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Bank of Canada holds key rate as Macklem downplays recession talk

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 05:22:30 GMT

OTTAWA — Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem doesn't think the economy is in a recession, but he does acknowledge some recent weakness — something other economists argue should give the central bank more leeway to keep its key interest rate steady for the rest of the year.

The central bank’s policy rate remains at 2.25 per cent Wednesday after the central bank's fifth consecutive hold, a move that was widely expected by economists.

The Bank of Canada's rate decision arrived after days of debate over whether the country is in a recession, triggered by a second straight economic contraction in the first quarter of the year.

Macklem said Wednesday that the economy was weaker than expected in the first quarter as U.S. trade policy and the war in Iran spur geopolitical uncertainty.

Asked whether he thought the economy was in a recession, Macklem said that label isn't yet warranted — echoing the chorus of economists who argue the current downturn fails to meet that bar.

"Based on the data we've seen to date, the economy is weak, but it is not clearly in recession," Macklem said.

In its April forecast, the Bank of Canada called for growth of 1.5 per cent in the first quarter of the year. Macklem chalked much of that miss up to an unexpected pullback in government spending, which he said can be choppy from one quarter to the next.

While there's been some volatility in the economy and labour market over the past year, Macklem said the wider trend is of flat growth, not a pronounced decline. More than half of Canadian industries were also growing in the first quarter of the year despite the marginal headline decline, he noted.

Recent economic data, including a strong May jobs report, signals the economy could rebound in the second quarter of the year, Macklem said.

"So far, we have not seen a significant, broad-based decline in economic activity," he said.

"Recession is not the word I would use."

Macklem highlighted that the upcoming review of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico agreement, or CUSMA, comes with significant risks for the economy. An outcome that sees current tariff levels ratchet up, or that sees uncertainty persist into the second half of the year, would hamper Canada's economic recovery.

Michael Davenport, senior economist at Oxford Economics, said he believes Macklem has the right interpretation of recent data, including sharp risks around the upcoming CUSMA renewal.

"The Canadian economy is definitely a little bit weaker than we had thought, say, a couple of months ago, but we don't think that the Canadian economy's currently in a recession," Davenport said.

Global oil prices — driven higher by the Middle East conflict — are meanwhile staying higher than first thought in the Bank of Canada's April forecast. Opposing pressures on prices and economic growth put the central bank in a dilemma, Macklem said.

“Raising rates to dampen inflation could further slow the economy. Easing rates to support growth increases the risk that higher inflation becomes persistent,” he said.

“For now, holding the policy rate unchanged balances those risks.”

Annual inflation rose to 2.8 per cent in April, in part because of the global energy shock. The Bank of Canada now expects inflation to hold around three per cent in the coming months before easing back toward the central bank’s two per cent target.

Macklem said there has so far been “limited evidence” that higher energy prices are passing through into broader inflationary pressures.

He said the Bank of Canada will keep looking through the short-term rise in inflation tied to the oil price shock. He also reiterated the central bank will act to prevent price pressures from becoming entrenched.

Core inflation — a group of metrics the Bank of Canada uses to track underlying price trends — has cooled in recent months despite the rising headline rate. Macklem said the central bank "might have to take some action" if that trend were to reverse course.

Financial market odds call for the Bank of Canada to hold rates steady again at its next meeting on July 15, according to LSEG Data & Analytics. But markets are pricing in a quarter-point hike before the end of the year.

"We think that misses the mark. We think the Bank of Canada is more likely going to remain on hold for the remainder of this year," Davenport said.

In order for the central bank to raise its policy rate this year, he argued core inflation would have to pick up steam and price pressures would have to broaden across the consumer basket. Long-term inflation expectations from businesses and consumers would also have to rise, but those have so far been grounded in the wake of the Middle East oil price shock.

"None of that, we think, is likely given the current weak macroeconomic backdrop," Davenport said.

KPMG chief economist Ali Jaffery said in a media statement that the focus on recent economic weakness gave Macklem's remarks a "dovish" tone — suggestive of looser monetary policy rather than any tightening.

Risks of persistent inflation seem low in the face of a soft economy, Jaffery argued.

"Even if the economy perks up in Q2 — which it likely will — there is a lot of room for non-inflationary growth when an economy is coming out of a hole like this," he said.

CIBC senior economist Andrew Grantham said in a note to clients that Wednesday's rate decision reflects a "very patient central bank" content to wait and see how the risks play out.

He said CIBC continues to expect no change to the policy rate in 2026 as the current rate level supports a modest recovery in the economy starting later this year.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 10, 2026.

Craig Lord, The Canadian Press

B.C. restaurants, pubs, bars can buy alcohol from private stores

Sat, 30 May 2026 02:29:45 GMT

The B.C. government on Friday, May 29, made a policy change that private beer, wine and spirits retailers have been urging for years, if not decades.

Restaurants, bars and pubs are now able to buy alcohol directly from those private retailers, as well as from government stores. This is only a temporary measure, however, as the change is set to expire at the start of June 2029, according to the ministry of agriculture and food, which oversees the BC Liquor Distribution Branch (BCLDB).

The news comes days after Business in Vancouver reported that the BCLDB's longtime CEO and general manager Blain Lawson had retired without the BCLDB announcing the retirement publicly. Erin McEwan is now in those roles on an interim basis, the BCLDB confirmed earlier this week.

"This has been 40 years in the making," Marquis Wine Cellars owner John Clerides told BIV.

"The change will help small businesses and I'm looking forward to it."

BC Restaurant and Foodservices Association CEO Ian Tostenson said his organization first spoke with government officials about making this change more than eight years ago.

"Good things take time and we are pleased to see this collaborative work move forward," he said.

"This is a substantial benefit to our industry and an important step forward in providing greater operational flexibility for restaurants, bars and pubs across B.C."

Calls for the B.C. government to make this change ramped up last fall, when British Columbia General Employees Union (BCGEU) workers went on strike and picketed BCLDB warehouses and liquor stores.

Private stores remained open but restaurants, bars and pubs were legally not able to buy their products to resell to customers—a situation retailers said was ridiculous.

A restaurant patron was able to leave the premises, go to a private liquor store, buy a bottle of wine and return to the restaurant for the server to open and charge a corkage fee, but it was illegal for restaurant staff to make that shuttle run for the customer.

Restaurant representatives told BIV some reasons why they want to be able to buy from private stores include:

They may run out of a popular product and want to restock quickly by buying from a private retailer down the street;
They may want to only buy a few bottles of a product, and the government often requires them to buy a full case, unlike private stores;
Private stores may also sell products unavailable at government stores; and
There could be a situation like last fall, when BCGEU workers conducted job action to block access to alcohol.

B.C. Premier David Eby told BIV in 2020, when he was attorney general, that his ministry had been readying to allow restaurants to buy wine directly from private stores.

He had established the Business Technical Advisory Panel (Liquor Policy)—or BTAP—in 2017 to get recommendations to modernize liquor laws in the province.

That panel issued 23 recommendations the next year, including that the government should allow restaurants to buy directly from private stores.

The BCLDB sent BIV an email last year saying that the policy has not changed because in 2022 the government reviewed the recommendation. They determined not to make any change “given policy, labour, financial and trade implications, and lack of consensus among stakeholders.”

BIV asked the BCLDB to elaborate on those objections and identify which "stakeholders" did not agree with the policy but a response from the BCLDB did not expand on what complications to "labour, financial and trade" matters might arise or which stakeholders opposed the change.

The BCLDB did add that "any changes to the current model would require cross-government coordination, the development of new oversight mechanisms and reporting systems, and careful consideration of impacts to other sectors in B.C.’s liquor industry."

If the policy change would mean a potential reduction in BCGEU jobs, then it may make sense for that union to not want to see the policy change go ahead.

BIV on Friday emailed BCGEU president Paul Finch for a comment on the government's policy change to allow restaurants, bars and pubs to buy alcohol from private retailers but did not get a response by press time. BIV also left a voicemail and text with BCGEU's communications team.

Tech and AI driving office leasing in Vancouver and other gateways, says report

Tue, 12 May 2026 16:01:00 GMT

AI is expected to be a major growth driver for Vancouver’s tech industry and office space demand over the next decade, according to a new report.

