When you think of a courtyard, do you picture the elegance of a 17th-century Italian villa, complete with mosaic tiles and a fountain? Or perhaps your mind goes to the heart of a multi-family building on Canada’s West Coast—a functional greenspace designed for modern living.

While this design concept dates back centuries, courtyards might be making a comeback in Canadian real estate. Long celebrated in architecture as spaces that bridge private and communal living, courtyards are now being reimagined for today’s urban housing challenges.

An outdoor amenity space that’s come, gone and returned

Randy Ryalls, managing broker at Royal LePage Sterling Realty in Port Moody, British Columbia, has worked in real estate for over 35 years. Having started his career in Edmonton before moving to Metro Vancouver in the 1990s, he’s seen it all—including the rise, then fall, then possible rise again, of the courtyard as an outdoor amenity space for multi-family residential developments.

“Coming from Edmonton, the lots are very much the same there: it’s flat for the most part, all pretty uniform, typically rectangular, that sort of thing,” he shares. “Whereas here, everything is a little bit different. The topography is very different. So the way they developed land here is completely different than they do on the Prairies.”

Director and co-founder of Haeccity Studio Architecture, Shirley Shen was first interested in courtyards when looking at Chinese classical architecture. 

“It’s all about prescribing space and giving everyone their private and shared moments within this shared realm. I think the connection to the landscape is really important,” comments Shen.

Opportunity to create symbiotic relationships with landscape and more community

She uses Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden, a popular attraction in Metro Vancouver close to her office, to further illustrate her thoughts: 

“It’s a really great example where the architecture is only made brilliant because it has a really specific symbiotic relationship with the landscape,” she continues. “I think we haven’t quite tapped into that just yet in Vancouver’s housing market.”

Her recent work has focused on the potential of multiplex housing—particularly relevant with new and upcoming legislation such as Bill 44. Shen’s firm recently submitted a design called “C-Plex” as part of a local architectural exhibit. Made up of four units, the focal point of the building is a central courtyard.

“What I see as the potential for courtyards in the multiplex context is more ground-oriented forms, where everyone has their own unique entrance to their suite off of a ground plane,” explains Shen.

“If you think about the condominium developments a lot of us live in today, you enter off of a parkade, then you go into a lobby and then an elevator—a very awkward, compressed space—maybe not having conversations there, and then you go into these double-loaded corridors that aren’t very inspiring. So to me, the courtyard and the ground-orientedness are crucial for creating more community.”

Developers increasingly emphasize outdoor amenities as livable space

Developers are now also taking note. Rockford, a condominium project from Cressey Development Group, features a courtyard as a central component of its marketing campaign. 

“Whether you see it in a rendering or a model, when you see it in the context of the building, that courtyard is a showstopper,” shares Cressey’s senior director of marketing and sales, Mia Boorman. “It really is a pivotal part of our project.”

Nathan Gurvich, a development manager who has been with Cressey for over 10 years, has seen the emerging popularity of the courtyard amenity throughout his time with the organization.

“In some of our previous projects, this idea of doing at least an above-grade courtyard in a wood-frame building didn’t really exist,” he says. “But as we move forward, technology changes and the way structures are designed and built has allowed for a lot more opportunities to do courtyards.”

As developers continue building new communities, the emphasis on creating viable outdoor amenities will grow.

“The municipalities are forcing developers to incorporate a significant amount of green or outdoor space,” Ryalls comments. “It’s always been on the table, but I think there’s even more emphasis on it now than there was in the past. People want livable space, and you may not necessarily get that in your housing unit. Units are getting smaller and smaller as the price of land goes up.”

Look to the past to create for the future

Shen believes by looking back at what’s worked in the past, we can better position how we create outdoor spaces in the future. 

“There’s this inner sanctum feeling that we have to pay attention to. Some of (Vancouver’s) courtyard developments in False Creek South, (with) the co-ops and leasehold properties developed in the 1970s and 1980s, really paid attention to that,” she says.

“You’d have these organic, larger courtyards with many families looking onto them, but they would have a realm of private backyard within the shared courtyard. There needs to be layers where you can transition from public to private space.”

The never-ending battle between supply and demand is a story well-known to those in real estate. And when it comes to the condo markets in Canada’s two largest cities, scales are heavily favouring buyers. 

According to a CIBC report, Ontario and B.C. are the biggest Canadian markets “exposed” to the slowdown in condo investment— where investors typically dominate condo purchases. The sales-to-new listings ratio in both Toronto and Vancouver shows the market currently favours buyers, with the current condo supply flooding the market.

Vancouver vs. Toronto

As Chief Economist with the BC Real Estate Association, Brendon Ogmundson has his finger on the pulse when it comes to Metro Vancouver’s housing market; he’s also observant of the activity (or lack thereof) in the Greater Toronto area.

“The big difference between Vancouver and Toronto is that prices have basically not budged in Vancouver,” he explains. “Sales in Metro Vancouver have been running around about a thousand or so a month with about 5,000 or 6,000 active listings.”

That equates to about roughly five to six months’ worth of inventory, he says.

According to Greater Vancouver Realtors, the average price of an apartment in October was $757,200, a 1.6 per cent decrease over October 2023. The Toronto Regional Real Estate Board reported the average price of a condo was $694,038 last month—a year-over-year drop of 2 per cent.

