Tenant mix refers to the variety and composition of tenants within a commercial or mixed-use property, strategically curated to enhance customer traffic and overall profitability.
Why a Tenant Mix Matters in Real Estate
In Canadian commercial real estate, a balanced tenant mix supports stable rental income, reduces vacancy risk, and strengthens a property’s competitive advantage.
Net operating income (NOI) is the total income generated by a property after operating expenses are deducted but before taxes and financing costs.. more
Midway through what Rentals.ca is calling an "uneventful summer," the latest national rent report from the real estate listings and data platform reveals rents continued to fall in July. While dipping a nominal $4 from June, national average rent fell 3.6% year over year from $2,201 to $2,121, marking the 10th consecutive month of annual rent decline.
The $80 difference represents a continued cooling trend that took hold last fall and that has meant improved affordability for renters who were already facing extremely high rents (as well as a less fruitful times for many investors). Behind the reversal of rent growth is a record level of new supply coming online as immigration levels have been dramatically reduced, lifting vacancy rates and forcing landlords to lower rents.
But while rents have been on the decline in recent months, the report points out that the amount coming out of Canadians' pockets each month is still 11.1% higher than it was three years ago, and 2% higher than two years ago.
Looking ahead, the report suggests rent decline is "compounding," as rents fell annually by a greater amount in July than in June, when they slid 2.7%, and as we head into the quieter second half of the year.
“Canada’s rental market is experiencing a prolonged softening phase, with price declines accelerating across most provinces and unit types,” said David Aizikov, Manager of Data Services at Rentals.ca. “With the seasonal peak now behind us, we expect continued downward pressure on rents heading into the fall.”
But depending on where you live in the country, current and future trends may deviate from the national narrative. If you're a rental investor in Saskatchewan, Alberta, or Manitoba, for example, you've benefitted from rents skyrocketing by 32%, 27%, and 21% since 2022, respectively. But despite the impressive rent growth, apartments in the Prairies remained some of the most affordable in July, home to seven of the ten most affordable markets in the country. This includes Lloydminster, Alberta ($1,203), Regina, Saskatchewan ($1,408), and Winnipeg, Manitoba ($1,619), as of July.
In comparison, July saw BC and Nova Scotia post some of the largest annual declines, with average rent in Nova Scotia falling 5.0% to $2,275 and 4.4% to $2,475 in British Columbia. In third place was Ontario, where rents fell 3% year over year to $2,325. Municipally, North Vancouver maintained its spot as the most expensive rental market in the country ($3,043), but rents in Vancouver fell 7.0% to $2,830, second only to Calgary, which saw rents decline 7.9% to $1,927.
Looking at unit types, one bedrooms continued to struggle in much of BC, Alberta, and Ontario, where they fell 5.7%, 5.3%, and 5.1%, respectively, on an annual basis in July. Even in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Nova Scotia, where one bedrooms enjoyed some growth in previous months, in Saskatchewan specifically, that growth slowed to 1.8%, to 0.4% in Manitoba, and dipped by 0.8% in Nova Scotia.
On the other hand, three-bedroom units have shown continued "resilience and growth," reads the report. The larger unit type either led growth or saw the smallest declines in four of the country's six largest markets, only lagging in Ottawa, where two-bedrooms were stronger by 0.8% and in Calgary, where they fell 15.8%. But over the longer term, studios have performed the best over the last three years with an 11.4% growth in rents over two years and 19.7% over three years.
Finally, zooming out by product type, rents for purpose-built rental units slid 1.7% to an average of $2,095 in July, condo apartments fell 5.7% to $2,202, and houses/townhouses dropped 8.2% to $2,170. But where condos and houses/townhouses have seen relatively flat rents over the last three years, purpose-built rents have increased 23% since 2022.
Still, rents in primary markets remain lower than secondary market rentals (about $26 below the national average), and that's without factoring in incentives offered to fill units — a lever that landlords are increasingly using in cities like Toronto and Vancouver.
A rendering of the 32-storey tower proposed for 365-395 W Broadway in Vancouver. / Perkins&Will, Bonnis Properties
The City of Vancouver has received a new rezoning application for a site near City Hall, according to an application published by the City on Thursday.
The subject site of the proposal is 365 and 395 W Broadway, at the northeast corner of the intersection with Yukon Street. The site is located one block east of the Canada Line SkyTrain's Broadway-City Hall Station and Vancouver City Hall.
