A $1.7-billion student housing portfolio and a Montreal-area shopping centre transaction were the top commercial real estate transactions in Canada during 2024.

Cadillac Fairview’s $553.2 million buyback last August of its 50 per cent interest in the 266-store CF Carrefour Laval shopping centre from TD Asset Management, was the biggest single-asset transaction 2024 by dollar value, according to Altus Group. 

But that was eclipsed by the year-end closing of Forum Asset Management's acquisition of Alignvest Student Housing REIT, a $1.7 billion deal which created the country's largest private owner of student housing accommodations. Forum's REIIF fund now holds a nationwide portfolio of approximately 10,500 student housing beds.

The deal for the 1.2-million-square-foot mall in the Montreal suburb provided proof of a resurgence in retail investment. Later in the year, Cadillac Fairview announced it would build 20- and 11-storey multifamily towers comprising 365 homes at the shopping centre.

Unlike 2023, in which most of the Top-15 transactions were in the Greater Toronto Area and Ontario’s Greater Golden Horseshoe area, about half of 2024’s Top-15 were scattered throughout the country. This shows “investors are looking to diversify,” according to Raymond Wong, vice-president, data solutions, client delivery at Altus Group.

Some of the top deals involved downtown office buildings – including Brookfield Properties’ acquisition of 2 Queen St. E. in Toronto – thus indicating there is still demand for quality downtown office space, Wong said.

Year-end transaction numbers down in Canada

Total Canadian real estate investment activity last year ended up below 2023 numbers - at approximately $50.5 billion according to Altus Group's Canadian CRE Investment Trends - compared with $54.8 billion in 2023. That's a reduction of about eight per cent.

Investment activity reached $8 billion in Vancouver versus $7.3 billion in 2023 and Montreal was at $9.6 billion compared with $8.1 billion in 2023. However, in the GTA, investment activity dropped to $17.1 billion compared with $22.1 billion in 2023.

Wong said while the challenge for investors in 2023 was high interest rates, the question now is by how much they will continue to drop and the frequency of interest rate cuts. The impact of a low Canadian dollar has become a concern this year, he said.

The impact of U.S. tariffs could also become a factor.

Wong says foreign investors still have an appetite for Canadian real estate – two of the top five deals last year involved foreign investors. “They still see Canada as a safe haven (with) good stability and solid assets.” 

Canada's Top-15 transactions in 2024

Here are the Top-15 largest (by dollar value) commercial real estate transactions in Canada in 2024:

1. Forum Asset Management acquisition of Alignvest Student Housing REIT for $1.7 billion. 

2. Cadillac Fairview’s $553.2 million buyback of its 50 per cent interest in the 266-store CF Carrefour Laval shopping centre from TD Asset Management. 

3. Morguard Corp. sale of a portfolio of 14 hotel properties with 2,248 rooms in Ontario and Halifax to InnVest Hotels and Manga Hotel Group for $410 million. InnVest acquired 10 of the hotels: Marriott Toronto Airport, Courtyard Toronto Airport, Residence Inn Toronto Airport, Hotel Carlingview, Courtyard Vaughan, Courtyard Markham, Residence Inn Markham, Townplace Suites Sudbury, Cambridge Suites Halifax and The Prince George Halifax.

4. Prologis, a San Francisco-based REIT, acquired a 1.3 million-square-foot distribution centre at 8450 Boston Church Road, in Milton, Ont. for $361 million from New York-based Sycamore Partners. It will continue to serve as a Rona distribution centre through a 15-year leaseback. The site formed part of Sycamore Partners’ acquisition of Lowe’s Canadian retail business and Rona rebrand.

5. Germany-based Deka Immobilien Investment GmbH spent $300 million to acquire 22-storey 401 West Georgia St. and nine-storey 402 Dunsmuir St. in downtown Vancouver from Oxford Properties. The majority tenant is Amazon and the buildings total just over 416,000 square feet of office space.

6. Brookfield Properties acquired Village Green Apartments, a 705-unit, three-tower apartment complex at 40 Alexander St. in Old Toronto for $264.4 million from Greenrock Property Management.

7. Prologis spent $258.1 million to buy a 90-acre industrial property and 1.5-million-square-foot warehouse in the Toronto suburb of Brampton. Canadian Tire said the distribution facility, located near Bramalea and Steeles roads, was no longer needed and that the company would operate out of its newer, more modern, more highly automated facilities in the Greater Toronto Area.

8. H&R REIT sold its Corus Quay office building, along the Lake Ontario waterfront in Toronto, to George Brown College and Halmont Properties Corp. for $232.5 million. The eight-storey building at 25 Dockside Drive has 479,437 square feet of space. 

9. Three private investors in Quebec acquired the Norgate portfolio of approximately 70 older, small apartment buildings in the Montreal borough of Saint-Laurent from Starlight Investments and KingSett Capital for $197.5 million.

10. Choo Communities sold Envie Rideau, its 296,900 square foot student housing building at 256 Rideau St. in Ottawa, for $183 million to Forum Asset Management. The 579-unit, 737 bed property has since been renamed Alma @ ByWard Market.

11. Brookfield Properties spent $172.8 million to buy the 483-unit, multifamily property at 77 Davisville Ave. in Old Toronto from Greenrock Property Management. 

12. Brookfield Properties spent $161.3 million to buy out AIMCo and CPP Investments to be the sole owner of the 477,000 sq. ft. 2 Queen St. E. office tower in downtown Toronto.

13. Seventh Centre Residential Properties spent $154.7 million to obtain from 7th Avenue Sky Property a 50 per cent undivided interest in TELUS Sky, at 685 Centre St. SW in Calgary. The 60-storey building, one of downtown Calgary’s most iconic high-rise towers contains commercial and residential components.

14. Vancouver-based Hydrogen Technology & Energy Corp. paid $145 million to purchase a 21-acre industrial property at100 Forester Street in North Vancouver from specialty chemicals producer ERCO Worldwide. The site will be home to a 15 tonne-per-day clean hydrogen plant to meet a growing market demand for low-carbon transportation fuels. 

15. Rosedale Developments bought The Quarry, a power centre at 55 Quarry St. E. in Cochrane, near Calgary, for $138.7 million from vendor Springwood Land Corporation.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This story was updated to clarify that CF Carrefour Laval was the largest single-asset transaction, and to include that the Forum / Alignvest transaction, which closed just before the end of 2024, was the largest overall transaction. RENX apologizes for the initial omission of the Forum/Alignvest information.