“It’s maybe slightly at the lower end of what we consider balanced—if it was really oversupplied, then we would see a lot more downward pressure on prices and we’re just not seeing that at all,” Ogmundson continues. “So maybe that’s the real difference between Vancouver and Toronto: we don’t have a real over-supply of units that would put that much downward pressure on prices.”

He adds, “It’s not as bad as Toronto.”

Pricing strategies 

Carolyn Pogue, a Realtor with Royal LePage Sterling, has been helping clients buy and sell condo properties throughout Metro Vancouver for almost a decade. When on the listing side, she implements tried and true pricing strategies based on current market conditions: 

You price low with the hope you drive multiple offers, you price at fair market value anticipating a quick sale with little negotiation or you price it high with the expectation that buyers will negotiate, and it will likely take longer to sell. 

“If interest rates keep decreasing and the buyer demand gets a little bit more intense like we’ve started to see in the last month, I do feel like 2025 will be a strong market,” Pogue shares. “I do think it will still be price-sensitive though. In terms of pricing strategy, what we’re seeing more of is either fair market value or slightly higher, with buyers negotiating off that price.” 

The pre-sale dilemma 

The sales data tells a similar story; while sales are slightly down, prices aren’t going down with them. Stefan Greiner, vice president of advisory at Zonda’s closely monitors the market, resale and presale.

“There is a significant gap in the new home market between released and unsold inventory (14,096 condominium apartments in Q3-2024) and quarterly sales (1,926 in Q3-2024),” he explains. “Sales are down 38 per cent from last year and down 45 per cent from the historical average, while active listings are up 75 per cent from last year—twice as high as the historical average.”

Greiner points out, “Buyers have choice, and builders are offering significant incentives to attract buyers.”

In the Greater Toronto Area, some of these incentives have included items such as free parking spaces, mortgage assistance and reduced deposits as developers and builders face the rising costs of construction. 

“We are at a considerable risk of some of the released and unsold units being pulled from the market, which will lead to lower condo listings in the future,” Greiner continues. “When, in reality, we should be ramping up construction and incentivizing builders to build, build, build.”

Pogue noted that this year she saw real estate developers in Metro Vancouver try to entice buyers with what she calls “pretty aggressive assignment benefits.” She explains, “We’ve seen a few that are zero assignment fee, or with a small $1,000 assignment…But the biggest thing with assignments that we find is it’s always at the developer’s discretion. So, they could say there’s no assignment fee, but when the time comes and if the seller wants to potentially assign their unit, the developer, they might not allow it.”

The future of the condo market in Canada’s largest cities 

Greiner has seen encouraging trends, particularly in the re-sale market, that could carry over into 2025. “With anticipated interest rate reductions in the coming months, we expect to see buyers re-engaging, which will lead to increased sales activity initially within the re-sale segment, before extending to the new home market”, he says. “However,  bringing new condominium apartments to market will remain a significant challenge due to persistently high construction costs, fees, approval timelines and taxes.”

CIBC predicts that the condo market will continue to favour buyers into 2025 but anticipates that the surplus in inventory will eventually be absorbed. Inversely, this anticipated demand could be met with a swing back to supply issues, with pre-sale activity at a multi-decade low. 2026 and 2027 could see a continued market dis-equilibrium, with future significant upward pressure on condo prices.

Photo courtesy Geoff Taylor

Eppich House II, a landmark West Vancouver home designed in 1988 by renowned Canadian architect Arthur Erickson, was recently listed by Realtor Geoff Taylor of Rennie at $6-million—not exactly a home for the average buyer.

West Coast Modern, a distinctive architectural style known for its natural materials like wood and stone, expansive glass windows and striking structural elements, remains popular today. 

The challenge of selling architecturally unique homes

Taylor explains that marketing an architecturally significant home like Eppich House II is different from his other listings, “It’s a completely different product because it’s not commoditized the way that other residential real estate is commoditized,” he says. “When you’re dealing with something that’s architecturally significant, it is completely non-commoditized, and so it requires a completely different strategy.”

Taylor adds that, from his experience, sales of these types of homes can go one of two ways: very quickly, with offers written before the listing video is shot, or quite slowly.

“It’s not always a one-day sale,” he acknowledges. “Sometimes it takes a year to find the right buyer.”

Balancing beauty and accessibility in modern architecture 

Dr. Michael Prokopow, an architectural historian and professor at Ontario College of Art and Design in Toronto, and author of the book Reside, considered Erickson a good friend before his passing in 2009. 

Prokopow understands the duality between the aesthetic beauty of West Coast Modern homes and the inaccessibility they represent in light of Canada’s housing crisis. He believes there’s a way to extend this architectural style to a wider range of homeowners.

“If there was an interest in extending the aesthetics of West Coast modernism to a broader population, I think I would see condo developers taking on the challenge of inviting architects to think beyond the 400-square-foot box in a condo that costs so much. Developers might say, ‘Could we reimagine this typology of mass housing that does not sacrifice the psychological benefit of beautiful space?’” he comments. But translating that principle into reality isn’t so simple.

“Now, Vancouver will always be a market-driven community,” Prokopow continues. “And therefore, I can see developers saying, ‘No, I need to get X number of dollars per square foot and I don’t have the luxury. I’m not willing to afford the luxury of creating something fantastic.’ But my utopian dreaming would say, ‘Why not?’”

