Canada multi-residential
market report

With the Federal government releasing its immigration targets, multi-residential investors and developers can calibrate rental demand expectations. The targets aim for less immigration than what was observed over the previous five years. A total of 380,000 permanent residents will be allotted annually over the next three years, compared to 395,000 in 2025. The target for temporary residents is 385,000 (155,000 students) in 2026 and 370,000 (150,000 students) in 2027 and 2028, down from 673,650 in 2025. Immigration is Canada’s primary driver of household growth, which in turn spurs rental demand. These targets will be key to making accurate demand-side forecasts for the multi-residential market.

Budget 2025 launches a new Build Communities Strong Fund, to be administered by Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada. The Fund will deploy $51 billion over 10 years and $3 billion recurring, for a wide range of infrastructure projects to eliminate bottlenecks for urban development. Developers can stand to benefit from the intensification potential of better-serviced and amenity-richer land because of these infrastructure improvements. This includes housing and other mixed-use developments serving the residential base. As a condition of receiving funding, provinces and territories must substantially reduce development charges and not levy other taxes hindering the housing supply, which, if successful, would improve prospects for developers.

Under the Build Canada Homes initiative of the Federal government, $1.5 billion will be allocated to continue the Rental Protection Fund which was first launched in 2024. The Rental Protection Fund provides loans/contributions to the community housing sector to acquire apartments and preserve affordability of rents over the long-term. This will create opportunities for more sales involving community housing providers, given the added liquidity provided by the Rental Protection Fund to finance acquisitions of existing apartments. This liquidity may unlock deals for legacy apartment buildings typically passed over by the private sector due to their higher operating and capital costs.