The commercial real estate market could be reshaped as AI adoption scales across industries and transforms business, said the 2026 Tech Gateway Office Markets report by CBRE Ltd.

The report, released Monday, examined how a tech growth cycle is accelerating leasing activity in 17 markets in the U.S., Canada and Europe.

Vancouver saw greater tech industry office leasing activity in 2025 compared to 2023, said the May 11 report.

It was among 12 of the 17 markets that saw increased tech leasing activity, with the largest percentage gains in Manhattan, Toronto and Boston, said the report.

Vancouver saw a rising vacancy rate over the past two years—it increased by about 16 per cent during that period—but the city recorded positive net absorption growth and positive annual rent growth in 2025, said the report.

In Canada more broadly, the tech industry accounted for 14.7 per cent of total leasing in 2025 or 2.8 million square feet. This volume was 55 per cent higher than 2023 but well below peak levels in 2019, similar to the U.S., the report said.

The tech industry share of total Canadian office leasing increased to 32.2 per cent or 1.4 million square feet in the first quarter of 2026, up from 15 per cent in 2025, said the report.

CBRE said AI will create entirely new business opportunities much like mobile devices enabled the app economy more than a decade ago.

It said venture capital (VC) funding reached a record high in 2025 in the U.S., Canada and Europe, and that AI is accounting for a rising share of VC funding.

“The technology industry is in the early stages of what could be a large growth cycle driven by AI development and deployment,” said the report.

“AI innovation will likely create more jobs than it replaces and increase office space leasing demand in tech gateway office markets,” it said.

Still, the report noted that AI-related job cuts are increasing as many tech companies reposition their workforces and capital expenditures.

Courtenay mobile home park attracts 30 qualified offers

Thu, 07 May 2026 05:25:04 GMT

DEAL | Dogwood Mobile Home Park at 1700 Cumberland Rd., Courtenay, sold March 31 for $1.35 million. The sale price averaged $54,000 a pad. The Klein Group at Royal LePage Commercial was exclusively retained by the Public Guardian of BC to handle the listing, which attracted 30 qualified offers following more than 200 inquiries. The 4.1-acre park represents a rare, stabilized multifamily investment in Courtenay, with zero vacancy and full municipal services. Strategically positioned near ongoing community growth and redevelopment corridors, the park offers both steady income and redevelopment potential.

PRICE | $1,350,000

Brick-and-mortar retail resilient as macroeconomic storm clouds gather

Fri, 01 May 2026 16:06:00 GMT

Online shopping has been the bogeyman of brick-and-mortar retailers since well before the COVID-19 pandemic forced everybody online.

But the reports of the death of in-person retail were greatly exaggerated.

“We’re always talking about the demise of retail because of e-commerce, but it’s persevered over the years,” said Raymond Wong, vice-president of data solutions with Altus Group.

A survey of investment intentions Altus Group conducted last fall indicated that retail was the top choice, thanks to the promise of steady cash flow and appreciation due to few purchase opportunities.

“Number one on the list is still retail – especially food-anchored retail strips – followed by apartments, industrial and office,” Wong said.

Jon Buckley, senior managing director of Marcus & Millichap’s Western Canada NNN Group, which specializes in single-tenant triple-net (NNN) assets, believes transaction volumes and investor interest are now past pre-pandemic levels across all retail asset classes.

“What we’ve noticed post-pandemic is that because there was a negative view towards retail assets for so long, there wasn’t a lot of new supply coming online,” he said. “If anything, you’d see older retail centres being redeveloped into mixed-use residential with retail in the podium, but there wasn’t a lot of new product coming online. And as retailers have continued to perform well, we’ve seen excess tenant demand and limited new supply, so that’s created upward pressure on lease rates. Strong fundamentals and strong metrics have driven a lot of investor demand back towards retail now.”

While grocery-anchored centres and open-air retail strips have shown particular strength, the NNN properties his team specializes in have also performed exceptionally well. Quick service restaurants with drive-thrus are a case in point, thanks to the scarcity of locations.

“There’s just not a lot of corners remaining where you can go and put a drive-thru,” he said. “So, in those existing facilities, they’ve seen upward pressure in rents.”

Drive-thru restaurants have replaced financial institutions as tenant of choice for buyers of single-tenant assets thanks to their reliable income, exceptional covenants and long-term leases.

Most of the big banks have sold their real estate in recent years, Buckley said, so most bank locations are owned by private investors – also the most active type of retail investor in 2025.

This is the case not just for single-tenant assets but also some of B.C.’s largest retail deals last year, including the $140 million acquisition of 798 Granville St., Vancouver, by GJ Group Robson Inc. and Shato Holdings’ $137 million acquisition of Willowbrook Park in Langley.

On the Prairies, one of the most active buyers in recent months has been Montreal-based real estate investment firm Leyad, which acquired St. Vital Centre in Winnipeg for $160.5 million earlier this year as it focuses on properties delivering consistent returns in growth markets.

“This acquisition embodies everything we look for in a community shopping centre,” said Leyad president and CEO Henry Zavriyev in announcing the purchase. “St. Vital Centre is dominant in its market, anchored by essential retail, deeply embedded in the daily lives of the community, and positioned for many decades of continued success. We are proud to become its long-term steward.”

Originally built in 1979, St. Vital Centre underwent a comprehensive renovation and expansion in 1998. It is now one of the top-performing shopping centres in Manitoba, with 926,310 square feet of gross leasable area and 160 retailers, including Indigo, SilverCity, Dollarama, London Drugs and Walmart.

'Generational opportunity': Industry report eyes expansion of region's hotel properties

Tue, 28 Apr 2026 16:08:00 GMT

The ambitious goal to build up to 20 new hotels and add 2,000 new rooms to the region over the next decade is gaining momentum with municipalities, First Nations and developers, says the chief executive of Destination Greater Victoria.

Paul Nursey said that as new residential builds wane and the price of land stabilizes, the hotel space is emerging as a “generational opportunity” to address a 25% decline in rooms since 2016 and refresh the hotel landscape to remain competitive in the global tourism industry.

The tourism marketing group assembled a working group of five municipalities, industry partners, builders and the Songhees First Nation last year to work together to bring more hotels to the planning phases.

In 2025, hotel occupancy was at nearly 80% over the entire year and at one point during the summer, reached 94%.

This season is shaping up to be the same or even better, said Nursey.

The region has about 4,500 hotel rooms, but needs more after losing properties for social housing during the pandemic and redevelopment.

The working group issued its first report this week with recommendations for local governments to kick-start new hotel plans by identifying potential sites and zoning, addressing complex permit processes, pursuing First Nations partnerships and supporting the renewal and expansion of existing hotels.

The report notes that existing hotels are aging, with more than half built before 1975 and requiring significant renovations or replacement.

Managers and chief administrative officers from Victoria, Colwood, Saanich, View Royal and Sooke are part of the working group and are taking the lead, said Nursey.

“The municipal partners are really rolling up their sleeves. They are taking this seriously,” Nursey said.

“They see a sense of opportunity and a diversification of their tax base.”

View Royal, for example, doesn’t have a hotel and wants one to attract a slice of the annual visitor pie.

Colwood has recently approved two sites for hotels in the Royal Beach development along its waterfront. Sooke wants more hotels that highlight its waterfront and serve as a gateway to the trail system west of the town.

Jocelyn Jenkins, manager for the City of Victoria, said the city is “happy to collaborate” with the working group on future hotel projects, adding the tourism economy is essential for businesses, the city and the conference centre it owns.

Aryze Developments director Chris Quigley said interest in the hotel sector is gaining strength among developers. The company recently partnered with Victoria software developer Redbrick, which purchased the old Plaza Hotel property in downtown Victoria, to build a new hotel on the property.

He said the working group sets out a road map for companies to “navigate the permitting system and unlock projects” that will strengthen the local economy.

“With several hotel projects in our pipeline, we’re committed to working with local government and our business partners to make a new hotel development in Victoria a reality,” said Quigley.

Recent statistics show hotel demand is on the rise. Greater Victoria showed a jump in average daily room rates — a metric considered a key indicator of the health of the industry — from $200 a night in 2024 to $224 last year. Conferences increased by 20%, and arrivals at Victoria International Airport saw a 5% lift.