The two properties are each currently occupied by low-rise commercial buildings constructed in 1926 and 1955, respectively. BC Assessment values the properties at $3,807,700 and $5,970,000, for a total of $9,777,700 that is dated to July 1, 2024.
The properties are beneficially owned by Bonnis Properties — through Bonnis Development Yukon St. Limited Partnership under Bonnis Development Yukon St. Inc. — which has submitted an application seeking to rezone the site from C-3A (Commercial) to CD1- (Comprehensive Development).
The 365-395 W Broadway site (yellow)is just a block away from Broadway-City Hall Station (blue). / Perkins&Will, Bonnis Properties
For the site, Bonnis Properties is proposing a very narrow 32-storey tower that would reach a maximum height of 340 ft — right at the limit of the most restrictive view cone in the area — and have a proposed density of 20.69 FSR — a very high number due to the narrowness of the site.
The residential component will include 176 rental units, divided among 58 studio units, 60 one-bedroom units, 56 two-bedroom units, and two three-bedroom units. Average net unit sizes are 307 sq. ft for studio units, 482 sq. ft for one-bedroom units, 751 sq. ft for two-bedroom units, and 1,512 sq. ft for three-bedroom units.
A total of 170,667 sq. ft of floor space has been proposed, with 6,884 sq. ft as office space and 4,430 sq. ft as retail space. The office space will be located on the second level, while the retail space will be located on the ground level.
"As a mixed-use building, our proposal prioritizes retail, office, and residential uses, reinforcing Central Broadway's key role in keeping street-level retail continuity, providing additional office space, and contributing to the improvement of housing affordability," said the applicants in the rezoning booklet, which was prepared by Perkins&Will.
A ground-level rendering of the tower proposed for 365-395 W Broadway in Vancouver. / Perkins&Will, Bonnis Properties
A ground-level rendering of the tower proposed for 365-395 W Broadway in Vancouver. / Perkins&Will, Bonnis Properties
Notably, the proposal includes 328 bicycle parking stalls and zero vehicle parking stalls. Although the City of Vancouver eliminated minimum parking requirements last year, most projects still opt to provide some vehicle parking, although rental projects usually include less parking than condo buildings. The developer says the decision to include no vehicle parking was partially due to the rapid transit in the area and partially due to the site characteristics.
"The mixed-use development is surrounded by a critical mass in business, retail, and civic institutions," the rezoning application states. "It is within a broader range of uses and residents near the City Hall Station area and is exceptionally served by local and regional rapid transit, bike lanes, and bike share. The project contributes to a walkable city while reducing the need for cars, trucks, and buses. [...] The small site footprint limits the practicality of providing underground parking on this site. Alternative options such as an automated parking storage are similarly impractical. Given the high walkability, transit, and bike score offered by the site, we propose a development with no on-site parking."
Renderings of the tower proposed for 365-395 W Broadway in Vancouver. / Perkins&Will, Bonnis Properties
The proposal is expected to meet the City's various sustainability requirements, utilizing a combination of strategies such as low-flow water fixtures, optimized window-to-wall ratios to improve access to daylight, centralizing the structural core with shear walls for enhanced seismic stability, and providing first-class bike parking and maintenance facilities to promote active modes of transportation.
The City of Vancouver received the rezoning application in May and will be hosting a Q&A period for the project from Wednesday, October 15 to Tuesday, October 28.
For Bonnis Properties, this is the third major rezoning application it has advanced this year. In March, it unveiled its revised proposal for 800-876 Granville Street, which will now include a 39-storey tower and a 43-storey tower. In east Vancouver, it also submitted a rezoning application a few months ago for a 14-storey tower and a 25-storey tower.
A rendering of the Bristol master-planned community set for 13301 104 Avenue in Surrey. / SvN Architects & Planners, Bosa Properties
After unveiling their Bristol master-planned project last year, Vancouver-based developer Bosa Properties has submitted a new rezoning application for the sprawling project, expanding on the design they proposed last year.
The subject site of the project is 13301-13355 104 Avenue and 13280-13362 105 Avenue, a 6.4-acre square property bounded by 105 Avenue on the north, a row of apartment buildings on the east, 104 Avenue on the south, and 133 Street on the west, with University Drive about half a block to the east and the Expo Line SkyTrain's Surrey Central Station about a 10-minute walk southeast from the site.