Influence beyond high-priced properties 

There have already been successful models for making this style more accessible to a wider demographic, such as Cates Landing in North Vancouver. A waterfront townhouse and apartment complex developed by Polygon Homes, Cates Landing was designed by Rositch Hemphill Architects and includes West Coast Modern-inspired architecture.

Taylor uses a famous pop-culture reference from the 2006 film The Devil Wears Prada to describe this form of design inspiration:

“Remember when (Anne Hathaway) comes in with that frumpy blue sweater?” he laughs. “Then Meryl Streep talks about how the reason why it is that colour goes back two years, to some fashion show in Paris. I think it’s the same thing with real estate. It really pulls to the core of what we love in the West Coast Modern style that translates from a $19-million waterfront property all the way down to a $350,000 studio apartment.”

Integrating reconciliation 

The idea of broadening accessibility for West Coast Modern architecture intersects with Canada’s growing awareness of Indigenous land rights, raising questions about how modern design can coexist with reconciliation.

“I often ask myself, how can I reconcile an interest in an architect’s creative solutions to a problem?” he says. “Ninety-seven per cent of what we call British Columbia is unceded. So that’s the vast majority of what we call the province and every land transaction. I was always aware of this question: Do architects do title searches and ask, ‘What’s the history of the land before settler history?’”

Owning an icon and the cost of preservation

For Realtors who may have similar listings or clients looking for this type of home, Taylor adds that the monthly maintenance involved with architecturally unique homes should not be overlooked.

“You have to maintain it; you have to spend money to keep it the way it is,” he adds. “You can’t just buy it and throw it on the wall like a Picasso… there needs to be a relationship that you have with the piece of art that you purchased as a home in order for it to maintain its value.”

What does the future hold for West Coast Modern architecture in Canada’s real estate market?

“There’s a sort of sensibility, aesthetic, and ideology that will continue,” Prokopow says. “In the end, given the challenges of site and architecture, you have your own personal choice about what type of house you want: then the cycles of building and unbuilding and rebuilding, and building, will continue.”

From the Marr Residence in Saskatoon (originally a field hospital during the Northwest Resistance, rumoured to have two resident ghosts) to the Custom House in Hamilton, Ontario (legend has it that the “Dark Lady” has been haunting the home for over a century), Canada has its share of houses rumoured to be haunted. 

But what would happen if one of those properties ever hit MLS?

A property seeming “off” can be stigmatized and strongly impact how buyers view it

“As a Realtor, I’ve come across clients who swear they’ve felt something (being) off in a property,” says Toly Vasilyev, Realtor with The Residential Group Realty in Vancouver. “Sometimes they feel uncomfortable for reasons they can’t really explain, and I think that’s fascinating. It can really affect how they see the home, even if there’s no concrete reason for it.”

He acknowledges that while these make for interesting stories, properties with a haunted history might also carry a stigma with them.

“Stigmatized properties, like those with a haunted history or a tragedy attached to them, can be a tough sell,” he acknowledges. “There’s definitely a niche of buyers who are intrigued by them and might even seek out those types of homes, but for the majority, it can really limit your pool of interested buyers.”

Vasilyev notes these properties might take longer to sell, and may even drop in price as well. “That stigma sticks in people’s minds, even if they don’t believe in the paranormal,” he adds.

How Ontario and B.C. treat disclosure of stigmatized properties

Gastown, one of Vancouver’s oldest neighbourhoods, is popular among tourists for its many ghost sightings over the years. Likewise, in Toronto, the Distillery District is another popular tourist destination for those interested in the paranormal.

Ray Doaii, founder and principal lawyer at Lexeon Law, now based in Vancouver, lived and worked in Toronto for years before moving to the West Coast. 

“In Ontario and B.C., disclosure requirements for stigmatized properties are essentially the same. They only differ in their legal frameworks and ethical expectations.”

According to Doaii, both provinces lack specific legal mandates requiring the disclosure of stigmatization, such as a property’s history involving crime or death. 

No disclosure statement questions around stigmatization leave it up to purchasers to inquire

“There’s always a legal and ethical obligation for sellers to disclose material facts that could affect a buyer’s decision,” he adds. “Although a Property Disclosure Statement is used for most transactions, there aren’t specific questions that deal with stigmatizations, which leaves it to each purchaser to specifically inquire about issues that matter to them.”

But what would you do as a Realtor if you found out that a home was reportedly haunted only after your client saw and fell in love with it?

How to break the news to clients post-showing

“First, I’d be upfront with the client and let them know what I found out,” says Vasilyev. “Transparency is key in situations like this. I’d explain that while it might not bother them, it could affect the property’s resale value or how potential future buyers see it.” 

His advice to other Realtors would be to approach the situation with sensitivity and professionalism. “Don’t downplay it, but also don’t make it more than it is. Give your client all the information so they can make the best decision for themselves.”

Whether or not you believe in the supernatural, the question that may matter most to Realtors and their clients would arguably be: Do I want to live in this house? 

“I wouldn’t be too concerned with ‘ghosts’ or ‘haunted houses’ unless the home is very old and looks spooky,” Doaii laughs. “But all jokes aside, my concern would be (about) the events that may have taken place in the home or neighbourhood and the personal habits or activities of the previous owners that may affect my use and enjoyment of the property.”