In a recent hotel investment report, Colliers said the hotel asset class has seen a surge of activity nationally, with more than $2.2 billion in hotel transactions in 2025, an 11% increase over the previous year. The report cited the strength of domestic tourism and improved international inbound travel, both expected to increase in 2026.

Municipal leaders identified several types of possible new hotels for the region.

Outside of the need for full-service hotels in the downtown core, the group said there could be more affordable mid-scale hotels for sports tournaments and cultural events, boutique hotels connecting visitors to bike and hiking trails and transportation hubs, extended-stay hotels for major employment hubs like the naval base in Esquimalt and Victoria General Hospital in View Royal, and mixed-use developments that pair hotel and residential uses.

The report said 2,000 new hotel rooms would generate more than $100 million in annual visitor spending, 1,180 direct jobs in hotel operations and 1,580 indirect jobs supporting operations.

The 130-room TownPlace Suites by Marriott recently opened at Victoria International Airport, and the same brand is opening a 103-unit, six-storey hotel in Langford next spring.

The first new hotel in Victoria in nearly two decades is under construction on Broad Street. The 167-room Hyatt-branded hotel is expected to open in 2028 at Broad and Johnson streets on the historic Duck’s Building property, preserving the 1890s-era facade and back wall.

Reliance Properties recently submitted new plans to the city for its project at 780 Blanshard St., the former B.C. Power Commission building.

The new plans call for the rehabilitation of the existing building as a 124-room hotel with a public café.

Recent hotel sales have also brought optimism for potential improvements.

This month, Toronto-based InnVest, the country’s largest hotel owner and operator, purchased the Hotel Grand Pacific on Belleville Street. The 304-room hotel, owned since 1996 by Pacific Sun, had been on the market for months. The property’s value is close to $48 million.

The Royal Scot Hotel on Quebec Street was sold this year to Vancouver-based Synvest Capital for about $41 million. Synvest’s hotel management division, Roadside Hospitality, will run the hotel. It will also run the Bedford Regency Hotel, which Synvest purchased last year for $8.9 million.

dkloster@timescolonist.com

Eastern Prairies to lead recreational property price growth

Fri, 24 Apr 2026 16:11:00 GMT

Cottage prices are set to rise across Western Canada this year according to Royal LePage’s spring recreational property report, released March 26.

The strongest growth is forecast for Manitoba and Saskatchewan, which will lead the country with 5.5 per cent growth in the median sales value of cottages. This follows 5.7 per cent growth in waterfront cottage prices last year, the strongest growth in Western Canada and the second-strongest growth rate nationally. Manitoba's Interlake region saw the strongest growth in waterfront cottage prices last year at 6.6 per cent to $395,000 -- an attractive figure versus the regional median of $477,400.

Domestic buyers are driving demand, consistent with other regions, but supply has not kept up, as many properties are generational holds for their families.

Alberta ranks second, with 2.5 per cent growth in median cottage values forecast for this year, followed by British Columbia at 1.5 per cent. However, the median value of waterfront retreats in B.C. dropped significantly last year, falling 14.8 per cent. The drop was driven by a 22.6 per cent decline in the Okanagan region.

Royal LePage reports that recreational home inventories through 2025 were largely similar to 2024 volumes, with 69 per cent of recreational real estate agents surveyed indicating that average days on market has increased versus a year ago.

Trends in Western Canada mirror those in Eastern Canada, where more affordable regions are seeing stronger appreciation in values even as the record double-digit growth seen during the pandemic has waned and single-digit growth has become the norm.

Commercial real estate market at turning point as vacancies drop: report

Mon, 20 Apr 2026 16:14:00 GMT

Canada's commercial real estate sector could be at a turning point after the national vacancy rates for both office and industrial properties simultaneously declined for the first time since 2020, a new analysis has found.

The report from Colliers International said the national office vacancy rate was 13.6 per cent in the first quarter of 2026, down one percentage point year-over-year and marking one of the most significant improvements since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Canada's industrial market, meanwhile, recorded its first national vacancy decline since 2022, down to 3.5 per cent.

The report said these trends suggest the commercial real estate market as a whole is moving toward a more balanced environment.

"It was quite unprecedented how long, especially office vacancy, went up," said Adam Jacobs, head of research for Colliers Canada, in an interview.

"It was a good five or six years of rising rates ... but the return-to-office momentum we've seen, especially in Toronto, has been very rapid in the last six months and it's really turned the market around quite quickly."

He said leasing demand is still concentrated primarily in the "best of the best" buildings, and it could take some time for that momentum to trickle down to other less coveted properties.

Toronto and other major urban centres in Canada are still working through an oversupply of existing office space after a post-pandemic surge of completions, said Ben Haythornthwaite, CoStar Group’s director of market analytics.

"The office market is like if you had a patient in the intensive care ward, they've now moved into the general ward," said Haythornthwaite.

"It's still sick, but it's not getting any worse and that's why we're seeing vacancy tighten up."

While many companies have moved their employees back to the office for at least part of the week, inventory growth is grinding to "a near-total halt," the Colliers report said.

Less than two million square feet of new office space is currently under construction, marking a major downswing from the period of 2021 to 2023. Each quarter during that stretch, an average of 1.8 million square feet of new supply was delivered nationally.

The slowdown in new office builds means Canada is unlikely to see any meaningful supply gains before the end of the decade, given that construction can take roughly three to seven years per project, said Veritas Investment Research analyst Shalabh Garg.

He predicted vacancy rates will continue falling, especially as more office space is also converted for residential use, but won't reach pre-pandemic levels.

"Five to 10 per cent vacancy rate is what's optimal, but it's hard to see us getting there," he said, noting the last time construction activity was this slow was the early 2000s.

"We would need to see lots more conversion of older office space into some different use."

On the industrial side, Jacobs said the market is coming back strong from a brief shock caused by tariffs and trade uncertainty last year.

Market absorption outpaced new supply in the quarter, with more than 3.6 million square feet newly taken up, compared with three million square feet delivered, according to the report.

Jacobs said the trend shows the market is stabilizing after inventory had been piling up.

"Anywhere you live, you can notice a lot of new warehouse space was built in the last five years and there is just kind of a natural cycle to every market," he said.

"It takes a while to absorb it. But I think we're kind of through the other side of that in both the office market and the industrial, where a lot was built, it was difficult to build it all and now the building is really slowing down and we're starting to see those spaces fill up."

Colliers said industrial construction starts were resilient in the first quarter, with 5.6 million square feet of new projects breaking ground. Toronto, Vancouver, and Calgary drove 76 per cent of all new starts.

"For the most part, I think we're going to continue seeing demand increase for industrial space and we will see that space absorbed," said Haythornthwaite.

He said industrial markets should continue tightening in the coming years, however the looming renegotiation of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement continues to cast a shadow of uncertainty in the short-term.

"I think we're probably going to see a slowdown in leasing over the next couple of months, just while people wait and see what happens with that because we're getting so close to it now," said Haythornthwaite.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 20, 2026.

Sammy Hudes, The Canadian Press

Price for remote B.C. log resort drops under $2M

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 04:49:46 GMT

Those seeking a detached house with a couple of bedrooms in Vancouver are likely looking at spending more than $2 million.

But if you want way more bedrooms for a lower price, there's a place up north.

Williston Lake Resort has been on the market since 2024, but recently the cost dropped, as $300,000 was cut from the original price.

That puts the property at $1.7 million, about the same as a Kitsilano duplex.

But there's a bit more space up north. The 103-acre property is a little smaller than Jericho Beach Park.

On that piece of land, there's a fully functional resort. The 11,000-square-foot main log building has 14 rooms, a commercial kitchen and a lounge with a wet bar and floor-to-ceiling fireplace. It was built by Pioneer Log Homes, the company that was the subject of the show Timber Kings.

There's also a variety of other rooms currently used for recreation, meetings and miscellaneous things.

Outside the lodge, there's also an RV park, animal shelters and more equipment to care for large animals. And nearby, there's plenty of wildlife as it's a remote area.

The resort is on Williston Lake, the biggest lake in B.C. It's also the home to the W.A.C. Bennett Dam, which created the lake. The dam is about 20 minutes away.

Beyond the dam and wildlife, there's Hudson's Hope, the closest community in the area. The town of 1,000 is about 20 minutes away.