The property is currently occupied by a group of low-rise rental buildings called the Bristol Estates that Bosa Properties acquired sometime around July 2022 for $170 million in a deal brokered by Goran Bucan of Sutton Group. The properties have been consolidated into a single legal parcel, 13301 104 Avenue, which BC Assessment values at $158,537,000 in an assessment dated July 1, 2024 and is now held under Bristol Estates 13301 Holdings Ltd.
Before the site was acquired by Bosa Properties, the previous developer submitted a rezoning application in 2022 for a six-building project with approximately 2,200 units. Last year, Bosa revised that application to five towers with a total of 2,686 units, which was granted third reading (conditional approval) in October 2024. However, Bosa has now submitted a new rezoning application.
"Subsequent to Council granting Third Reading to the application, Engineering advised that the proposed north-south road through the site was not required as a public road, which has led to changes in the site plan and underground parking layout," said City staff in a planning report last month. "In addition, in light of difficult market conditions, the applicant has revised the project to lower the towers and has added a tower (going from 5 towers to 6 towers)."
An overview of the 2024 design (left) and 2025 design (right) for the Bristol project. / SvN Architects & Planners, Bosa Properties
The updated 2025 concept includes six towers with the amount of units increased to 2,730, split between 600 studio units, 1,155 one-bedroom units, 942 two-bedroom units, and six three-bedroom units, along with 27 townhouses. Comparing the 2024 concept with the 2025 concept, the updated version reduces the height of all but one of the towers. The two towers on the western half of the site have now also been repositioned in order to accommodate the new tower and meet tower separation requirements. Most of the building podiums also appear to have been redesigned.
Tower One will be 33 storeys with 383 units and will be located at the southwest corner of the site, at the intersection of 133 Street and 104 Avenue. The second tower, the newly added one, will rise 35 storeys, have 367 units, and front 133 Street. Tower Three is located on the southeast corner of the site, along 104 Avenue, and will rise 32 storeys and contain 378 units. Tower Four will be located near the middle of the site and rise 52 storeys, making it the tallest of the proposed towers, and will house 578 units. Tower Five will be located at the northeast corner of the site, rise 46 storeys, and include 518 units. Finally, Tower Six will be located at the northwest corner of the site, rise 44 storeys, and bring 506 units.
Notably, however, the phasing plan for the project is now in a different sequence than initially proposed. The project will be delivered in six phases — one tower per phase — in the following order: Tower Three, Tower One, Tower Four, Tower Two, Tower Five, and Tower Six. A phasing plan included in the rezoning application suggests that portions of the site may be converted into a community garden as the earlier stages progress.
The phasing plan for the Bristol master-planned project. / SvN Architects & Planners, Bosa Properties
In terms of amenities, Bristol will provide 54,541 sq. ft of indoor amenity space across the entire project, which is slightly less than the 54,702 sq. ft required for a project of its size. On a per tower basis, five of the six towers exceed the required amount of indoor amenity space, with the shortfall coming from Tower Three. The City says Bosa will provide cash-in-lieu to make up for the shortfall.
In terms of outdoor amenity space, however, Bosa is proposing 125,723 sq. ft of space, which far exceeds the 89,448 sq. ft that is required for a project of its size.
Overall, the project will also include 19,450 sq. ft of commercial space — including a childcare facility — that will primarily be located along 104 Avenue in Tower Three and Tower One. The proposal also includes 1,961 vehicle parking spaces and 1,092 bicycle parking stalls across the site.
Renderings of the Bristol master-planned community set for 13301 104 Avenue in Surrey. / SvN Architects & Planners, Bosa Properties
Renderings of Tower Three, which will be delivered in Phase One. / SvN Architects & Planners, Bosa Properties
Of the total 2,730 proposed units, 378 are proposed as rental units, which will be delivered as a full 32-storey rental building (Tower Three) in Phase One. The units will be secured as rentals for a tenure of 60 years, according to the City. Along with the master plan rezoning application, Bosa has also submitted a detailed development permit application for the first phase, which will also include just over 5,800 sq. ft of commercial space.
At a council meeting on July 28, Surrey City Council granted first and second reading to the master plan rezoning application and forwarded the application to a future public hearing. Council also gave the green light to Tower Three/Phase One.
For Bosa Properties, Bristol represents its third master-planned community in Surrey — all within close proximity to each other along 104 Avenue. In 2023, Bosa completed the two-phase University District located at 13409 104 Avenue, about one block east of Bristol. Another block to the east, Bosa is also currently developing the four-phase Parkway located at 10460 City Parkway.
With the national housing crisis demanding sharper tools and deeper collaboration, the 2025 PacificWest Conference arrives at a critical moment.