Vasilyev admits that it would depend on the circumstances. “If it’s just rumours or a past event that doesn’t have any bearing on the current state of the property, I’d probably be okay with it. But if the history really bothered me, or if I had trouble sleeping there because of it, I might think twice.”

At the end of the day, the desirability of “haunted” houses, just like any unique particularity or quirk of a property on the market, is at the discretion of a buyer or seller. 

“Ultimately, you want to feel comfortable in your own home,” says Vasilyev. It only makes sense that any opposing feeling to that might be a dealbreaker for some people.

When Raven Woods, a master-planned development located in the Roche Point neighbourhood of Metro Vancouver’s North Shore, was originally built, it was one of the first businesses in North Vancouver to sell residential units on leasehold land.

Leasehold land, according to the government of British Columbia, is: 

A long-term residential leasehold is a form of homeownership where a person (the lessee or leaseholder) purchases from the owner of a building (the lessor or leasehold landlord) the right to occupy a premise for a long-term, fixed period (more than 20 years, and usually for 99 years, on first sale). This is sometimes referred to as “prepaying the lease.”

In the case of Raven Woods, the land belongs to the Tsleil-Waututh First Nation, who traditionally held the territory.

A rocky road to the shift in sentiment toward leasehold

Cal Pye, a realtor now with Babych Group Realty, was part of the original sales and marketing team for the project. Having worked in the area for over three decades, Pye has seen a shift in sentiment toward leasehold properties over the years.

But it hasn’t been a straightforward line getting there.

“The leasehold aspect has always been a contentious issue with those that don’t educate themselves about the details,” he points out. “But the confidence of the investment and the huge community spirit of Raven Woods has overcome the fears associated with the lease (from) when we started in 1994.

The buyers and their realtors who do some due diligence on the value and the community soon realize what a wonderful place (it is) to live while being comfortable with the ownership details.”

Leasehold land: A previous stigma preventing people from understanding nuances & benefits — but much of what’s left

Sarah-Jane Copeland, lands manager with Cheam First Nation, also contributes her thoughts on how people think about and work with leasehold land:

“People’s perceptions and understanding of leasehold land has changed a lot over the past decade,” she notes. Before, “(They) just wanted to kind of hide it, not really have it at the forefront.”

But Copeland believes that this previous stigma prevented people from truly understanding the nuances at hand.

“There are actually quite a lot of benefits to leasehold land as well,” she adds. “Usually there’s no property transfer tax, tax rates could be lower, it’s all different. But I think currently the reality of the situation is that First Nations land (includes) some of the only large land masses that we have left, especially since Metro Vancouver is very geographically constrained.”

‘Everyone has to start somewhere’ but education and partnership are keys to success

Copeland advocates for accessing and developing these large parcels of land to help address growing housing pressure needs, but to do so in a way that truly understands the needs of the Indigenous bands she works with.

The key word, according to Copeland? Partnership.

“I think the main thing is making sure that all parties involved have an understanding of the main goal you’re working toward and being respectful of the laws and policies that these First Nations already have,” she shares.

Aiden Mauti is a Toronto-based consultant with Creative Fire, a 100 per cent Indigenous-owned consulting and communications firm.

Like Copeland and Pye, he believes in the significance of both education and partnership when it comes to real estate sales and marketing practices for leasehold properties on Indigenous land.

For realtors who are interested in learning more but aren’t sure how, Mauti’s advice would be to just get started.

“It’s such a journey that there’s always going to be a critique, there’s always going to be a different opinion of what ‘good’ looks like,” Mauti says. “Everyone has to start somewhere.”

A journey that’s just starting

And while land acknowledgements and showing support on Truth and Reconciliation Day are major steps in progress toward national attention and recognition of Indigenous issues, Mauti believes that the journey for Canadians is just getting started.

“I think there’s just a lot more learning to happen on what reconciliation really means, beyond an orange shirt or even what we see in the industry of wanting to just hire more Indigenous people for the sake of it,” he adds.

The real estate development space has seen a rise of Indigenous-led projects, such as kʷasən Village and Sen̓áḵw in Metro Vancouver, and YZD in Toronto. The land’s history has been incorporated and welcomed, rather than avoided, in their ongoing sales and marketing efforts, with the Squamish nation calling the Sen̓áḵw project “reconciliation in action.”

Resurgence over reconciliation

Mauti reflects on the words of Kahnawà:ke Mohawk writer, researcher, policy analyst and political strategist Taiaiake Alfred:

“Taiaiake talks a lot more about resurgence over reconciliation,” he notices. “A resurgence of cultures — how could we enable the next generation of Indigenous people to support their own self-determination, for whatever that might look like.”

Something to consider both within the real estate industry and beyond.

Photo credit: aquilinidevelopment.com

“Just minutes away from local schools, shopping centres and recreation facilities … ”

As one of the most commonly used phrases by realtors when describing their properties for sale, one doesn’t actually see “close proximity to hospitals” nearly as often as its more popular counterparts. But for real estate builders and developers with upcoming health care facility projects, it soon became apparent that local health care workers would be making up a sizable segment of their future home buyers.

Health care workers: Quite interested in living close to work

Barrett Sprowson, vice president of sales and project marketing at Peterson Real Estate based in Vancouver, shared his thoughts on this. One of the developer’s current projects, Ashleigh, is located in the Oakridge area of Vancouver — traditionally known as a “medical” neighbourhood in the city.

