Newly released findings from British Columbia’s public consultation on cannabis lounges unsurprisingly confirm that recreational cannabis users are most likely to find the concept appealing.

Food-anchored retail plazas remain a staple on the commercial real estate menu, again emerging as the preferred asset type in Altus Group’s survey of Canadian investment trends in Q2.

Beginning in 2023, municipalities will have flexibility to pull more revenue from their non-residential tax base, potentially cancelling out a phased 15 per cent reduction in the provincial property tax rate that was introduced this year.

Both the NDP and Green parties float concepts for standardized lease agreements and rent control guidelines in their recently released platforms for the June 2 Ontario election..

Multifamily assets posted the largest year-over-year decline in net operating income among the four major sectors in the Canada Annual Property Index, while delivering a 7 per cent total return on investment for 2021.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

Beyond stores selling essential goods, bricks-and-mortar retail is reeling from COVID-19-triggered public health controls and watching its already gaining competition grow even faster than projected.

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.

Canada has a numerically slight presence with disproportionate weight in Lee & Associates’ newly released third quarter commercial real estate results.

Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance will be offered for a sixth month. The announcement comes eight days after the portal for new applications for the relief program appeared to be closed.

With the August 31 deadline for first-time applications for Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance (CECRA) now passed, the three-month program that evolved into five months of relief is closed to new recipients.

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.