CANADA Trends and Developments Contributed by: Isabella Tamilia and Alexander Rigante, De Grandpré Chait
De Grandpré Chait 800 Rene-Levesque West 26th floor Montreal Quebec H3B 1X9 Canada Tel: +514 878 3246 +514 878 8632 Fax: +514 878 4333 Email: itamilia@dgchait.com arigante@dgchait.com Web: www.dgchait.com
Introduction In 2023, the Quebec real estate market wit - nessed a deepening of recent trends rooted in the post-pandemic environment. High interest rates, hefty construction costs, and the introduc - tion of legislative measures on all government levels in an attempt to curb the housing crisis, are some of the trends and challenges that are expected to persist throughout 2024. Montreal’s real estate market has proved to be resilient in this challenging economic environ - ment, having transacted CAD8 billion in volume throughout 2023, 75% of which came from the industrial and multi-family asset class. Strong growth in industries such as e-commerce has driven demand for modern industrial facilities in suburban locations in close proximity to major highways and other means of transportation. All asset classes reported a setback in transac - tion activity in 2023, except for industrial, com - mercial and investment (ICI) land (ie, despite increased land and construction costs) and hotels. Industrial, multi-family and grocery- anchored retail were the top asset classes
attracting investors. Office vacancies contin - ued to rise and will likely continue to increase in the short term as the hybrid work environment remains prevalent. The present article provides an overview of legal trends which have impacted and will continue to impact Quebec’s real estate market in the com - ing years. Legislative Updates – Affordable Housing According to the Canadian Mortgage and Hous - ing Corporation (CMHC), Quebec requires an additional 860,000 housing units by 2030 in order to meet demand and restore affordability in the residential market. The fourth quarter of 2023 saw residential vacancy rates drop to the lowest rate experienced in 20 years. The housing crisis remained a top policy concern for all levels of government throughout 2023. As such, legis - lative trends for this period remained focused on the implementation of policies to facilitate and incentivise development, and increase the sup - ply and availability of residential housing. This trend is expected to continue to deepen over the coming years.
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