After six consecutive quarters of declining occupancy, some of Canada’s office markets began to recover lost ground in the fourth quarter of 2021.

The priciest office space in Toronto and Montreal is deemed "mid-level" among 127 global markets, while Vancouver is in a larger group said to offer "value" to premium tenants.

Office and retail were diagnosed as stricken asset classes early in the pandemic, but after 20 months on the disabled list, conventional venues for labour and shopping are rallying to fight for market share.

From now on, companies will distinguish themselves by the enhanced experience they are able to offer their employees who take the time and effort to travel to the office.

A new iteration of property expense relief will be more bountiful for many recipients than recent payouts of the Canada Emergency Rent Subsidiary, but fewer commercial tenants or owner-occupiers will qualify.

The 2021 versions of REALPAC's normalization methodologies for calculating energy- and water-use intensity address issues arising from the COVID-19 pandemic and lower occupant densities in office buildings.

Removing landlords from the application process hasn’t necessarily made the Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy (CERS) more accessible for commercial tenants experiencing pandemic-related financial stress.

Enhancing cleaning, disinfection, and communication is critically important within real estate at a time when health and safety is top of mind.

Leveraging appropriate service technology and integrated service tools can ensure buildings are safe and properly maintained. 

COVID-19 has intensified pressure to support physical, social and emotional well-being within the built environment, but many investors, owners and managers were already embracing healthy building principles ahead of pandemic-triggered challenges.

Reflecting on a year in which the pandemic unsettled market fundamentals to the east and to the west, Calgary-based analysts focus more on tangential circumstances than the COVID-19 outbreak itself.

An influx of new office supply was always expected to shake up the status quo in the downtown Toronto market given that approximately two-thirds of the 8+ million square feet of space currently under construction is already preleased.

A ten-year run of capital growth abruptly reversed, resulting in a 7.8 per cent loss of value across the 2,356 assets that the 44 portfolios represented in the Canada Annual Property Index hold.

Newly released 2020 investment results find industrial and multifamily assets on the positive side of the national average total return for 2,356 directly held standing assets, which registered -4.1 per cent.

Industrial availability tightened from the third quarter in eight of the 11 surveyed markets, ending the year at well below 2 per cent in Vancouver and Montreal and below 1 per cent in Toronto.

One of COVID-19's major challenges has been maintaining or improving cleaning activities when the managers responsible are not on-site.

CERS will deliver direct rent support to qualifying tenants without the need to work though their landlords. As a direct subsidy, unlike CECRA, no loan agreement is required.