Vancouver may be a bit far for a commute. It's about 13 hours away (if the roads are good).

Vancouver franchise leaders preach smart, methodical expansion

Tue, 04 Nov 2025 20:59:00 GMT

When Vancouver franchisor Pokerrito opened its 11th location on Renfrew Street in mid-October, it demonstrated that innovative and popular restaurant chains can add locations even as other entrepreneurs in the restaurant industry struggle.

All current stores are in Metro Vancouver but Pokerrito has sold master franchise rights to Mexico City and is awaiting that franchisee to open a first location in the Mexican capital soon.

A corporately owned location is readying to open in a newly leased property in Toronto.

Executing well in the franchising game can be trickier than simply expanding a corporately owned chain.

Pokerrito owner Jung Moon told BIV he had experience running a Japanese sushi restaurant before the 2016 launch of his first Pokerrito location—a poke restaurant on Dunsmuir Street in downtown Vancouver.

That demonstrated his passion for restaurants and Asian cuisine.

“I chose downtown deliberately,” Moon said of his first location. “With the high rent, intense competition, and demanding customers, if we could make it there, we could make it anywhere. It was trial by fire, but it validated our concept.”

By 2019, when he started franchising the concept, he operated two Pokerrito eateries. Today, four of Moon’s 11 locations are corporately owned, with seven separate franchisees owning one location each.

Moon uses corporately owned locations to test new products, he said.

Moon’s aim is to grow his chain, but not as fast as possible or to reach some per-determined numerical target.

“I'm cautious about putting specific numbers out there,” he said. “I've seen too many [franchisors] chase growth targets and lose what made them special.”

If success in Mexico City and Toronto materializes, he said he would look for more new territories to expand.

“Whether that becomes 30 locations or 70 by 2030, I'm less concerned about the number than making sure each one represents what Pokerrito stands for.”

Veteran franchisors have tips

Entrepreneurs with decades of experience in franchising say sure-footed, steady growth is wise, as is rejecting prospective franchisees who do not feel like a good fit for the business even if they have ample resources.

“It's always easier to say that no to someone before they start than six months into the game,” said Brian Scudamore, who in 1998 started franchising 1-800-GOT-JUNK? and has built it to around 150 franchises.

Scudamore also owns and built the 50-franchise WOW 1 Day Painting and the 50-franchise Shack Shine.

“If you bring on a franchise partner and they've paid a big fee and you haven't delivered what you've promised, or they're not happy and they want out, it's very, very difficult and expensive to part ways,” he said.

Scudamore added that he sees many young franchisors bring people into their businesses because they have money instead of people who have the skills and character traits needed to thrive.

Another big tip is to avoid franchising a business before it is what Scudamore called a “well-oiled, well-systematized machine.”

Franchises must rely on a system, and not the skill base of the founder, Scudamore said.

That is why it is hard to franchise surgery, he said, explaining that surgeons learn their skills over many years and are regulated to practice.

Health-care tasks, therefore, are very different from straightforward tasks involved in junk removal, house painting and window washing.

A successful franchising company must be able to consistently execute its offering in the same way in every city the owner wants to be in, Scudamore said.

A key question Scudamore said he asks himself is: “Is it simple enough that you can create the technological systems and the operating systems that someone can repeat the success that you've created?”

Another key point is that successful franchises usually also have a point of differentiation. They stand out because of something distinctive that they offer, he said.

When it came to launching 1-800-GOT-JUNK?, Scudamore’s vision was to have shiny trucks, uniformed workers, on-time service and an upfront price list—something he said the industry lacked at the time.

Mistakes can happen.

Scudamore said one was getting involved with a moving company.

He said he thrives on positive energy, and that he parted ways with the company because of the feeling customers often had when jobs were completed.

“We discovered it wasn't a happy business,” he said.

Customers who have junk taken away are relieved. When they have their houses painted or washed, they feel the joy, he said.

Scudamore said that when someone’s possessions are moved, the customer still feels angst at having to unpack, or they find an item is missing or broken and they are not necessarily happy.

“Moving is a commodity-based business,” he said. “It is very, very competitive and we found it a challenge to truly stand out.”

Bruce Fox, who worked for years helping Boston Pizza expand its franchising and more recently helping steer Browns Restaurant Group to 83 locations, added some other lessons.

He said aspiring franchisors should hire a professional group of advisors because processes can be tricky.

Fox was COO at Browns and is now a business advisor at the company, which has 68 Browns Socialhouse restaurants as well as eateries branded Browns Crafthouse, Liberty Kitchen and Scotty Browns.

All of those locations are franchised except for one Browns Socialhouse and one Browns Crafthouse, said Fox, who sometimes acts as a consultant at his Catalyst Hospitality Consulting Group.

“You need an understanding lender too,” Fox said.

“That’s a banker who has actually seen inside franchise systems and knows what the capital requirements are, and the timing and what the cycles look like.”

Fox said one-time fees tend to rise along with the total investment needed to open a franchised location, and with expected annual revenue.

One-time fees also often rise based on the size of the franchised chain and how well established the franchisor’s brand is in a market.

Browns’ franchises pay a $75,000 one-time fee and then contribute an ongoing six-per-cent royalty.

Unlike many franchised chains, Browns does not require franchisees to pay a separate marketing fee. That is because, Fox said, disputes commonly erupt between franchisors and franchisees on what kind of advertising should take place.

Browns has no advertising at all, which eliminates that potential source for conflict, he said.

Moon’s Pokerrito charges a $30,000 one-time fee—something that Fox described as being “fairly low.” Pokerrito also charges a six-per-cent royalty and a two-per-cent marketing fee.

The total buildout cost for a franchisee at Pokerrito is likely about $450,000, Moon told BIV. In contrast, Fox estimated that a Browns Socialhouse buildout costs in the $3.5 million to $4 million range.

“The biggest lesson: franchising isn't about losing quality control,” Moon said. “It's about multiplying your impact through the right partners. Your first franchisee is the most important. They set the tone for everyone who follows.”

gkorstrom@biv.com

twitter.com/GlenKorstrom

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B.C. hotel sector demonstrates collective resilience despite headwinds

Tue, 16 Sep 2025 16:07:00 GMT

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Wave of self-storage supply anticipated in Western Canada

Thu, 04 Sep 2025 18:34:00 GMT

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B.C. court rules Sobeys' franchise rebrand can't undo union contract

Thu, 07 Aug 2025 04:31:51 GMT

A B.C. judge has upheld a Labour Relations Board decision that found grocery giant Sobeys Inc. obtains the majority of the profits and exercises “substantial financial control” over its franchised FreshCo grocery stores.

The Aug. 1 ruling represents a win for United Food Commercial Workers International Union, Local 1518, who had challenged the grocer and several franchisees—claiming they had attempted to escape an existing collective bargaining agreement through re-branding.

In 2017, the union represented nearly 5,000 workers at Sobeys’ roughly 60 Safeway stores in B.C. The workers had a 10-year collective agreement that ran until 2023. Part of the agreement required further negotiations with the union if Sobeys sought to open stores under a new name.

That year, the grocer gave the union notice it planned to convert up to a quarter of its existing Safeway stores in Western Canada into stores under the FreshCo banner.

In 2018, the company told the union its planned restructuring would lead the company to close 10 B.C. Safeway stores and terminate the employees who worked there. Sobeys also said five of the stores may reopen as FreshCo locations pending negotiations of the collective agreement.

In negotiations with the union, the grocer sought to create single-store collective bargaining agreements. The dispute ended when an arbiter required a single province-wide agreement for both Safeway and FreshCo stores, in line with the union’s demands.

A year later, Sobeys said it would continue closing several Safeway stores, converting them into FreshCo and other discount banners—this time under a franchise model, according to a recent judicial review. In 2019, Sobeys told the union to direct any labour relations issues to the new owners of the stores.

The union then took Sobeys and five of the franchised stores to the Labour Relations Board, where it sought to maintain the B.C.-wide collective agreement.

In its original decision, the board found Sobeys used contractual arrangements, clearly interdependent operations, and common management to exercise “substantial control” over the FreshCo franchisees. It granted the union’s application and declared Sobeys and the franchisees to be a single employer.