On October 21 and 22, Western Canada’s premier real estate conference will take over the Vancouver Convention Centre East, bringing together the country’s realtors, developers, brokers, and builders for two full days of learning, dialogue, and connection.
Hosted by the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board and Greater Vancouver REALTORS®, the 2025 PacificWest Conference builds on last year’s strong momentum, which saw more than 1,200 professionals from across the country gather for dynamic programming, a buzzing trade show, and a vibrant social scene (which is quickly becoming legendary).
This year, with an even larger turnout anticipated, PacificWest Conference is scaling up — but staying true to its community-first roots.
All speakers at this year's event are Canadian, with representation stretching coast to coast, from Newfoundland to Vancouver Island. Programming will explore the most urgent issues facing the industry — from affordability to innovation — through a lens that’s local, relevant, and real.
Anchoring it all will be a keynote from Jake Karls, co-founder of Midday Squares, who will take the stage with his partners Lezlie Karls Saltarelli and Nick Saltarelli to share an unvarnished take on brand building, business, and what it means to lead with boldness.
Before the conference's official start, attendees have the option to come in early for two marquee add-ons, taking place October 20. First up, the Managing Brokers Summit, presented by BCREA, will offer a full day of programming designed to address the evolving role of brokerage leadership. Then, that evening, the Pre-Conference Connect Social sets the tone for the days ahead with structured speed networking, drinks, bites, and music. (In short, it's a truly perfect conference kick-off.)
Once the conference begins, attendees will enjoy seminars, keynote presentations, and an expansive trade show — a vibrant marketplace of more than 90 vendors showcasing tech solutions, marketing tools, service providers, and sector partners.
Each day of the conference, doors open at 9am, with coffee served to encourage impromptu chats, dealmaking, and discovery. The trade show floor will be open from 10:30am to 5pm on Tuesday, October 21, and from 10am to 3pm on Wednesday, October 22.
And of course, on the evening of October 21, the Welcome Party is back.
Known for its high energy and creative themes — last year delivered a full "Havana Nights" experience, complete with tacos, margaritas, and music — this year’s party promises another unforgettable night, with details under wraps (for now).
Standard conference passes include trade show access, keynote programming, seminar attendance, the Welcome Party, six self-directed PDP hours, and morning coffee. Preferred pricing is available at $325 until August 31; after this date, the general registration rate will be $400 through October 22.
While VIP passes have already sold out, add-ons like the Managing Brokers Summit ($100) and Pre-Conference Connect Social ($90) are available during checkout.
For those working in real estate, housing, or development, the 2025 PacificWest Conference offers more than insight — it offers momentum. By bringing the sector together under one roof, PacificWest creates space not just to respond to the housing crisis, but to help reshape the future of how we live.
On Wednesday, Hamilton City Council adopted a motion to decrease development charges (DCs) on all residential and non-residential development by 20% starting from September 1, 2025, to August 31, 2027. The two-year pilot program is intended to boost housing supply and bring down home prices for Hamiltonians, but those in the development industry say the discount isn't enough.
DCs are taxes that builders pay to a city in order to help fund increased infrastructure needs that may be required as a result of growth, including services like roads, transit, water, and sewer systems. But over the last 15 years, DCs in the region and across the GTA have skyrocketed, placing additional strain on already struggling development pipelines.
DCs in Hamilton are somewhat lower compared to other Ontario municipalities, but while inflation has only risen by about 30% in the last decade, Hamilton's DCs have increased by a whopping 227%, CEO of the West End Home Builders’ Association (WE HBA) Mike Collins-Williams wrote in a news release in December 2024. As of June 1, DCs for a single detached in The Hammer will run you $98,511. With the 20% discount, that price will fall to $78,809.
Prior to Council's decision, Collins-Williams penned another open letter on July 30 making the Association's case for a temporary 50% DC decrease, rather than the proposed 20% discount. He cited year-to-date housing starts in Hamilton hitting a 10-year low in June and the potential for 41,000 jobs to be lost in the GTHA as sales plummet and projects fall through. "The need for action has surpassed immediate as we are hemorrhaging opportunity and jobs," he wrote.
Collins-Williams also pointed to Peel Region, which also recently dropped their DCs by 50%. Other efforts from nearby municipalities include Mississauga reducing its residential development charges by 50% and by 100% for three-bedroom units in purpose-built rental apartments, respectively, and Toronto, where DCs were recently dropped for sixplexes and a 4% May increase to the city's DCs was frozen after Council voted instead to offer reprieve for struggling housing development.