“We didn’t particularly think about health care workers specifically as a segment early on,” says Sprowson. 

But with a concentration of medical facilities nearby, as well as BC Children’s Hospital and BC Women’s Hospital & Health Centre, the idea of living close to where they work appears to be of great interest to those in the health care sector.

“Now we have lots of people coming into our presentation centre who are in the medical field in some form: doctors, dentists, registered nurses, physiotherapists,” he adds.

Higher price points out of reach for many in the profession

But with a wide disparity in income within the health care sector — a doctor can make up to $335,000 per year in British Columbia while a medical office assistant can make as little as $17.40 an hour — Sprowson is aware that the price points in this popular neighbourhood might not be attainable for everyone.

“It is a slightly higher price point,” he acknowledges. “So it has a slightly skinnier appeal in those terms.”

‘Building for humans’ despite affordability challenges

Celina Villarroel Whiting works as a practicing kinesiologist and facilities health care worker in Vancouver. However, she and her husband have chosen to live further away from her work in nearby Burnaby, with cost being the biggest factor.

“I think if we had the choice, I would have preferred to be closer to work,” shares Whiting. “In my department specifically, everyone is commuting from somewhere else.”

But despite these challenges in affordability, Peterson still aims for the principle of “building for humans” in its homes. For example, when considering the suite mix of the Ashleigh project, the team considered how they could design the space to fit as diverse a population as possible.

“We want to fit the widest range of humans possible,” continues Sprowson. “(Considering) what we’ve seen in the past, we think ‘Maybe we need this percentage of one, two or three-bedroom homes in our suite mix,’ or ‘What kind of amenities would support the type of lifestyle that people might want to have?’” These are the types of questions his team addresses.

Nearby hospital a major decision factor

Arvind Grewal is the CEO of Meritus Group, a real estate developer primarily focused on the ever-growing Fraser Valley region in B.C. One of its future residential projects is close to Mission Memorial Hospital. When they made an offer on the property in 2021, the hospital was a major factor in their decision.

“We were lucky enough that it was a big chunk of land that we could build our desired community within close proximity to all of that,” shares Grewal. 

Mix of complementary commercial tenants to existing hospital & infrastructure a ‘key priority’

Meritus Group had previously donated over $500,000 to the hospital for a new CT scanner back in 2022. Grewal hopes to continue building on this relationship as the company looks ahead to planning and building its future project. The current surrounding area is primarily made up of single detached homes, but the first two phases of the project will comprise multi-family residential units with commercial space below. Having a mix of commercial tenants that complement the existing hospital and infrastructure is a key priority for Grewal and his team.

“For a developer, it’s very significant whether a physician or a pharmacist comes into those commercial spaces,” he says. “But I think that’s something where we need to step in and have more of a careful approach into who we bring into those tenanted spaces.”

Homes can be healthy too, with plenty of light, air & access to nature

For health care workers, often surrounded by clinical spaces, Sprowsen believes that homes for these professionals can be healthy as well — albeit in a different way. Unique landscaping items, such as edible plants, garden plants and tree retention, have been incorporated into the Ashleigh project.

Growing up in Malawi, southeastern Africa, Sprowson’s mother was a horticulturist: “She would tell you a healthy building is one that has lots of greenery and plants,” he shares. “Light, air, access to nature … That, to my mind, is the foundation for a healthy building.”

If you’re a real estate professional who grew up in the ’80s or ’90s, the word “mall” likely elicits memories of water fountains, cinnamon-sugar pretzels and Orange Julius. But in today’s market, the concept of a “mall” has shifted dramatically — much like the rest of the real estate landscape.

Harp Khela, president at Khela Real Estate Group based in British Columbia’s Fraser Valley, has seen this transformation evolve throughout over 17 years as a broker. So when it was announced earlier this year that Strawberry Hill Shopping Centre, located in Surrey’s Scott Road corridor, was sold with plans for future development, this news didn’t come as a shock to him.

Not only a cheaper option but also one where people want to raise families

“It wasn’t surprising,” Khela says. “All of the large shopping centres are going through densification around the Skytrain and key transit areas.”

The Fraser Valley, a traditionally suburban region about one hour east of Metro Vancouver, and nearby cities like Surrey have undergone tremendous growth over the last decade, including a rise in housing inventory, jobs and commercial spaces like malls. According to the City of Surrey, it has experienced a 22 per cent employment growth rate over the past 10 years.

“The job creation is here,” adds Khela. “Now, the population is increasing rapidly; so it’s not just a cheaper option anymore for people, it’s more so a place where they actually want to raise their families.”

Growth and existing infrastructure: A need for balance

But not everyone in the Fraser Valley is happy with this growth. 

“I think you have people that have lived in certain areas for a very long time, in older neighbourhoods that are now densifying,” Khela continues. “Developers and planners will need to deal with this as they densify, and as they’re allowing projects to move forward, they’ll be keeping those people in mind so that they can have buffers or create setbacks that allow them to still enjoy their properties.”

The Smith neighbourhood, located in the popular Willoughby community in Langley, is a prime example of how developers are balancing the need for growth while maintaining the existing housing infrastructure in place.