Sobeys challenged the decision before the Labour Relations Board’s reconsideration panel. In a June 26, 2024, decision, the panel re-examined two questions: whether the entities were under common control and direction; and whether there was a labour relations purpose served in making the declaration.

Among other things, Sobeys submitted evidence it said showed the franchisees operate as business competitors with conflicting interests.

Ultimately, however, the reconsideration panel was not persuaded that the board had erred in its original decision and reiterated that Sobeys exercises substantial control over the franchisees’ FreshCo stores.

Sobeys and the franchisees then escalated the dispute to the B.C. Supreme Court.

In her judicial review, Justice Francesca Marzari found the reconsideration panel’s decision was entirely within their expertise. The panel members were “clear and comprehensive” when it set out “a rationale for its decision on the fundamental question of common control” of the companies, wrote the judge in the decision handed down last week but released Tuesday.

Marzari once again rejected arguments that individual franchisees must exercise control over each other to show a group of companies has common control or direction as a single employer.

“This court only interferes with such decisions where the reasoning or result borders on the absurd,” wrote the judge.

Marzari dismissed the application for judicial review and ordered Sobeys and the FreshCo franchisees to pay the union's legal costs.

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Metro Vancouver's quick-service restaurants face multiple challenges heading into 2025

Tue, 03 Dec 2024 21:05:00 GMT

Demand for street-front quick-service restaurant (QSR) retail unit space remains high in Metro Vancouver, but the industry is experiencing a slowdown in available new franchises.

Michael Anderson, president and managing broker at Langley-based Northern Vision Realty Advisors, said there’s “more demand than space” for street-front QSR retail units in Metro Vancouver.

“Many quick-service restaurants require a kitchen exhaust,” said Anderson. “Those spaces are rare.”

Franchises are vying for spots in areas with residential towers – including Metrotown and Brentwood in Burnaby, and North Road in Coquitlam.

Anderson said drive-thru restaurants are becoming “a thing of the past” in Metro Vancouver except where chain restaurants own land.

“Very few developments are offering a drive-thru restaurant, and when that happens, there’s fierce competition,” Anderson told Western Investor. “Land is costly, so I think you’re seeing more of a shift to the street-front situation or the non-drive-thru.”

Sean Black, chief investment officer of Vancouver-based restaurant operator Happy Belly Food Group, is betting on more health-conscious appetites.

Happy Belly opened its newest Heal Wellness location in Vancouver’s Kitsilano neighbourhood in October, serving smoothies and açai bowls. It’s the third of 10 planned for B.C., adding to 12 existing locations across Canada. Black said the company plans to have about 20 locations by year-end, expanding to 40 by the end of 2025.

Black said Happy Belly is experiencing “healthy” sales growth due to “significant demand.”

“Emerging brands are stealing market share,” said Black. “I think people are changing where they’re spending.”

Happy Belly has 421 committed retail locations from master franchisees across Canada with several emerging brands – including Yolks – in its pipeline, opened or under construction. It’s planning to enter the U.S. market in 2025 with a Heal Wellness multi-unit deal in Florida.

Joe Sangha, franchisee partner for three new Heal Wellness locations in Kitsilano, West Abbotsford and Chilliwack, said he sees growth potential.

“It’s a simple, clean operation – very easy to operate with lower startup costs than other QSRs that require hood ventilation,” said Sangha, who is opening three more locations in Alberta.

Happy Belly’s support system was a draw for Sangha, who was B.C.’s first franchisee of Mucho Burrito, a brand Black held through Extreme Brandz, sold to MTY Food Group in 2013.

“Finding the right location isn’t always easy,” Sangha said. “The other issue is staffing. There’s high turnover in QSRs, which makes it challenging. Now with limitations on the [Temporary] Foreign Worker Program that specifically affect the QSR space, I think we’re in for some challenging times.”

Mark von Schellwitz, vice-president, Western Canada, for Restaurants Canada, said there’s a slowdown in new QSR franchise openings in B.C. due to lower discretionary income and higher operating costs.

“We’re seeing demand soften a little bit simply because of the troubles the industry is in, especially on the QSR side,” said von Schellwitz. “In QSR, your profit margins are so tiny. You need that heavy volume to make a profit in that business.”

Von Schellwitz said about 53 per cent of Restaurants Canada’s B.C. members are not making money, contributing to “a record number of bankruptcies in 2024.” Rising real estate and operating costs are the key factors.

Restaurants Canada’s Q3 report found that QSRs are disproportionately affected, with 23 per cent describing the business climate as “very poor.” This compares to nine per cent of full-service restaurant members. Of B.C.’s 15,000 restaurants, about 37 per cent are QSRs.

Von Schellwitz said leasing costs are “not sustainable” as rents continue to increase.

“You’ve got a lot of people closing their restaurants as a result of that. That is even more pronounced in the big urban centres where those lease rates have really increased substantially.”

Cash flow appeals to manufactured home park investors

Wed, 10 Jul 2024 16:41:00 GMT

BC Mobile Home Park market, BC RV park market

B.C.’s RV parks and campgrounds face shifting challenges and opportunities

Thu, 04 Jul 2024 19:59:00 GMT

The landscape of campgrounds and recreational vehicle (RV) parks across B.C. continues to evolve in 2024 as investors eye these properties for their recreational value and redevelopment opportunities.

Listed for about $7.5 million, Beachcomber RV Resort in Central Saanich on Vancouver Island is a waterfront RV park and campground on nearly 10 acres in two land titles. The property—listed last summer at $8 million—includes 60 seasonal RV sites and a walkable beach. Its upper level, partially in the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR), features a 1,176-square-foot house on a bluff with potential for single-family home redevelopment. The forested bluff rises from sea level to the upper bench, transitioning to agricultural land.

“There’s a corner of the upper property that’s in the ALR,” said Mark Lester, senior vice-president with the Unique Properties Group at Colliers International. “It shouldn’t affect the development of that upper portion because residential is permitted in the ALR.”

The RV park is on a lower terrace at sea level near a swimmable area. It’s not in the ALR. The site includes a 1,223-square-foot, two-bedroom caretaker’s home and resort office.

“There’s a huge opportunity for somebody to acquire it and actively work it, market it, and put some investment into it,” Lester told Western Investor. “What makes it unique is its waterfront.”

Beachcomber has operated seasonally for years under a renewable temporary use permit. Designated destination commercial in Central Saanich’s official community plan (OCP), the property can be rezoned to accommodate tourist commercial development, such as cabins or a boutique resort, per the OCP. Current zoning allows for luxury residential development.

Lester said RV park and campground sellers have higher expectations of values based on sales activity before and during the pandemic.

“Values went up during COVID and expectations haven’t fallen in a manner that corresponds to rising interest rates since then,” he explained.

As interest rates rose, the market softened, prices fell and sales slowed. According to Lester, higher interest rates, inflation, and ongoing global geopolitical issues have affected buyer perceptions and real estate risk profiles.

“We haven’t really seen the market turn back,” he explained. “A lot of people are sitting on their hands waiting for something to happen. I think expectations with the RV parks that I’ve seen are still up there. They’re harder to leverage.”

Agassiz-based Re/Max Nyda managing broker Freddy Marks said real estate deals are rare but more remote properties like Escott Bay Resort at Anahim Lake, which sold April 26 for $1.2 million, are “smoking deals” that have much to offer buyers.

“If they look at resorts and RV properties, there are great deals out there if you compare that to residential or other kinds of investments,” said Marks.

Located 325 kms west of Williams Lake, the 6.4-acre property features a 6,000-square-foot log lodge with a licensed dining room. The property includes 14 campsites spread over two service campgrounds, more than 1,000 feet of shoreline, a four-bedroom log chalet, several cabins, an equestrian area, boat dock, two RVs, boats and paddle board rentals.

Developing a pipeline of parks

Pathfinder Ventures Inc. (TSX-V:RV), a publicly listed company which launched Pathfinder Camp Resorts in 2021, has locations in Parksville, Fort Langley and Agassiz. The Fort Langley-based company recently announced plans to develop an RV park in Osoyoos with about 120 RV sites on six hectares (15 acres) of leased land on Osoyoos Lake. Currently working toward profitability, Pathfinder plans to offer pre-sales of new RVs and seasonally leased sites in Osoyoos this summer and be fully operational in 2025.

