The Canadian Real Estate Investor

We are joined by Fred Cassano, Partner and National Real Estate Leader at PwC Canada, discussing the state of Canadian real estate markets around the ULI Emerging Trends report.
Market in Transition: The real estate market is experiencing mixed sentiments with a sense that it may be hitting bottom.
Office Market Recovery: Office leasing is seeing renewed activity, particularly for trophy assets, driven by return-to-work mandates.
Housing Supply Crisis: Canada needs to build 500,000 homes annually to meet demand, with government initiatives like BCH addressing supply issues.
Capital Market Shifts: Private capital is filling gaps left by large institutions, with foreign investment in Canadian real estate increasing.
Emerging Opportunities: Senior housing presents strong investment potential due to years of undersupply, while retail remains resilient by adapting to consumer needs.
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Nick & Dan are joined by Journalist & Podcaster Amber Kanwar for a discussion on her career journey in finance, the "In The Money" podcast, real estate investing (strengths, misconceptions, evolution in Canada, current market challenges), the Canadian economy's trajectory, and financial advice for young Canadians entering real estate.
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Nick & Dan explain Canada's Principal Residence Exemption (PRE) and Section 45(2) elections, focusing on how to protect tax-free capital gains when buying a second property. The discussion covers how capital gains work in Canada (50% inclusion rate), the PRE's tax-free benefit, and the critical Section 45(2) election that allows homeowners to continue claiming their former home as a principal residence for up to 4 years after converting it to a rental.
One exemption at a time: You can only designate one property per year as your principal residence, but buying a second property doesn't immediately eliminate the exemption on your first home
Section 45(2) election protects you: When converting your home to a rental, this election prevents a deemed disposition and lets you continue claiming it as your principal residence for up to 4 more years—but you must not claim depreciation (CCA) on the property
Change-of-use creates tax exposure: Without the Section 45(2) election, moving out and renting your home triggers a deemed disposition at fair market value, potentially creating a taxable capital gain even though you haven't actually sold
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Canada's banking system is dominated by just six major institutions (the Big Five plus National Bank), which control over 80% of banking assets. While this concentration was designed for stability, it creates limited competition and flexibility compared to the U.S., which has thousands of banks with diverse underwriting philosophies.
Illusion of choice: Canadians feel like they have banking options, but are essentially rotating through six institutions that behave similarly in terms of rates, underwriting, and credit requirements.
Designed for stability, not competition: Canada's concentrated banking system was intentionally created post-Depression to prioritize safety over flexibility, which helped avoid failures during the 2008 crisis but limits competition.
Different bank personalities: Each of the Big Six has distinct lending approaches—RBC prefers "vanilla" borrowers, TD is systems-driven, Scotia is unpredictable, BMO is business-friendly, CIBC is mortgage-aggressive, and National Bank is regionally focused.
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Nick & Dan discuss co-ownership structures for real estate, focusing on joint tenancy vs. tenants in common, and land lease properties. Joint tenancy means equal shares with automatic transfer to surviving owners upon death, while tenants in common allows unequal shares that pass to heirs. Land lease properties let you own the building but lease the land, offering lower purchase prices but with ongoing ground rent and lease expiration concerns.
Joint tenancy requires equal ownership and unanimous consent for major decisions, with automatic survivorship rights.
Tenants in common allows flexible ownership percentages and independent sale of shares, but no automatic transfer on death.
Land lease properties have lower purchase prices since you only own the structure, but require ongoing ground rent and the lease eventually expires.
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