Apcon Group, a real estate developer also based in the Fraser Valley, has been creating a mixed-use project called The Hive located directly next to Willoughby Town Centre. As a newer retail shopping centre, it was positioned as a “walkable lifestyle centre” —  a relatively new concept in the Fraser Valley that sits in sharp contrast to traditional models like Strawberry Hill Shopping Centre that rely heavily on vehicle traffic.

A complementary — not competing — tenant mix: Bringing essential resources to underserved communities

Tejvir Atwal, managing director of Apcon Group, paid close attention to how the community has responded to all of these development changes, particularly with the Smith Neighbourhood Plan updates on the horizon with the Township of Langley. 

“The amendment brings a great change to the area,” Atwal shares. “The Township has done a great job balancing community resources with development by bringing recreational and essential resources to an underserved community. This will benefit the community as a whole as it continues to experience growth.”

Balraj Rai, also with Apcon Group, adds her insights: “It feels like it’s a very delicate dance,” she admits.

Both Rai and Atwal understand the importance of creating a tenant mix that complements, not competes, with the existing infrastructure of Willoughby Town Centre. Communication between all stakeholders, even if interests are different, ultimately benefits the neighbourhood as a whole. 

A two-fold retail approach

“I think it’s two-fold,” continues Rai. “One part is making sure that each category of service has enough coverage, but it has to be balanced between it all, taking into consideration what is already existing around.

Secondly, at least from what I’ve seen, having an anchor tenant is very important. For your anchor tenant, you’re going to want somebody who is more of an established company, a little more known. That becomes very attractive for other companies and businesses to want to be there as well.”

Janice Barroso, a resident of the Smith neighbourhood, lives within walking distance of Willoughby Town Centre. The anchor tenant there is a grocery store, which has been beneficial for Barroso and her daughter.

“I would say that the most important thing there for sure is the grocery store,” she shares. “Especially when there’s a snowstorm or something, you don’t need to drive, you don’t need to worry, you can just walk across the street.”

Addressing new needs that stem from commercial & residential changes

These commercial and residential additions to the Smith neighbourhood inevitably create other needs from the resulting changes.

Even with an emphasis on a pedestrian-oriented neighbourhood, the Township of Langley will need to address various vehicular issues along 208th Street, including the addition of new traffic lights and the creation of new local roads.

What the future holds: Demand continuing upward — there’s ‘never been higher pressure to sell’

With the sale of Strawberry Hill Shopping Centre, along with the rise of other models of retail shopping experiences like Willoughby Town Centre, the future horizon of other shopping centres in the Fraser Valley remains unclear. But based on what’s happening in the market, Khela sees the demand to sell continuing on its upward trend.

“What’s happening with these shopping centres, with high interest rates, there’s never been higher pressure to sell,” he says. “Cap rates are still low. You can still demand a lower cap rate due to the underlying land value.”

Walkability: it sounds like a straightforward concept, but when you consider the diverse landscape within major Canadian cities, it’s not quite an apples-to-apples comparison.

Francesca Johnson, a realtor with Century 21 based in Calgary (which has a Walk Score* of 39), grew up in Manitoba. The difference between the two cities when it comes to defining walkability is indicative of each area’s respective urban areas — despite Winnipeg technically having a higher Walk Score (of 48).

“It takes half an hour to an hour to even get to the city from where a lot of people live because it’s very agricultural,” Johnson explains about Winnipeg.

She compares walkability to her current experience living and working in Calgary:

“I would break it open to three pieces: amenities, accessibility and safety,” she comments. “Are they taking good care of the sidewalks in the winter time, or are you going to be terrified that you’ll break your back on the way to work because they haven’t started it or they haven’t travelled it?”

Place-making and pedestrianization in Vancouver

On the West Coast, Vancouver (with a Walk Score of 80) is addressing its own questions about walkability with the City’s launch of the Water Street Pedestrian Zone pilot project over the summer in the popular Gastown area. The pilot converted a section of the street, formerly open to vehicle traffic, into a pedestrian-only area with public seating, market stalls and a free bike valet.

Nathan Hawkins, an urban planning student at the University of British Columbia, is involved with Vision Zero Vancouver, a non-profit organization that advocates for transportation systems that put safety first. He closely watched the pilot project in Gastown unfold throughout July and August.

“I love it,” Hawkins shares. “I think any change of use and pedestrianization of streets is fantastic from a safety and place-making perspective.”

Some businesses dissatisfied but pilot & walkability factor could help — not hinder — sales

Not everyone shares his sentiments, however. Some local businesses affected by the project have expressed their dissatisfaction with the changes, citing negative impacts on sales.

Having previous experience as a real estate project manager for a retail start-up in Canada, Hawkins takes an analytical approach in assessing any brick-and-mortar business’ sales success. This involves metrics such as month-over-month revenue, daily revenue, year-over-year revenue and basket size per sale/transaction. He believes that the pilot project, and subsequent walkability factor that comes with it, should actually help, not hinder, these businesses. 

“No business has the resources to be able to say this specific pedestrian pilot accounted for 80 per cent of their loss of sales this month versus last month. There’s just no way,” he adds.

Toronto: ‘So hard to get downtown’ and every commute minute matters

Adam Jacobs, PhD, the national head of research with Colliers, adds his insights into how walkability impacts the real estate market in Toronto (which has a Walk Score of 61), where he’s based:

“It’s so hard to get downtown here,” comments Jacobs. “It’s a difficult commute, there’s a lot of construction, there’s a lot of traffic and it’s getting harder and harder to get employees downtown.”