“This is going to be an opportunity for an RV owner to have more of a cottage-like experience,” said Pathfinder founder and CEO Joe Bleackley.

Pathfinder also recently announced plans to expand east with the right of first refusal and an agreement to manage four RV parks in Ontario and one in Nova Scotia. The resorts are mainly seasonal vacation properties with a short-term tourist component.

“By the end of this year, we hope to be operating at least nine RV parks,” Bleackley said, noting that Pathfinder is also eyeing Alberta resorts. “We’re looking at taking over management of specific parks where there is an opportunity to own in the future.”

Bleackley said there’s a shortage of RV parks in Canada, and he’s optimistic about growing demand.

“Because we have multiple locations, we’re creating a brand and an experience,” he said. “One day, we hope to be the Hilton of the campground space.”

Diversified approach

Located near Kelowna on Ellison Lake, Holiday Park Resort has 570 fully serviced leasehold and rental RV sites and 117 condos, both leasehold and timeshare. The 26-hectare (64-acre) resort doesn’t allow camping, but it has full-time security, pools, hot tubs, a recreation centre, equipment rentals, laundry facilities, a library, pickleball courts, a gym and a sauna. It’s also working on adding new amenities, including charging stations for electric vehicles (EVs) and e-bikes.

“We’ve got a big combination of people that have subleases here, we’ve got time share usage, we hotel out our condos,” according to the resort’s president and new owner Dawn McLaughlin.

Raging Okanagan wildfires were a major challenge last summer for the resort, which turned 40 in 2023.

“We had to basically close the resort down to any external people because the fires came within about a kilometre of us,” recalled McLaughlin, who has worked at the resort for 18 years, most recently as controller.

The resort was not part of a nearby evacuation but has taken precautions such as replacing combustible cedar hedges with metal fencing.

Falling outside of B.C.’s new provincial short-term rental restrictions, the resort has recently seen more customers staying longer term, largely due to the housing crisis and affordability issues.

“There’s a lot of people that have tried to downsize and purchase RVs to live in themselves or for rental purposes,” said McLaughlin.

“Softer season” predicted

Joss Penny, executive director of the British Columbia Lodging and Campgrounds Association (BCLCA), predicts a “slightly softer season” compared to summers during the pandemic. About 60 per cent of bookings comes from British Columbians.

“We’re seeing a definite change in booking patterns,” explained Penny. “Those booking patterns are a wait and see because of the wildfire seasons we’ve had.”

While BCLCA members currently report about 65 per cent booking—a decrease of about nine percentage point versus last year—Penny expects an increase to a typical 75 per cent occupancy this summer, but that will depend on wildfires.

Potential floods, cooler weather, inflation and fuel prices have also led to lower bookings, according to Penny, who added that the Bank of Canada’s recent interest rate cuts need time to take effect.

“We anticipate that in ’25 and ’26 we might see more of the same as what we’re seeing now,” he said.

During the pandemic, BCLCA members saw business increase about eight per cent over previous years, with most customers from B.C. and Alberta.

Changing demographics and expectations, such as more EV usage, are some of the new challenges, according to Penny.

“We’re seeing a move away from baby boomers being the largest group and moving toward Gen Z and millennials being the largest group of people that are camping. Their expectations are totally different when it comes to connectivity on Wi-Fi,” he said.

Vancouver Island’s recreational property prices set to rise in 2024

Mon, 24 Jun 2024 16:23:46 GMT

Recreational property prices on Vancouver Island and across Western Canada will likely rise this year as many owners hang on to properties despite interest rates, short-term rental restrictions and a proposed capital gains tax increase, according to two key reports.

Royal LePage’s spring recreational property report predicts the average recreational home price to rise five per cent this year — with the median price for a single-family recreational home in B.C. at around $1.1 million.

According to Re/Max Canada’s cottage trends report, Canada’s recreational property market hasn’t seen a flood of listings. Re/Max predicts Western Canadian recreational properties could increase between five and 10 per cent in 2024.

Despite these predictions, new provincial short-term rental restrictions effective as of May 1 could cause some investors to offload their properties in B.C.

“The short-term rental regulation has affected the market a lot,” according to Judy Gray, owner of Re/Max Mid-Island Realty, who recently sold one property for $1.35 million, two units for $485,000 and $520,000, and a cottage for $540,000.

“There’s still a lot of interest here. People are a little bit nervous because they’re not sure about the changes of the short-term rentals and how that’s going to affect things moving forward,” she added.

Tofino and Ucluelet have divergent price trends related to the short-term rental restrictions and the planned federal capital gains increase, but according to Re/Max, both communities have shifted from a balanced to a buyer’s market.

Although exempt as a resort municipality, Tofino has opted into the provincial legislation, affecting two residential buildings. Ucluelet has opted out but is amending bylaws to ensure short-term rentals conform.

“Most short-term rental properties in Ucluelet are already zoned nightly rental and are not affected by the new legislation,” Gray told Western Investor. “Only nightly rental units attached to homes have had administrative fixes by (District of Ucluelet) council to continue to operate.”

A Leger survey commissioned by Re/Max found the short-term rental bans have not swayed recreational property owners to sell, and 58 per cent are holding onto their properties while about 29 per cent are looking to sell.

Proposed tax increases from 50 per cent to nearly 67 per cent on capital gains over $250,000 aren’t expected to spark a widespread flood of sales, Gray added, but she said six properties were recently listed for sale to beat the change, expected to take effect June 25.

“People are still putting their properties on the market to avoid the capital gains increase because they expect that it’s going to come back,” she said.

An uncertain climate

In the Comox Valley, buyers are often looking for active lifestyles — from mountain biking in Cumberland to winter sports at Mt. Washington. This trend grew during the pandemic, but Mt. Washington recreational property sales have since been declining due to interest rates.

Ryan Williams, owner of Ocean Pacific Realty, said recreational property sales in the region face another challenge — climate change. Global warming has been impacting winter sports while forest fires have affected summer recreation. These factors — and their associated fire hazards — are also increasing insurance rates on Mt. Washington, which has been experiencing low snow levels.

“The drying in the summer and warmer conditions in the winter are two major environmental issues for recreational property,” said Williams.

As far as capital gains changes, Williams said the effect on recreational properties depends on when a purchase was made.

“If they bought two, three, four years ago, they’re not going to see big gains,” he explained. “They’re going to see losses, probably, on Mt. Washington if it stays warm and we don’t get much snow.”

Vancouver hotel occupancy, room rates top Canadian cities in May

Fri, 21 Jun 2024 17:08:00 GMT

Metro Vancouver hotels in May had the highest occupancy rate among large Canadian metropolises, at 83.9 per cent, with hoteliers in the region able to charge the highest average daily room rate in Canada: $317.41.

The city's hotel occupancy rate in May was also higher than the 82.9-per-cent rate seen last May, according to CoStar, a global provider of real estate data, analytics and news. CoStar in May 2023 pinned the average daily room rate in Metro Vancouver at $226.21, meaning that the average daily room rate in the region in May jumped 40.3 per cent year-over-year.

"There just have not been many hotels built over the last decade, and actually supply and inventory have contracted in the past decade [in Metro Vancouver,]" CoStar's national director of hospitality analytics, Laura Baxter, told BIV this afternoon.

May is the first month this year that CoStar's data shows a higher occupancy rate in Vancouver than in the same month in 2023, and it was also for the first full month in which new provincial rules for short-term rentals came into effect.

The B.C. government's legislation, which took effect May 1, holds that short-term rentals are only allowed in the principal homes of hosts in 60 new B.C. communities. Another 17 communities newly chose to adopt those regulations even though they were exempt from the provincial legislation.

Rules for short-term rentals did not change in the City of Vancouver because that city since 2018 has limited short-term rentals to the principal residences of hosts, and charged licence fees. The B.C. government's new short-term rental rules do newly apply in many Metro Vancouver municipalities, such as Burnaby, New Westminster, Delta, North Vancouver, West Vancouver and Surrey.

The aim of B.C.'s legislation was to free up housing units for longer-term rentals to limit the rise in the average rental rates in the region for residents.

The Metro Vancouver hotel data for May includes information from 195 hotels that combine to have nearly 26,000 rooms across the Lower Mainland and into the Fraser Valley, Baxter said.