While WE HBA, which represents 320 land development and residential construction companies in Hamilton, has been clear on its stance that the industry and greater Hamilton economy would benefit from lower DCs, some councillors have expressed concerns surrounding the incentive's effectiveness and viability.
Councillor Brad Clark (Ward 9) raised concerns about a lack of infrastructure grants from the provincial or federal governments to help the City pay for the 20% discount. "They're all saying, 'We want development charges lowered.' Prime Minister Carney went so far as saying by 50% [...] but do we have anything from them?"
The answer is no, the Feds and the province have not agreed to subsidize the discount, which is expected to cost $9.6 million annually. At Council, General Manager of Finance and Corporate Services at the City, Mike Zegarac, articulated the discount's financing, which will be sourced from excess 2025 budget funds, as was shared in a staff report on the proposed amendment to the DC bylaw.
"We had budgeted for development charge exemptions based on historic levels of development," he said. "And as those development levels have not met that historic average, we're able to accommodate the estimated $9.6 million from within the approved 2025 budget."
Councillor Cameron Kroetsch (Ward 2) also raised concerns about a lack of financial transparency from builders surrounding where the additional profit would go. Kroetsch expressed that the discount should only be adopted if Council could ensure the discount would result in more affordable home prices for Hamiltonians, rather than money pocketed for builders.
"I think it's extremely important that if we're giving incentives to people and they're taking money from the city, they should be required to meet some level, any level, of financial transparency. And what I continue to hear is that's not required in this situation," said Kroetsch.
On the other hand, Councillor Michael Spadafora (Ward 14) points out that it wouldn't make sense for builders to pocket the extra money given the GTHA's stalled housing market.
"They're not selling the houses at the prices now, so if they took the 20% discount and didn't change the price, why would anybody buy the house? No one would buy the house," he said. "[...] If they don't [lower prices], they continue to not sell houses, people continue to get laid off, and we keep going in a circle."
Mayor Andrea Horwath, who voted in favour of the motion, said she is excited to see how the pilot program plays out. "I'm looking forward to seeing what the pilot project yields in terms of unlocking some of those developments that are stuck in the pipeline right now because of the economic uncertainty that we're facing," said Mayor Horwath. "I think signalling that we're going to work with the community of builders and not for profits and investors who look at Hamilton as a possible place to invest and to build — I think that's a positive signal."
For all the national introspection around Canada’s housing crisis, far too little attention is paid to the mechanics of how homes are actually built. While we debate affordability, interest rates, and migration, the real constraint on supply lies in the production system itself, one that has failed to modernize in step with the urgency of our needs.
The latest report from the C.D. Howe Institute exposes that friction with sobering clarity. Canada’s housing shortfall, it argues, is not merely the result of low output. It stems from a deeper misalignment between our stated goals: rapid, affordable, large-scale housing and the fragmented, risk-averse, low-productivity methods we use to deliver it.
The housing sector does not lack talent or technology. What impedes us is a model of construction that has remained essentially unchanged while the demands placed upon it have intensified.
Permitting Purgatory, Before a Single Shovel Hits the Ground
Before we even get to labour shortages or modular innovation, Canada’s pipeline is choked at the municipal counter. It takes nearly 250 days to secure a general construction permit in Canada — 34th out of 35 OECD countries, slower than every peer except Slovakia and roughly triple the US timeline, according to the ICBA Independent.
That “second-slowest in the OECD” badge isn’t just embarrassing for a G7 economy; it means every policy aimed at speeding up housing delivery starts with a nine-month bureaucratic head-start against us. It is beyond embarrassing for a country that needs housing affordability solutions more than anyone else in the OECD. Until those approvals shrink, any talk of boosting supply is running a marathon in concrete boots. It is possible that standardized construction could deliver just as much benefit to the approval process as it can to the construction process. As the saying goes, time is money, and all of these savings translate to a more profitable housing model, which means greater incentive for builders to build.
Whether you like it or not, firms exist to make profit. That’s how the economy works. It is only fair for you to expect anyone else in the economy to do their job for free if you also do your job for free. Whenever I mention a builder’s profit and savings like this, especially when discussing removal of development charges, people tell me that builders will just pocket the spread. In a historically “normal” market jacked up on cheap debt, I might agree with those people. But in today’s market, any dollar that a builder can reduce from price gets them closer to the market’s bid, which increases their likelihood of selling or renting a unit. So, I can promise you, if builders save $50,000 on any input today, they’re not going to keep the unit priced at $750,000 so they can keep selling zero units. They’ll drop the price by $50,000 in hopes that they sell one, or two.