For businesses with offices in downtown Toronto, every minute matters. A Q1 2024 report from Colliers indicated that “an average lower commute time of 10 minutes is correlated to a two-percentage point lower market vacancy.” 

So how do these businesses decide on their next office space?

“(They think,) ‘Let’s make this as frictionless and easy as possible. I’ll pay top dollar to rent the building right next to the main train station’,” Jacobs explains.

Walkability impacting the market: A ‘wholly Canadian issue’

Whether you’re in Calgary, Winnipeg, Vancouver or Toronto, walkability plays a key factor in the real estate market. And while there are differences between each city, Hawkins sees this as a wholly Canadian issue.

“We as a country are very unwilling to invest deeply and make bold moves. Canada as a whole really approaches governance as, ‘We need to see somebody else do it successfully for 10 years and then we’ll do a milder version of what they did,’ and that’s exactly what’s happened with the Gastown pedestrian pilot,” he points out.

“I don’t think the City went far enough with it. They’re very averse to taking risks and doing things boldly, the way that other cities, like Paris, are willing to really invest in public spaces.”

Montreal: A potential source of inspiration

Widely known as one of the most walkable cities in Canada, garnering comparisons to other European cities like Paris, Montreal may be poised to serve as an inspiration point for the rest of the country.

With a Walk Score of 65 — lower than Vancouver’s — Montreal is one example of how numbers alone can’t tell the whole story or paint the full picture of a city’s accessibility and walkability.

Lea James, originally from Paris, lived in Montreal before eventually moving to Vancouver and currently advocates alongside Hawkins at Vision Zero Vancouver.

James believes that Paris and now Montreal increasingly becoming among the most walkable and bikeable cities taught us in the last few years that, “Without determined political powers and citizens pushing for healthier and safer cities, change will not happen.”

“A walkable city is the best advocacy for living in a sustainable way, connecting with our communities and enjoying healthier living, and that’s the winning recipe to make our cities durable and equitable,” James adds.

* Walk Scores sourced from walkscore.com

Overlooking the horizon in Palm Springs, California, you would think that finding solar power for a residential real estate project wouldn’t be an issue.

But Kevin Lesowski, asset coordinator at Gatehouse Design and Developments, based in Chilliwack, British Columbia, and his team faced exactly that with their project in the California city of La Quinta. This experience highlights the need for alternative energy solutions in housing, both here in Canada and south of the border.

No power available, $20 million price tag for substation upgrade

An average home requires about 200 amps of electricity to be fully functional, yet, after about a year of dealing with the Imperial Irrigation District, the organization that deals with energy service in the area, they were told that there was no power — period. 

“Power was always known as an issue in the area, but it definitely caught us by surprise,” admitted Lesowski.

Gatehouse, along with other developers in the surrounding Palm Springs area, were advised that they’d need to upgrade a substation to service the homes, at a price tag of $20 million. 

Creating a smaller project of 34 single-family homes, the team at Gatehouse knew that it would take some unorthodox thinking to solve this problem.

A solution: Solar panels linked to batteries add power to communal grid

A year after they were given the condition, while also working alongside a consortium of developers in the surrounding area, Lesowski found a third-party company called Block Energy that specializes in creating residential micro-grid communities.

“They have solar panels on the roof that go into batteries in the garages,” he explains. “Then the whole community is linked on a communal grid — once the batteries in the garage are full, they dump power into a community battery bank.”

Vancouver: Environmentally sustainable project turning profits for residents — too good to be true?

While Vancouver may not get as much sunlight as our southern California counterparts, that didn’t stop Graham Carter, co-founder of Vertex Developments, from also exploring alternative energy solutions that would work for development projects in B.C.

For Carter, this led to more research into geothermal energy: in essence, energy derived from the Earth’s crust.

“If you could have a little utility running into your building, like a geothermal system, potentially there’s an income stream for the strata corporation long-term,” says Carter.

An environmentally sustainable real estate development project that could also actually make money for its future residents? Sounds too good to be true. And as Carter and his team discovered, it was.

“What we found with everything we looked at is (it) was cost prohibitive, especially in Vancouver with the cost of building buildings. We can’t be competitive and add an extra ‘nice to have’,” he shares.

Actual and hidden costs: A huge factor all around

Carlos Gamez Ruiz, associate partner at Berry Architecture, while now based in Kelowna, B.C., previously lived and worked in Alberta. From his experience, cost also appears to be a significant factor for clients deciding on energy options for their projects.

“Either here in B.C. or in Alberta is the same situation — the cost. Also, what (will) be the hidden costs that are required to have that system in place?” Ruiz adds. “In terms of investments, talking about multi-residential types of dwelling units, we always try to see if the investment makes sense.”

Alberta: Wind energy being explored

Wind energy is currently being explored in parts of Alberta, in large part due to the topography of the region that suits this option well.

“They’re trying to make the most of the open scenarios, as there are quite a few areas there where the land is pretty flat,” notes Ruiz. “So you open the opportunity for higher winds more. In Medicine Hat, (there’s) a wind farm that they’re trying to bring on as an alternative energy solution for communities back in Red Deer.” (Medicine Hat is about 410 kilometres southeast of Red Deer.)

Bioenergy: More research & education needed for long-term traction

Another alternative energy source that could potentially garner more attention in the future? Bioenergy.