"I think it is too early to tell whether all of that growth [in the region's occupancy rate] is related to the new regulations on short-term rentals," she added.

Tighter vacancy at Metro Vancouver hotels in May has been a trend, given that in May 2022, the region's occupancy rate was only 76.5 per cent.

Occupancy rates and average daily room rates in other major metropolises in Canada in May included, in order of highest occupancy:

Ottawa's 78.3-per-cent occupancy rate and $223.53 average daily room rate;
Toronto's 76.4-per-cent occupancy rate and $254.88 average daily room rate;
Montreal's 76-per-cent occupancy rate and $233.68 average daily room rate;
Edmonton's 67.3-per-cent occupancy rate and $152.98 average daily room rate; and
Calgary's 67-per-cent occupancy rate and $168.49 average daily room rate, according to CoStar.

Baxter said Vancouver's anticipated record-breaking cruise season for passengers is likely a contributing factor in the higher occupancy and room rates.

Indeed, B.C.'s tourism economy blooms when spring arrives. The Vancouver Canucks' playoff run may also have prompted out-of-towners to visit Vancouver to attend games, and then stay in hotels.

In July 2023, Vancouver hotel rooms charged an average $347.08 daily rate, which was the highest figure that CoStar had ever recorded for a major city in Canada.

Baxter said there is "every possibility" that Metro Vancouver this summer will set a new record for the highest-ever average daily room rate for a city in Canada within a calendar month.

Metro Vancouver land deals on hold as developers remain cautious

Mon, 10 Jun 2024 19:32:48 GMT

Vancouver Commercial Real Estate

High B.C. hotel prices could fuel resurgence in camping

Fri, 10 May 2024 03:59:34 GMT

British Columbians wanting to travel within the province this summer put off by high hotel prices could fuel a resurgence in camping.

B.C. has more campgrounds than most jurisdictions across North America, with 1,039, according to the province's Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy.

Better still for consumers, the government has improved its camping-reservation website, compared with pre-pandemic, thanks to the ministry investing money generated from reservation fees, or about $3.7 million annually, on a redesign in 2022.

The ministry frustrated countless wannabe campers in May 2020, when its website crashed as soon as it opened for bookings for the year.

Its new site is more robust, according to a ministry representative. It also limits reservations to a four-month window from the time of booking.

BIV in late April tried to book a camp site in August and found plenty of available sites at campgrounds.

Campsites can rent for around $23 per night, including taxes, before the $6-per-night reservation fee is tacked on.

In 2023, the government introduced a new “notify me” feature that enabled visitors to sign up for up to five alerts for reservable campgrounds. When specific campsites becomes available for desired dates, those who have signed up for alerts will get emails notifying them that they are available.

Not all B.C. campsites are able to be reserved during peak season. Of the province's approximately 11,000 "front-country" campsites, or those within one kilometre of a park road or highway, approximately 60 per cent can be reserved while the rest are rented on a first-come-first-served basis, according to the ministry.

The government delivers most camping in B.C.’s parks through agreements with private operators.

Those operators delivered more than $40M in services last year, according to the ministry. These costs were partially paid for through user fees, which produced around $29 million in 2023. The B.C. government then paid the private operators the remaining $11 million from other sources, according to the ministry.

gkorstrom@biv.com

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5 Critical Steps In Starting A Franchise

Fri, 01 Dec 2023 17:43:00 GMT

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Subway chain sold for US$9.55 billion

Thu, 24 Aug 2023 20:02:00 GMT

Subway has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by affiliates of Atlanta, Georgia-based Roark Capital, the fast-food restaurant chain announced today, August 24.

While not released, the sale price is reported to be US$9.55 billion by both Reuters and Bloomberg.

The transaction is a major milestone in Subway's multi-year transformation combining Subway's global presence and brand strength with Roark's expertise in restaurant and franchise business models, according to Subway.

Roark is a private equity firm with $37 billion in assets under management. Roark specializes in franchise and franchise-like businesses. According to reports, Roark beat out 20 other bidders for the Subway acquisition.

“This transaction reflects Subway's long-term growth potential, and the substantial value of our brand and our franchisees around the world," said John Chidsey, CEO of Subway in a statement. "Subway has a bright future with Roark, and we are committed to continuing to focus on a win-win-win approach for our franchisees, our guests and our employees."

Subway, founded nearly 60 years ago in the U.S., has more than 37,000 outlets in more than 100 countries and is the largest restaurant chain, by outlets, in the U.S. There is a total of 3,147 subway locations in Canada.

Metro Vancouver’s industrial land shortage has ripple effects

Wed, 16 Aug 2023 17:55:00 GMT

(Port-related uses alone require an additional 1,000 acres of land over the next 10 years)

Metro Vancouver’s industrial land squeeze is no secret, but the pain it is expected to cause is becoming harder to manage.

With no simple fixes in sight, the stakes are rising for Canada’s largest port – and the local and national economies it supports.

The Port of Vancouver – the most-diversified port in North America – is struggling to acquire the land it needs to support trade, a growing population and economic activity. The consequences are already manifesting in businesses looking to other provinces for industrial land, and in inefficient supply chains at a time when job action also threatens the expeditious movement of goods.

“How that manifests in terms of inefficiency is a container that would arrive at the Port of Vancouver today, with goods that are destined for the local market, are actually being put onto a train and transported outside of the province to markets such as Calgary,” said Jennifer Natland, vice-president of real estate at the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, the organization that manages federal lands and waters within the Port of Vancouver.

“[The goods] are then sorted and trucked back to the region before their final distribution within [Metro Vancouver].”

Natland said that this type of activity will only increase if land isn’t allocated for warehouses and distribution centres in the region.

Metro Vancouver as a whole needs 404.7 hectares (1,000 acres) of land over the next 10 years to properly support trade to Canada through the Port of Vancouver, she said.

Natland would not indicate how many acres of land the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority needs.

Chris MacCauley, executive vice-president at commercial real estate company CBRE, estimates that the port itself needs 607 hectares (1,500 acres) of land over the next decade.

“We simply don't have 1,500 acres of industrial land in Vancouver,” said MacCauley.

“And that's just what the port needs, that doesn't even take into account what our local industrial needs are, other things that are not port related, new entrants coming to the market or existing companies that need to expand. You have many stakeholders at the table looking for a piece of the pie and there's no pie.”

The Port of Vancouver borders 16 municipalities and encompasses roughly 16,000 hectares of water, 1,500 hectares of land and hundreds of kilometres of shoreline.

A potential solution to the land squeeze – albeit a controversial one – may lie in B.C.’s agricultural land reserve (ALR), MacCauley said.

“We've been talking about [multi-storey and stacked industrial] for years now and it's been proven across North America that it is not the answer. That is a solution for certain problems, but it's not a solution when we're talking about trade enabling lands,” said MacCauley.

Instead of constructing new industrial parks, MacCauley proposes adding ALR land to existing industrial parks. He emphasized that the focus would be on land that is not being utilized for agricultural purposes but is still protected under the ALR designation.

“I'm not saying that we have to give up food security or pave over good agricultural land that is currently producing,” he said. “I think what we really have to do is revisit a 50-year-old charter and find a balance of what is needed for the agricultural community and what is needed for the industrial community.”

Kim Grout, CEO at the provincial Agricultural Land Commission, said that she understands the need for more industrial land, but acknowledged that agricultural land is also in short supply.

“There's lots of ALR that's owned by people who intend to hold it, in some cases for a generation in the hopes that it'll be something else in the future.… There's no restriction on ownership in the ALR, which sometimes is the challenge,” she said.

The agricultural land commission would not support the ALR being bought by the port for industrial uses, said Grout.

Record room rates attract hotel investors

Wed, 09 Aug 2023 17:42:00 GMT

(Banff's Rimrock Resort Hotel sold to Oxford Property Group in June for $170 million, or $515,200 a room -- Western Canada's biggest hotel transaction of the year.)

Record-high rates and revenue are attracting investor interest in Western Canada’s hotels.

The region saw $431 million worth of assets trade in the first half of 2023, or 41% of the national total, according to Colliers' second-quarter review of the hotel sector.

