make, a false or deceptive statement; or (b) include, or permit another person to include, false or deceptive information; in an advertisement respecting a trade in real estate.”
The Real Estate Services Act, C.C.S.M. c. R21, s. 37(1) — Manitoba Laws · read September 2, 2026
“In relation to a trade in real estate, a registrant must not (a) furnish or assist in furnishing; or (b) induce or counsel another person to furnish or assist in furnishing; false or deceptive information or a false or deceptive document.”
The Real Estate Services Act, s. 34 — Manitoba Laws · read September 2, 2026
“Online listing information should be consistent with the property description and actual status of the listing.”
Internet Best Practices Guidelines, May 2010 — Manitoba Securities Commission and MREA · read September 2, 2026
Searched on September 2, 2026: the full Act, Regulation 84/2021, the MFSA notice on advertising (October 2025), the MSC advertising notices, the 2010 internet guidelines, and the WRREB and MREA public sites. Nothing names virtual staging or altered photos. A vendor blog states that the Winnipeg board requires labelled staged photos; it cites no source and is not repeated here.
The four things a listing has to get right.
| Disclosure to buyers | General rule appliesNot named. A staged photo that leaves a false impression is 'false or deceptive information' in an advertisement under s. 37(1). Source |
|---|---|
| Label on the image | No specific rule foundNo public rule. The Winnipeg board's MLS® rules are members-only; ask the board before assuming either way. |
| Unaltered original | No specific rule foundNo rule found. |
| Off-limits alterations | General rule appliesNothing itemised. Sections 34 and 37 cover any edit that furnishes false or deceptive information, and the Peyawary decision shows misrepresenting a property's condition in listings is sanctioned. Source |
Plain words, consistent with the rule above. Sedam Staging writes the same line into the disclosure file that ships with every listing.
Public decisions and reports involving altered or virtually staged listing photos relevant to Manitoba.
Sedam Staging burns the “Virtually staged” label into every listing image, ships the untouched original beside it, compares every render against the photograph so walls, windows, floors and built-ins never move, and writes the remarks line into the download. See the renders we refused →
We could not find out. Its MLS® rules are members-only, and the one public claim that it does comes from a vendor blog with no source. Until the board confirms, treat the Act's ban on deceptive advertising as the rule, and label anyway.
Misrepresenting a property's condition in promotional listings. In 2024 an agent-owner who covered foundation cracks was barred from registering for 36 months and ordered to pay $9,900 to the buyers plus $25,000 in costs.
The same four questions, answered from each regulator's own text. The national layer for Canada →
BCFSA's AI guideline, a $6,000 penalty, and a watermark catch in Vancouver
The clearest rule in Canada: staging allowed, disclosed in the remarks; 'virtual enhancing' banned
SREC's advertising bylaw and a members-only MLS® rulebook
RECO, TRESA, and the PropTx MLS® image rule
OACIQ's AI-image statement and Centris
FCNB, the Real Estate Agents Act, and an unpublished MLS® rulebook
NSAR MLS® Rule 3.20 and NSREC By-law 759
An Act that only asks for the agent's name
The 2019 Act's advertising test and the Superintendent's Code
An Act we could not read, a members-only rulebook, and the national rules
A licence can be pulled for publishing any misrepresentation about a trade
The same Act as the NWT, no board, and the national rules
Listing across the border? The rules in the United States, state by state.
How this page was made. Each quotation was read at the linked source on September 2, 2026; our confidence that it is current and complete is medium (the statute and notices were read from the primary text; the Winnipeg board's MLS® rules could not be read). Rules change and boards add policies; the linked documents are the authority, and this is a plain-language summary, not legal advice. Spotted a change? Tell us and we will fix the page.