“Garbage generates some gasses,” explains Ruiz. “And they take those types of gasses to generate energy in a clean way.”

Bioenergy can be produced from multiple renewable, biological sources such as by-products from industrial forest processes or construction and demolition waste. But according to Ruiz, for this energy source to gain more traction as a long-term viable option, more research and education are needed.

Discovering, studying and eventually implementing alternative energy solutions into residential real estate projects will not be an easy task or overnight success. But despite the challenges Lesowski faced in Palm Springs, he’s optimistic about the potential for Canada’s future development landscape.

“It’s really, really great to be on the crest of that pioneering wave,” he adds. ”I think that our project aside, just the fact that everything is changing is super cool.”

The term “missing middle” has become as common in today’s real estate vocabulary as “a hot market” or “location, location, location.” Cliches often have some truth in them — and in the case of the “missing middle,” it’s gaining traction in the Canadian real estate market in part due to the rise of a newer property type: multiplexes.

Changes in B.C. and Toronto

Multiplexes are residential homes that consist of multiple separate units within what would have traditionally been a lot designated for a single detached home. They can generally vary from two to eight units.

In 2023, British Columbia made amendments to their Housing Statutes (Residential Development) Amendment Act — more commonly referred to as “Bill 44.” That same year, Toronto’s city council adopted its own Official Plan Amendment and Zoning Bylaw Amendment to allow multiplexes throughout the city.  

Jasmine Cracknell-Young, vice president of market advisory at Zonda, saw that the rise of multiplex listings in Toronto jumped dramatically since these amendments. According to the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB), in 2023 there were 115 listings and in 2024, 168 listings — a 46.1 per cent increase.

“I think because housing has become such a hot topic, we have all levels of government finally talking about it because they realize the crisis that we’re in,” she comments. 

A ‘tiny part of the market’: Legislation may not go far enough

Chris Spoke, builder and developer with Toronto Standard, has seen firsthand the impact of these legal changes on housing projects. Personally, he doesn’t believe the legislation goes far enough. 

“So we have five residential zones in Toronto. Two of those residential zones do support multi-unit housing, but the zoning bylaws paired with the city’s Official Plan and the language of it is if there’s any new development within the neighborhood’s designation, it has to respect and reinforce the existing physical character.

(This) means that even if the zoning technically allows for multi-unit housing, if it’s not consistent with the existing physical character, then you’re not going to get past this test,” Spoke explains. “We’ve still not seen a lot of activity because I think the multiplex bylaw doesn’t go far enough in terms of the permissions. So it’s still like a tiny part of the market.”

Optimism and opposition: Major Streets Study

However, Spoke is optimistic that multiplexes will continue to rise in popularity in Toronto, particularly with the momentum surrounding the Major Streets Study which “focuses on permitting gentle density — missing middle housing — on major streets in low-rise neighbourhoods across Toronto.”

“These are the major arterials in the city that have bus routes on them,” adds Spoke. “So this also opened up a new scale of development in parts of the city where it was not legal before.”

However, these policies are met with some opposition. When it comes to the Major Streets Policy, traffic is a big concern among current residents.

“It’s always traffic,” shares Cracknell-Young. “They just think it’s taking up road space.”

Bill 44 in B.C. addresses these concerns by eliminating new vehicles from entering neighbourhoods altogether in some cases: if a housing project is within 400 metres of a transit stop, no minimum parking is required. Transportation accessibility is poised to play a significant role in the development of multiplex housing.

Ottawa: Multiplex increases expected post-bylaw approval in 2025

Nachiket Kulkarni, an architectural designer with Architrix Studio, has worked on multiplex projects both in Vancouver and Ottawa, where he now lives.

“Ottawa would be two or three years behind Vancouver when it comes to that change,” he says. “So whatever happens in Vancouver right now, the same change would be in Ottawa two or three years down the line in terms of multiplexes.”

While Kulkarni has seen a big shift towards more multiplex development over the past couple of years in Ottawa, he anticipates that to increase even further after December 2025, when the new zoning bylaw is expected to have final approval.

“In Ottawa, they’ve consolidated the number of zones into just six zones now, just like Vancouver did,” adds Kulkarni.

In October 2023, the City of Vancouver implemented a new zoning designation, “R1-1,” otherwise known as “Residential Inclusive.” This was put in place to replace and simplify the previous zoning structure, which included various RS (One-Family Dwelling), RT (Two-Family Dwelling) and RM (Multiple Dwelling) designations.

And similar to Toronto and Vancouver, Ottawa’s changes will also aim to reduce parking requirements.

‘Citizen developers’ on the rise

Spoke believes that with these new changes, multiplexes will open the door towards something he refers to as “citizen developers:” where those such as home builders, general contractors and even everyday homeowners can actively participate in building up new housing opportunities.

“Multiplexes offer a form of development that’s accessible to people who haven’t worked professionally as developers,” Spoke says.

While multiplexes will likely not solve all of our housing problems overnight, they provide an opportunity to think of density in a more nuanced manner. 

“I think it’s a really great product form. You can have multiplexes go into existing communities and have people of different incomes and demographics able to access some of the best communities that we have,” says Cracknell-Young. “To stop the sprawl and have more people in our existing communities where it’s possible … I hope that we will see more of them.”

Image: ShapeYourCity.ca