A coming soon listing is a property that a seller's agent promotes as available in the near future, before it is formally active on the Multiple Listing Service. In Ontario, the practice is now shaped by the REALTOR Cooperation Policy, which limits how long a home can be marketed this way before it has to appear on MLS.
The reason a seller uses a coming soon listing is to build early interest. Someone preparing a home might want the photography finished, the staging done, or a particular launch date locked in before offers arrive. Advertising the home as coming soon lets buyers and their agents notice it ahead of time, so showings can start the moment it goes live.
What changed is the timing. Since the Canadian Real Estate Association's REALTOR Cooperation Policy took effect on January 3, 2024, a residential listing has to be placed on an MLS System within three days of any public marketing, unless a specific exemption applies. Public marketing means anything directed at people outside the listing brokerage. That includes yard signs, social media posts, mailers, and a coming soon banner on a listing portal. The Toronto Regional Real Estate Board brought its own MLS rules in line with the policy on December 2, 2024. So a Toronto seller can no longer run an open-ended coming soon campaign. Once the home is advertised to the public, the three-day clock begins.
This is not the same as an exclusive listing, where a home is sold through a single brokerage and never posted to MLS. An exclusive arrangement can stay off MLS only while there is no public marketing behind it. Promote the property broadly and the cooperation rules apply. If you are weighing that route, the difference between an exclusive and an MLS listing is worth understanding first.
For a buyer, a coming soon label means a home is close but not yet open for offers. Ask the listing agent when showings start and whether the seller will look at early offers. It also helps to know that coming soon is a marketing stage, not one of the official real estate listing statuses you see once a home is active.
Related reading: What Is the Difference Between an Exclusive and an MLS Listing in Ontario?, What Do Real Estate Listing Statuses Mean in Ontario?, and What Are the First Steps to Selling a Home in Toronto?