Yes, as long as the image still accurately depicts the property. PropTx, the MLS® behind TRREB, Ottawa and London, bans digitally altered or AI images and digital staging that do not accurately depict the listed real estate, and RECO has said enhanced images should be specified in the listing.
No Ontario rule requires a watermark or an unstaged original beside each staged photo. Both are best practice, and both are what Sedam Staging ships by default.
Regulator: Real Estate Council of Ontario · Association: Ontario Real Estate Association · MLS / boards: PropTx (TRREB, Ottawa, London), ITSO
Governing text: Trust in Real Estate Services Act, 2002, s. 37 · Code of Ethics, O. Reg. 365/22, s. 5 · PropTx MLS® Rules, Rule 5.01
Quoted as written, with the source and the day we read it.
“No registrant shall make false, misleading or deceptive statements in any advertisement, circular, pamphlet or material published by any means relating to trading in real estate.”
Trust in Real Estate Services Act, 2002, s. 37 — Ontario e-Laws · read September 2, 2026
“In carrying on business, a registrant, (a) shall make best efforts to ensure that any representations are accurate and are not misleading; and (b) shall not engage in or be a party to misrepresentation or any unethical practice.”
Code of Ethics, O. Reg. 365/22, s. 5 — Ontario e-Laws · read September 2, 2026
“The following images cannot be included in an MLS® Listing: a) Digitally altered images including the use of any artificial intelligence ("AI") system or technology to create, alter, or enhance images or digital staging that do not accurately depict the listed real estate;”
PropTx MLS® Rules, effective December 2, 2024, Rule 5.01(a) — PropTx · read September 2, 2026
“Members are responsible for the accuracy of all information submitted to the MLS® System including photographs and all documentation. No language in the MLS® Listing shall be used to override or diminish this responsibility.”
PropTx MLS® Rules, Rule 3.01 — PropTx · read September 2, 2026
“Where some images have been enhanced to give a buyer a sense of the art of the possible with the space, then that should be specified in the listing by the brokerage or agent.”
RECO statement, reported in The Globe and Mail — The Globe and Mail, 2024-04-03 · read September 2, 2026
“Rule 2.17 also provides that Images may be digitally altered, including digital staging, provided the Images are not modified or altered in a manner that results in the Images inaccurately portraying the property.”
ITSO Advertising Guidelines, April 2025 — ITSO · read September 2, 2026
The four things a listing has to get right.
| Disclosure to buyers | RequiredIn substance, not in codified words: RECO says enhanced images 'should be specified in the listing', and TRESA s. 37 bans misleading advertising. Remarks is the only place named. Source |
|---|---|
| Label on the image | No specific rule foundPropTx requires labels only on drawings, floor plans, maps and aerial photos 'labelled as such'. A 'Virtually staged' watermark is best practice, not a rule. Source |
| Unaltered original | No specific rule foundThe often-repeated 'one unstaged photo for every staged photo' comes from a broker's blog reading of the 2024 rules, not from PropTx text. Shipping originals is best practice. Source |
| Off-limits alterations | ProhibitedPropTx 5.01(a): any digital or AI alteration, including digital staging, that does not accurately depict the property. TRREB's stated line: edits must not misrepresent any feature, condition, or view of or from the property. 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 Ontario.
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 →
No. PropTx Rule 5.01 bans digitally altered or AI images, including digital staging, that do not accurately depict the listed real estate. Furniture added to a real room, with the room itself untouched, still depicts the property; a moved wall or an invented view does not.
No rule requires it. RECO says enhanced images should be specified in the listing, and the remarks line is the place named. A label on the image is the easiest way to be sure the disclosure travels with the photo.
O. Reg. 365/22 under TRESA. The number 580/21 that circulates online is a COVID-era regulation, not the real estate code.
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
The Real Estate Services Act's ban on deceptive ads, and an unsourced labelling claim
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 high (PropTx and statute text read from the source PDFs; RECO's expectation comes from a press statement, not a bulletin). 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.