Ambition Without Capability
According to the report, restoring 2019-level affordability would require between 430,000 and 480,000 new homes per year. In 2023, Canada built just over half that number. The gap is profound, and there is little to suggest it will close under present conditions.
What makes this deficit even more stark is the rapid growth of the population. CMHC’s own data confirms that housing starts are not keeping up with demographic pressure. The imbalance is especially acute in urban centres but increasingly visible in smaller communities as well.
The visual makes clear what many feel in practice. There are simply not enough homes per person. The decline in dwellings per 1,000 residents reflects a structural shortfall that cannot be corrected without addressing the speed and scale of delivery.
Labour Inputs Alone Will Not Save Us
In a healthy system, hiring more workers should lead to higher output. But the data tell a different story. Between 2020 and 2023, the residential construction workforce expanded by 26%, yet productivity declined. More labour has translated into fewer completed homes per hour worked.
The Silver Tsunami: Replacing a Generation of Builders
Canada’s construction workforce is staring down a demographic cliff. Roughly 245,000 skilled workers, about one-fifth of the 2022 labour force, will retire by 2032, according to BuildForce Canada. That translates into nearly 300,000 new hires once population growth is factored in. Unless we industrialize more of the build process, every apprenticeship program in the country could run flat-out and still fail to plug the gap.
Capacity drag: Even if municipalities issued permits at record speed, projects would stall for lack of crews.
Knowledge drain: Decades of practical lore (how to pour a winter slab or sequence trades in a 600 sq-ft condo shell) walks off-site with each retirement.
Cost pressure: Scarcity bids wages higher, so any productivity we can automate or prefabricate is a direct defence against spiralling budgets.
This trend is not incidental. The report attributes much of the productivity decline to the sector’s continued reliance on on-site building practices, which remain vulnerable to weather delays, sequential scheduling, and rising labour costs. While much of the economy is automating and digitizing, residential construction has remained wedded to workflows developed in another era.
The Tools Exist. The System Rejects Them.
Elsewhere in the world, governments and industry leaders have responded to these challenges with urgency and imagination. Sweden builds nearly all of its homes off-site, relying on factory-assembled components and standardized systems. In Canada, despite strong examples like UBC’s prefabricated Tallwood House, Siksika Nation’s 3D-printed units, and the robotics-enabled housing pilots led by Promise Robotics, innovation remains on the margins.
What explains this disconnect is not technological unreadiness but institutional inertia. Off-site builders face longer permitting timelines, duplicated inspections, and transportation rules that vary so wildly between provinces that modular units often cannot move efficiently across borders. Development fees, which have risen by 700% over two decades, now account for as much as a quarter of a home’s cost. Lending practices still favour traditional, slower projects, as financing is tied to on-site construction milestones that modular builds cannot easily meet.
The result is a system that rewards convention and punishes speed. In 2024, one of Canada’s leading modular construction firms, Z Modular, closed its Kitchener facility and relocated to the United States, citing overregulation and financing delays. This case should not be seen in isolation. It reflects a broader trend: firms that try to build faster are often forced to leave.
Capacity Is Being Left on the Table
The C.D. Howe report invokes the concept of the production possibility frontier: a theoretical ceiling for how much can be built with current resources. Canada, it contends, is operating beneath that ceiling. The country has the workforce, the materials, and the demand. What it lacks is the coordination to bring them together at scale.
Research from McKinsey supports this conclusion. Modular construction, when implemented systematically, can reduce build times by as much as 50% and lower costs by 20%. These are transformative advantages. Yet in Canada, they remain largely theoretical, held back by misaligned rules and the absence of enabling policy.
Modular Housing 101: From Panels to Pods
When people hear “modular,” they often picture shipping-container homes. The reality is broader:
Volumetric (3-D modules). Entire room-sized boxes complete with plumbing, wiring, and finishes arrive on site and are stacked like giant LEGO. Ideal for repetitive layouts such as hotels, student residences, or stacked townhouses. Fastest method, but highway-oversize rules matter.
Panelized systems. Flat wall, floor, and roof panels are trucked in, craned into place, and weather-tight in a day. Interiors are finished on site. Works well for detached homes or tight infill lots because panels travel efficiently.
