Statistics Canada recently released a report that examines the size and role of residential property investors in Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Ontario, Manitoba, and British Columbia, using 2022 assessed-value data from the Canadian Housing Statistics Program. Investors are grouped into six categories, ranging from individuals who own a small number of rental properties to institutional investors. Defined as the top 0.1 per cent of investors by assessed value, institutional investors include entities such as real estate investment trusts (REITs), pension funds, and large private corporations that own and manage residential real estate on a significant scale.
Small-scale individual investors held the largest share of investment-property value in every province studied except Nova Scotia, where institutional investors ranked first. Institutional ownership of the housing stock itself (single-detached, semi-detached, row houses, and mobile homes) was minimal, ranging from 0.1 per cent in Prince Edward Island and Manitoba to 0.4 per cent in Ontario, representing roughly four homes per 1,000.
Institutional investors played a larger role in the rental market, holding between 16.6 per cent and 38.0 per cent of the assessed value of rental properties. Their presence was highest in Nova Scotia (38.0 per cent), Manitoba (33.6 per cent), and New Brunswick (31.4 per cent). Small-scale individual investors, by contrast, owned roughly half of the assessed value of rental properties in British Columbia, Ontario, and Prince Edward Island.
Institutional ownership was especially pronounced among rental properties built since 2011 in Nova Scotia (63.1 per cent) and New Brunswick (61.5 per cent). By comparison, Ontario was an exception, where newer rental stock was more likely to be owned by small-scale investors, likely reflecting the province’s higher share of condominium construction relative to purpose-built rental buildings. A similar dynamic exists in British Columbia, where investor-owned condominium units account for a significant portion of the rental housing stock.
Among the 12 largest census metropolitan areas (CMAs) examined, institutional investors held more than 40 per cent of rental-property value in Halifax (54.3 per cent), London (46.5 per cent), and Winnipeg (45.0 per cent). Small-scale individual investors held the largest share in the remaining nine CMAs, including Toronto and Vancouver, which had the least concentrated rental markets.
In Halifax, the lack of a condo boom combined with a surge in population likely contributed to the larger role played by institutional investors, which have been active in developing new multi-unit buildings and repositioning existing properties. In London, the prevalence of student-focused housing and strong population growth between 2016 and 2021 helped drive the higher share of institutional ownership.
Using the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI) to measure market concentration, the study found that all 12 CMAs were well within the range considered a non-concentrated market, with HHI scores below 1,500. London had the highest concentration level among the CMAs examined, with an HHI score of 133.9, still far below the 1,500 threshold. This finding aligns with 2025 research from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, which found no statistically significant difference in rents between REIT-owned and other rental units in Canada’s three largest CMAs. The authors caution, however, that CMA-level results may mask concentration within specific neighbourhoods and that coordinated pricing platforms are not captured by the HHI methodology.
Overall, the study concludes that institutional investors have a meaningful and growing presence in Canada’s rental market, particularly in newer purpose-built rental housing in several provinces. However, they remain marginal owners of single-family housing, and the rental markets studied appeared competitive rather than concentrated as of 2022.
Source: Statistics Canada, Canadian Housing Statistics Program, “Individual and institutional investors in the Canadian housing market” (Catalogue no. 46-28-0001), July 7, 2026.
Independent Opinion
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