Quebec’s rent control board allowed rents to increase twice as fast as inflation in 2024
Average permitted rent increases in 2025 expected to be in line with 2024 levels, if not slightly higher
Quebec’s rent control board, known in French as the Tribunal administratif du logement or TAL, recently released the average rent increases it authorized on apartment units subject...
Office vacancy falls as Ottawa tenants fill sublet space in latest buildings
Vacancy rate in newest office properties significantly lower than older structures
A notable trend has emerged in Ottawa’s office market: office buildings constructed in 2010 or later have significantly lower vacancy than older buildings constructed in 2009 or ea...
Even as they slow, retail rent increases in Ottawa continue to outpace inflation
For the first time in years, downtown market outperformed other areas in 2024
Retail rents slowed their annual increase rate from over 6% in 2023 in many Ottawa submarkets to 3.3% in 2024. Unlike recent years, retail rents in the wealthy western submarkets o...
Wave of expiring office leases expected to peak in 2025
After two record-setting years, office lease expirations are set to rise even higher this year
Over the past two years, a record amount of office leases expired in Canada, compounding the sector's challenges. In 2023 and 2024, roughly 15 million square feet of office space c...
Population decline could have significant consequences for Montreal real estate
Montreal’s population estimated to decline by around 50,000 people by 2033
The population of the Regional County Municipality of Montreal, which includes the City of Montreal plus all independent cities on the Island of Montreal, is forecast to decline by...
Top three fastest-growing municipalities in Quebec are in Montreal’s North Shore
Expected ban on agricultural land sales may affect housing affordability in these currently more affordable areas
The three fastest-growing municipalities in the province of Quebec are in Montreal’s North Shore: Mirabel, La Rivière-du-Nord and Montcalm.
Multifamily investors follow renters to lower-cost areas outside downtown Ottawa
West Ottawa, East Central and increasingly Outaouais see increase in apartment sales
Since 2019, the Ottawa suburbs within the East Central and West Ottawa submarkets have attracted more than 45% of all apartment property sales during any given year. This is expect...
Focus of Montreal industrial development has shifted to the South Shore
North Shore, Laval are next most-active areas in adding industrial space
Where the most new industrial space has been added in Montreal over the past few years is something of a tale of two cities. Established, densely populated on-island locations incr...
Nation's construction starts for office and retail property hit nine-year low
Groundbreakings for industrial property drop to pre-pandemic levels
New construction starts across the retail, office and industrial sectors have plummeted to a multi-year low. Elevated construction costs, changing performance fundamentals and incr...
Canadian working-age population increases, but future less rosy
After jump in 2019-2023, working-age population set to slow starting in 2025
Canada’s working-age population, or the 15–64-year-old cohort, has grown by over 1.6% per year on average between 2019 and 2023 across Canadian cities, or census metropolitan areas...
Smaller cities attracted working-age Quebeckers between 2019-2023
Sherbrooke saw fastest growth in 15-64 age cohort
The Montreal census metropolitan area, or CMA, saw its working-age population, defined as the 15 to 64 age cohort, grow by roughly 83,600 persons between 2019 and 2023, or plus-0.7...
Ottawa investible commercial real estate universe continues to grow
Growth across sectors except for office, where aggregate values down 20% compared to 2019
Prior to the pandemic, in 2019, the aggregate size of Ottawa-Gatineau’s office and apartment sectors were roughly equal, at around $25 billion each. Retail stood at $22.5 billion, ...
Quebec’s immigration numbers at risk of declining further than forecast
Government’s decision to review future immigration targets could lead to lower population growth
Based on recent estimates, the government looks set to welcome around 59,000 permanent residents this year and up to 67,000 next year. While these levels are in line with Statistic...
The Port of Montreal strike could stoke demand for extra industrial space
Extended strike would have negative consequences for provincial, national economies
The Port of Montreal's shutdown of most operations for an indefinite period on the evening of Nov. 10 followed the longshoreman’s unit and the Maritime Employers Association, or ME...
Upgrading nation’s infrastructure could be exacerbating difficulties for real estate developers
Total public sector capital and repair spending has increased faster than inflation since 2022
The three layers of the Canadian government are currently spending more on capital and repair expenditures than in any other year in recent history. Combined, in 2024, the public s...
Canadian commercial real estate activity yet to feel effect of lower interest rates
Capital gains change boosted sales volumes in second quarter, but effect appears to be transitory
Canadian annualized commercial real estate sales volume sits at $36.5 billion, the lowest level since early 2021. On a quarterly basis, transaction volumes have averaged less than ...
Newer offices are most in demand in Montreal’s downtown core
Availability rate declines fastest for newest office properties
In the Quartier Central des Affaires and surrounding downtown areas of Montreal, office tenants have been keen on moving into the newest buildings available, part of a larger trend...
Montreal still awaits return of higher demand for large-bay industrial buildings
A piling up of recent deliveries, pullback in demand by distribution firms weigh on segment
Demand for Montreal’s industrial market continues to soften, especially in mid- to large- size facilities measuring between 50,000 to 500,000 square feet, where the availability ra...
Quebec cinemas continue long road to recovery
Movie theatre attendance has increased since 2020 but still falls short of pre-pandemic levels
Quebec’s movie theatres continue to recover from the pandemic era. While overall movie attendance in 2023 remained 22% below 2019 levels, it was still more than three times larger ...
Recent rate cuts have yet to increase condominium sales as prices remain near peak levels
Sales activity lackluster in country’s largest markets for the property type of Toronto, Vancouver
When interest rates were cut in the recent past, the number of condominium transactions tended to increase in conjunction with falling rates. In the current rate-cutting cycle, an ...