A Brief History of Canada’s Real Estate and the Impact of Its Modernization on the Canadian Market

A real estate business is a business entity that deals with the buying, selling, management or investment of real estate properties. It is a good career choice if you hope to start the business with plans to make a name for yourself. Canada has a flourishing real estate business which in recent years has been modernized with luxury apartments, high-rises, flats and condominiums that one can invest in even if it is still being built like those few pre-construction condos in Burlington. Over the years, the Canadian real estate has become an integral part of the economy generating tremendous value to the Canadian GDP. Let’s take a brief look at the history of real estate business in Canada.

A quick survey about the history of Canada’s real estate business shows Canada’s real estate business to be as old as the country itself. The first real estate board was organized in the 1880s in Vancouver. Followed by Ottawa, Hamilton, Regina etc after the First World War. After the Second World War, the Canadian Association of Real Estate Boards (CAREB) was formed presided over by founding President Charles Purnell. That’s when the term “Realtor” was adopted for use by all those who were members of CAREB.

Canada is the world’s second-largest country by land area and the tenth-largest economy with a gross domestic product of over $2 trillion and national wealth valued at over $11 trillion. Canada’s real estate market growth is largely driven by the increased value of the land. Canada has a market-oriented economy with little government intervention in business ideal for investments. The Canadian real estate market has transparent regulations policies which are efficient for free open market growth. Check this list to look at some of the finest condos in Canada.

A real estate includes the physical surface of the land, what lies above and below the land, what is permanently attached to it, plus all the rights of ownership—including the right to possess, sell, lease the land. Generally, there are three types of real estate:

• Commercial real estate
• Residential real estate
• Industrial real estate

Here are a few ways in which the modernization of real estate has impacted the Canadian market.

 

Tourism

When it comes to popularity with travellers, Canada ranks near the top of the list thanks to its world-class real estate facilities. The growth of tourism in Canada has boosted Canadian land value. The most popular provinces for international visitors are Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec. Not forgetting the emerging markets which have also contributed strongly to the growth in tourism revenue. The relation between real estate and tourism goes hand in hand; Canada is blessed with a vast land filled with natural beauties (mountain, island, lakes, parks etc). In fact there are stranger places like the magnetic hills that tourists come to visit in Canada. These have led to new real estate projects ranging from tiny condos and apartments to five-star hotels or resorts.

 

Skilled and Innovative Workforce

Approximately 20% of Canada’s 35 million people are from a foreign land, which makes Canada one of the world’s most multicultural countries. Canada has a fast-track system for immigration called Express-Entry for skilled workers. The applicants at the top of the rankings are offered permanent residency. The impact of such filtration provides Canada with the best talents and opens new avenues of doing business. The Canadian workplace embraces diversity and inclusion. Unlike most countries the unemployed rate in Canada is very low, one of the reasons behind this is increasing demands in real estate projects, which means more opportunities for work.

 

Better Use of Resources

As an economy grows and the market expands, there is an inverse relation with the natural resources. We know that our natural landscape and resources are finite. Because of this awareness, the Canadians real estate builders in the last few years have been developing sustainable environment-friendly getaway homes or vacation resorts. During the current pandemic, people have left cities in Canada and moved to the countryside, some for financial reasons but mostly for the environment where they feel more can be done for conservation and thus paving a way for the next generation.

 

Investment Hub

The nature of the Canadian federal government’s limited intervention works for better. For example, there is no residency or a citizenship requirement for buying and owning property in Canada as long as you meet the immigration requirements. Even with the current pandemic the real estate market in Canada is picking up the sale rate and is soon expected to recover from the loss due to the pandemic within the next few months. Not to mention the ever-growing tourism and real estate projects keep the investing flooding in.

These are the positive impacts of modern real estate on the economy, its history and how the Canadian real estate market has become a force to reckon. The Canadian real estate market has shown steady overall growth during the past decades, strengthening its contribution to Canada’s economic well-being. Although the current pandemic continues to be Canada’s biggest hurdle, the federal government and the real estate builders or realtors are shifting its focus to the more sustainable growth-oriented, lucrative emerging markets to better diversify and sustain Canada’s interests.