Study: Individual and institutional investors in residential real estate, 2022
Released: 2026-07-07
From 2011 to 2021, the price of properties almost doubled (+98.4%, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association), while rent rose by 42.6% in Canada. These pressures on housing affordability were accompanied by a decline in the homeownership rate, which fell from 69.0% in 2011 to 66.5% in 2021.
In this context and amid findings from studies showing that real estate investment trusts are increasingly present in the rental market, special attention was given to the various actors in the housing market and to the role of real estate investors.
A new study published today, "Individual and institutional investors in the Canadian housing market," examines the distribution of residential properties by investor size. Investors are defined as owners of at least one residential property that is not used as their principal residence. This analysis provides a better understanding of the relative share of small-scale and larger-scale investors in the market and sheds light on their contribution to housing dynamics in Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Ontario, Manitoba and British Columbia.
Rental properties are largely owned by small-scale investors
Small-scale individual investors owned the largest share of the assessed value of rental properties (i.e., investment properties not for personal use) in all the provinces studied, except Nova Scotia. Small-scale individual investors are investors who own five or fewer properties, excluding investors whose properties are for personal use. In 2022, their share of the assessed value of rental properties ranged from 35.9% in Nova Scotia to 57.1% in Prince Edward Island.
In Nova Scotia, institutional investors—the top 0.1% of investors in terms of the assessed value of investment properties owned—owned the largest share of the total assessed value of rental properties in the province (38.0%).
Institutional investors are mostly absent from the house sector
In the six provinces studied, the share of the stock of houses owned by institutional investors ranged from 0.1% (Prince Edward Island and Manitoba) to 0.4% (Ontario) in 2022. The "house" category includes single-detached houses, semi-detached houses, row houses and mobile homes. Houses were generally owned by owner-occupants. Otherwise, they were mostly owned by smaller-scale individual investors and individual investors for personal use.
Low concentration of investors in the Toronto and Vancouver rental markets
The study also presents results on the concentration of rental markets in the 12 largest census metropolitan areas (CMAs) in the six provinces studied. The findings suggest that the concentration of rental markets was lower in Toronto and Vancouver than in the other CMAs.
Note to readers
An investor is defined as an owner of at least one residential property that is not used as their principal residence, excluding Canadian non-profit organizations. An owner who owns a single property in the same province where they live is not considered an investor, so long as the property is not a property with multiple residential units. This category excludes investor-occupants.
An investment property refers to a residential property owned by at least one investor and is not used as a primary place of residence by any of the owners. This category excludes owner-occupied investment properties.
An investor (individual) for personal use can refer to four types of individuals: an individual who owns one property, lives outside the province or country where the property is located, and does not report rental income; an individual who owns two properties in different regions and does not report rental income (e.g., secondary residence); an individual who owns a residential property and a vacant lot; and an individual who owns more than one property, but all those properties are occupied by at least one owner.
A smaller-scale investor (individual) refers to an individual who owns up to five properties and is not classified as an investor for personal use. The total assessed value of their properties is not more than five times higher than the median value of the residential properties in the province.
An institutional investor refers to an investor in the top 0.1% of investors in terms of the value of investment properties owned in the province. This category consists primarily of businesses, including real estate investment trusts, pension funds, private funds and family-owned businesses.
Rental properties are defined as any investment property that is not vacant land and is not for personal use, as defined above. This is an approximation of the actual universe of properties with rental units. It can also include properties owned for speculative purposes that are not rented out, and excludes occupied investment properties that may include rented units in addition to an owner-occupied unit.
The data in this analysis are based on the reference year 2022 and the geographic boundaries set out in the 2016 Standard Geographical Classification.
The Canadian Housing Statistics Program database does not contain information about residential properties on reserves.
Products
The publication "Individual and institutional investors in the Canadian housing market," part of the series Housing Statistics in Canada (46280001), is now available.
Contact information
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).
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