Hybrid or “kit-of-parts.” Think steel or light-gauge frames assembled on site, with factory-built bathroom or kitchen “pods” slid into the skeleton. Balances speed with design flexibility for mid-rise projects up to a dozen storeys.
Mass-timber / CLT. Large cross-laminated-timber panels (and sometimes volumetric cores) bolt together quickly and cut site noise. Favoured for carbon-conscious mid-rise and urban tight lots.
Different rules affect each approach differently. Policy that treats them all the same will inevitably hamstring at least one. This blog post on Valery breaks down how policy should interact with each modular housing format.
Reform Must Lead, Not Follow
Public investment alone cannot solve this problem. Recent federal initiatives, including the $25 billion Build Canada Homes program and the Housing Design Catalogue, mark a step in the right direction. But they will achieve little without deep structural reform.
Permitting timelines need to be shortened, particularly for projects that use certified off-site methods. Financing models must be updated to accommodate the upfront cost structures of modular builds. Insurance and mortgageeligibility criteria should reflect the reliability of prefabricated systems, not penalize them. Development fees ought to reward faster delivery and lower emissions, not simply size or location. And governments must support the development of a hybrid workforce, one that blends traditional trades with factory technicians, machine operators, and digital designers.
Most crucially, Canada needs real-time productivity benchmarks that compare building methods, timelines, and lifecycle costs. Without that visibility, policy decisions will continue to rely on assumptions rather than outcomes.
The Risk Is Not in Innovation. It Lies in Refusing to Change.
There is no path to affordability that does not run through reform of the construction sector. A system designed for bespoke, site-built housing cannot satisfy the demand of a country adding nearly half a million people a year.
The C.D. Howe Institute’s report offers more than critique. It lays out a pragmatic case for modernizing construction, not through ideology, but through operational clarity. The future of housing is faster, more standardized, and less vulnerable to the constraints of weather, geography, and manual scheduling. The tools are already here. What remains is the will to use them.
Productivity Must Step In for Cheap Money
Statistics Canada’s new Housing Economic Account pegs residential-construction activity at $143.4 billion of GDP and 1.2 million jobs in 2024 — roughly six cents of every GDP dollar. With the post-COVID era of 1-to-2% mortgages gone, that engine can keep turning only if the cost to build drops faster than borrowing costs rise.
Productivity, however, is hampered by chronic under-investment in research:
Canada: C$51.7 billion in the same year — roughly C$1,300 per resident (≈ US $970). (Statistics Canada)
We spend less than half as much on R&D, per capita, as our southern neighbour, yet expect to compete on build speed and cost. If Ottawa wants productivity gains anywhere, housing is the logical beachhead: it is both the largest slice of capital formation and the biggest drag on household finances.
Boosting factory automation, digital twins, and standardized components in residential construction would:
Lower unit costs, keeping demand alive at higher interest rates.
Lift wages for tech-enabled construction roles without piling on debt.
Free capital so the broader economy can diversify beyond housing once today’s supply crunch is solved.
To ignore these findings is not a neutral act. It is a decision to keep building fewer homes, more slowly, at higher cost, while expecting a different result.
CMHC’s Blunt Bottom Line
Ottawa’s own housing agency doesn’t mince words: affordability won’t come back unless we build far more homes, far faster. In its June 2025 report Canada’s Housing Supply Shortages: Moving to a New Framework, CMHC calculates that Canada must double today’s construction pace, raising annual housing starts from roughly 250,000 to 430,000-480,000 units a year through 2035, just to return to 2019-level affordability.
According to CMHC’s chart above, anything short of that keeps price-to-income ratios “near pandemic-era highs,” the agency warns, stressing that “increasing housing supply is the key to restoring affordability.”
Let's not waste another year chasing affordability while preserving the very structures that stand in its way. Let's begin building as if the crisis is real.
Plans have been filed for a lofty double tower project slated to deliver over 1,200 new residential units to Toronto's Mount Pleasant East neighbourhood. The mixed-use development would reach 65 and 60 storeys, bringing substantial height and new housing within close proximity to existing and planned higher-order transit.
The plans were submitted by Toronto-based Crestview Investment Corporation in mid-July in support of Official Plan Amendment and Zoning By-Law Amendment applications to allow for increased height and density on the site. Currently, the site is occupied by a four-storey commercial and office building.
