Management
Pandemic-related litigation brewing in Quebec
Commercial real estate specialists are noting a recent Quebec superior court decision with interest, suggesting it could become a beacon for other tenants seeking rent relief.
Ontario consults on next conservation framework
Residential consumption is identified as a primary concern and opportunity for the 2021-24 period, along with a continued emphasis on reducing system-wide peak demand
COVID-19 expected to drive transparency metrics
Canada once again places in the top tier of “highly transparent” nations in the newly released 2020 edition of the JLL/LaSalle Global Real Estate Transparency Index.
Ontario Electricity Rebate applied unevenly
Many hydro accounts specifically tied to the common areas of multi-residential buildings will no longer qualify for the 31.8 per cent rebate beginning in November 2020.
Ontario stalls energy management paybacks
A temporary adjustment to Ontario’s electricity pricing scheme eliminates cost-saving opportunities that many operators of large commercial buildings were anticipating this summer.
Office-using sectors show relative resilience
There is plenty of uncertainty and little consensus on the economic outlook for Canada and the United States. It is becoming clear that it will not be a V-shaped recovery, and it is more likely to be uneven and prolonged.
Retail landlords absorb and counter economic hit
Results of a wide-ranging survey show many major Canadian commercial real estate players braced for the erosion of consumer confidence, tenant solvency and their own investment returns.
Public disclosure could foil energy reporting
The City of Winnipeg has invited commercial building owners and institutional facility managers to affix their Energy Star Portfolio Manager results on a publicly accessible map.
Public transit wariness makes the core edgy
Commuters’ willingness to jump on the bus, light-rail car or subway is expected to be a driving factor in repopulating office space in some major North American markets, including Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver.
Canada wavers on airtightness testing
The timing might have been opportune for uptake of the measure — provided it was adopted into provincial and territorial building codes — because it would have applied broadly in what is currently Canada’s most buoyant commercial real estate sector.
GBAC STAR accreditation to steer reopenings
The new GBAC STAR accreditation program is taking the complication and uncertainty out of reopening large Canadian commercial facilities.
COVID-19 incubates global adjustment 2021-22
For Class A consumers, cost-saving potential will be diminished even if they successfully curtail demand during the five peak hours since those peaks are expected to be lower than usual.
Solid pre-pandemic fundamentals buttress market
Thus far, in most markets, there’s been no spurt of office sublets or rent discounts that conventionally signify an economic downturn, but there has been a flurry of conjecture about the forces COVID-19 may have unleashed.
Details of CECRA program rollout still emerging
The CECRA program is voluntary. Not all eligible landlords will necessarily take advantage of this program for various reasons.
Ontario to temporarily offset electricity costs
Commercial and industrial electricity customers will pay the differential above 11.5 cents per kilowatt-hour in added monthly increments beginning in January 2021.
Survival prospects upbeat for living walls
Like humans, living walls might be overdue for a trim, but few are imperilled in the now largely empty surroundings of commercial and institutional buildings.
Black swan triggers business continuity plans
Commercial real estate operators are seeking advice across a wide spectrum of expertise as they deploy their crisis management, business continuity and recovery plans.




