An agent canvassing an entire street to introduce themselves is a long-standing, permitted marketing method. So the issue is not door-knocking itself. The issue is whether you were singled out because of your expired listing and whether you told the industry you did not want to be contacted.

Ontario listing agreements from OREA include a clause asking whether other agents may contact you once your listing ends. Most sellers mark no. That instruction is binding and is carried onto the MLS so other agents can see it. If you opted out and an agent knocks anyway, they are ignoring a documented instruction, not simply canvassing.

Your details were collected on the MLS to sell your home during the listing, not to generate leads for other agents afterward. The Privacy Commissioner of Canada has supported the view that using expired listing information to solicit you without consent breaches federal privacy law, because the purpose the data was collected for has ended.

Ontario agents are regulated by the Real Estate Council of Ontario under the Trust in Real Estate Services Act (TRESA, the successor to the former REBBA 2002). RECO expects registrants to act with professionalism and to respect sellers' privacy and recorded instructions. Ignoring your no-contact wishes or using pressure tactics is a conduct concern RECO can review.

Strong agents attract sellers by being visible and useful online, through helpful guides, market updates and professional listings, so that when you are ready you come to them. That is the opposite of showing up uninvited. You approach them on your own terms, already knowing who they are.

The agents who consistently sell homes rarely need to chase expired listings door to door. Their business comes from referrals and repeat clients who trust their results. A track record that speaks for itself is worth more than any cold knock.

Meeting sellers and buyers through open houses and genuine community involvement is respectful and effective. It lets people choose to engage rather than being approached at a vulnerable moment. When you decide it is time to relist, you can seek out that kind of agent instead of reacting to one on your porch.

Every brokerage has a broker of record responsible for its agents' conduct. A direct message describing the visit, with the date and any footage, often resolves it quickly, because leadership can correct behaviour before it becomes a formal complaint.

For conduct concerns, you can file a complaint with the Real Estate Council of Ontario at reco.on.ca. Your documentation, the name, the brokerage, the dates and any footage, makes the complaint far stronger.

Where a privacy breach is clear, for example an agent using your expired listing data to solicit you after you opted out, you can file a formal complaint with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada at priv.gc.ca. Complaints can be submitted online.