Located at 245 Eglinton Avenue East, the 1.19-acre site spans the north half of the block between Mount Pleasant Road and Taunton Road, with Eglinton in the north. Future residents would benefit from easy access to nearby transit options, such as the Eglinton subway station on Line 1, which is located a nine-minute walk to the west, and Mount Pleasant Station on the forthcoming Eglinton Crosstown LRT, located immediately north of the development site.
Mount Pleasant East is home to a wide array of buildings, including single-family homes, walk-ups from the '40s and '50s, high-rises from the '60s and '70s, and newer high-rise infill apartments, with the taller buildings concentrated along Eglinton, according to planning materials.
In recent times, and in line with updated provincial and municipal planning policy that encourages intensified growth around existing and planned higher-order transit, there has been an increased emphasis on development activity in the Midtown region, with proposed and approved projects reaching significant heights.
Crestview's proposal marks the tallest of the nearby projects, but other notable developments include a 61-storey mixed-use proposal from Reserve and Westdale Properties at 808 Mount Pleasant Road and an approved 28-, 40- and 60-storey mixed-use complex at 150 Eglinton Avenue East from Madison Group.
The proposal for 245 Eglinton, which features designs by Superkül, Crestview is envisioning a shared two- to three-storey base building that would span the majority of the site, but leaving some space for public realm enhancements such as planting areas, sitting areas, trees, and the sidewalk along Eglinton. The 65-storey Tower A would rise from the west end of the podium while 60-storey Tower B would rise from the eastern end.
245 Eglinton/Superkül
At grade, you would find the entrance to the residential lobby along Eglinton and 30,677 sq. ft of commercial space divided into two separate areas along Eglinton and Mount Pleasant. You would also find three townhome units with street access to Taunton at grade.
In total, the development would deliver 1,278 residential units of unconfirmed tenure that are to be divided into 117 studios, 808 one-bedrooms, 230 two-bedrooms, and 123 three-bedrooms. Residents would have access to 40,117 sq. ft of indoor amenity space located on levels two, three, and four, and 14,908 sq. ft of outdoor space located on the terrace above level two. Additionally, plans call for 127 vehicle parking spaces and 1445 bicycle parking spaces across three levels of underground parking.
If approved and constructed, 245 Eglinton would be one of the tallest buildings in Mount Pleasant East, offering the bustling neighbourhood a substantial amount of new housing and commercial space within close proximity to some of the most efficient transit systems in the city.
After economic uncertainty brought on by a trade war with the US quashed much of the rebound initially expected for the first half of 2025, increased home sales in July are indicating that improved affordability may be reopening the door for a substantial number of Greater Toronto Area home hunters.
After an unremarkable spring and early summer that saw GTA home sales and prices fall year over year each month while inventory grew to levels not seen in 25 years, the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board's (TRREB) July data reveals sales ticked up on a seasonally-adjusted basis month over month and were up 10.9% year over year. In total, there were 6,100 home sales recorded last month — "the best home sales result for the month of July since 2021," reads the report.
TRREB President Elechia Barry-Sproule attributes the rise in sales to improved affordability, as home prices have largely flatlined and continue to fall on an annual basis each month, but says more relief is needed.
“Improved affordability, brought about by lower home prices and borrowing costs is starting to translate into increased home sales," said Barry-Sproule. "More relief is required, particularly where borrowing costs are concerned, but it’s clear that a growing number of households are finding affordable options for homeownership."
Just last week, on July 30, the Bank of Canada chose to hold the interest rate for the third time in a row, after seven consecutive rate cuts between June 2024 and March 2025 that brought the policy interest rate from 5.0% to 2.75%. TRREB's Chief Information Officer Jason Mercer further emphasized the need for additional rate cuts, highlighting the potential impact on the greater economy.
“Recent data suggest that the Canadian economy is treading water in the face of trade uncertainty with the United States. A key way to mitigate the impact of trade uncertainty is to promote growth in the domestic economy," said Mercer. "The housing sector can be a catalyst for growth, with most spin-off expenditures accruing to regional economies. Further interest rate cuts would spur home sales and see more spin-off expenditures, positively impacting the economy and job growth."
In the meantime, supply levels continued to climb in July, increasing 5.7% year over year with 17,613 new listings posted. Still, the market tightened last month as the month-over-month rise in home sales was much greater than the rise in listings.
Despite a slight tightening of the market, however, home prices continued to fall in July, with the benchmark home price decreasing 5.4% year over year and the average selling price down 5.5%. The average selling price last month was $1,051,719, compared to $1,101,732 in June and $1,113,116 in July 2024.