The second quarter some exceptional pricing for properties including the Rimrock Resort Hotel in Banff for $170 million, $515,200 a room, a price that reflected Oxford Property Group’s plans for a $100 million renovation.

Aldesta Hotel Group picked up Fairmont Hot Springs Resort in BC for $40 million, or $264,900 a room, in June. The deal included three golf courses, a 14-run ski hill, RV park, and more than 650 acres of excess lands.

The two properties ranked second and third after The Hazelton, a Toronto property that commanded an outlier price of $110 million or $1,428,000 a room thanks to the inclusion of 11,250 square feet of retail space, an underground parkade and a 50 per cent interest in the on-site restaurant.

Colliers cited strong growth in average daily rates, the resurgence of domestic travel and small to mid-size group activity as contributing the return of investor interest.

“Hoteliers are reaping substantial top-line gains driven by remarkable increases in average daily rates,” Colliers reported.

Canada’s hotel industry reported its highest average daily rate (ADR) and revenue per available room (RevPAR) on record, according June data from CoStar Group.

ADR soared 12 per cent to $221.86 a room while RevPAR increased 16.1 per cent to $164.97.

The increases came as average national occupancy rates rose 3.6 per cent versus last year to 74.4 per cent – the highest level since last August. With the increase coming ahead of the peak summer travel season, the prospects are good for new records being set in the third quarter.

“Canada’s hotel industry is benefitting from elevated spending on discretionary services,” said Laura Baxter director of hospitality analytics for Canada with CoStar.

Occupancies were highest at limited-service hotels, pointing to a trading down in activity, but group activity was up versus a year ago as this segment of demand continued its recovery from pandemic-era lows.

According to Colliers, full-service hotels accounted for 60 per cent of investor activity in the first half of the year. Limited-service-properties ranked second, at 26 per cent of transaction value.

But when the data was smoothed to account for the large number of high-value transactions, average sale price per room showed that investors were still willing to spend on limited-service properties as well as full-service hotels with equal enthusiasm.

The normalized price per room for all transactions in the first half of the year was $192,100, up 32 per cent from a year ago.

Chilliwack hotel plans to address deepening room shortage

Wed, 28 Jun 2023 17:37:00 GMT

Plans for a new hotel in Chilliwack will help address a deepening shortage of rooms in the region as travel recovers from the damper imposed by COVID-19.

“There was a return to travel and tourism across British Columbia in 2022 and a resulting resurgence in the demand for hotel rooms,” says Jeff Krivoshen, CEO of P.R. Hotels Ltd. in announcing plans for a dual-branded Fairfield Inn and Suites & Town and Towne Place Suites by Marriott off Highway 1 at Lickman Road in Chilliwack. “Building a hotel is a significant investment. We chose this location because we see promise in Chilliwack and are committed to growing with the community for the long term.”

Built and operated by P.R. Hotels and Meridian Development Corp. of Saskatoon, the hotel is part of Fraser Gateway Centre, a new mixed-use development Denciti Development Corp. is undertaking on the 12.4-acre site, which it acquired in 2021.

The southern portion of the site will be commercial, with plans calling for a service station and family restaurant in addition to the existing Tim Hortons and private liquor store. The northern portion will feature a light-industrial business park with up to 25 small and large bay warehouse units.

While the warehouse units will address a shortage of industrial space at one the last major undeveloped intersections in the Fraser Valley, the hotel space is also much needed.

Speakers at the Western Canadian Lodging Conference last fall called out the Fraser Valley as an area that could benefit from new construction.

“There are markets in the Fraser Valley that are just dying for some new product,” said Carrie Russell, senior managing partner with advisory services firm HVS Canada in Vancouver.

Chilliwack was among the markets she identified, thanks to the acquisition and conversion of several older properties to alternative uses such as low-income housing, and Hope, which has plenty of older motels but lacks modern, mid-tier product.

More recently, a report accounting firm MNP prepared for Destination Vancouver this spring noted a diminishing supply of hotel rooms in Metro Vancouver, jeopardizing growth of the region’s tourism sector, and in turn, the provincial economy.

While the city of Vancouver has lost approximately 2,000 rooms over the past 20 years, the pace of loss has been greater throughout the region.

MNP reported that Metro Vancouver’s stock of hotel rooms peaked in 2011 at 14,424 rooms across 94 properties, but that was down to 10,002 rooms across 85 properties in 2022.

“Metro Vancouver’s infrastructure is not keeping up in delivering on our global profile,” Royce Chwin, Destination Vancouver’s president and CEO said when the report was released, noting that cities of a comparable profile have been steadily building their hotels stock.

“[The] lack of available hotel rooms will make visiting Vancouver even more expensive, and the city will be less competitive in attracting major conferences, large sporting events and leisure group travel,” Chwin said, noting that the city and region is set to play host to major international events including the Invictus Games, Grey Cup and, in 2026, the FIFA World Cup – the world’s largest single sporting event.

Business travel is also on the rise, with many observers expecting a normalization of conditions by 2024.

While not a silver bullet, the 150-room hotel will be the largest in Chilliwack when it opens in 2025. It represents an upgrade from the Best Western-flagged hotel that formerly stood on the site but closed during the pandemic.

“[It] will bring extended stay into the Chilliwack market that doesn’t exist currently, and will bring a Marriott to the Fraser Valley,” Krivoshen said, describing the dual-branded format as “very efficient.”

The property’s 150 rooms will see 90 allocated to the Fairfield brand, which will focus on serving the short-term and leisure market, while 60 rooms will be allocated to the Towne Place Suites banner, an extended-stay brand that features in-room kitchenettes.

“We can market as two independent hotels gives the travelling public a couple of different options to go with,” Krivoshen said. “We can still use the same employee base, same housekeeping core, same front desk, just service [the market] with two hotels, one general manager, one sales department.”

The project in Chilliwack follows P.R. Hotels’ and Meridian’s completion last December of a 124-room Delta-branded hotel attached to the Cascades Casino Delta on the former Delta Town & Country Inn site.

Camping goes upscale as land, operating costs bite

Wed, 14 Jun 2023 04:44:36 GMT

Private campground operators are upgrading sites and investing in amenities as high land costs and rising expenses put an emphasis on cash flow.

The timing couldn’t be better, however. High housing costs in the run up to the pandemic saw many people swap Van city for van life, while COVID-19 spawned renewed interest in getting outdoors.

Glamping – a neologism for glamorous camping – found its feet in yurts, tipis and tree houses tricked out for appeal in the social media feeds of millennials.

But it exploded in the pandemic, says Joe Bleackley, founder and CEO of Fort Langley-based Pathfinder Ventures Inc. (TSX-V:RV), a publicly listed company that operates 366 sites at locations in Parksville, Fort Langley and Agassiz.

“When you have a good product, you can have a two-year waiting list and people are willing to pay $350, $400 a night. But those customers are all kind of one-time customers,” he said. “You do the experience once, and you may not ever do it again.”

Pathfinder is considering adding glamping options to its mix, but its primary focus is amenity-rich RV sites, which offer the comforts of home away from home while serving a similar appetite for outdoor living.

“We’re tailoring to the modern-day campers,” he said. “The camping experience people want today is different from 20 years ago.”

Septic systems and electrical hook-ups are standard. The top two items on the wishlists of the campers Pathfinders serves are high-speed Internet and clean washrooms. And when they come in their RVs, they’re bringing plenty of gadgets.

“There’s air conditioners running on RVs. People come and set up their ice machines and margarita mixers. They’re using their microwaves, there’s TVs running,” he said.

And they’re setting up on a pad renting for $65 a night, compared to $213 a night, the average for the province CBRE Hotels reports.

But the amenities come at a premium to traditional tenting sites, which tend to command half the price of an RV pad – and simply don’t make financial sense given land values in the locations RVs favour. While a tenting site might be a quarter acre, Pathfinder targets 10 RV pads per acre, each one generating $10,000 revenue a year for annual revenue last year of $3.4 million.

“It doesn’t make sense to have a $25, $35-a-night tenter on a quarter-acre,” Bleackley explained. “The metrics aren’t there for tenting.”

And neither is the consumer appetite, according to Joss Penny, executive director with the BC Lodging and Campgrounds Association, which represents 400 lodging operators, campgrounds and RV parks across the province.

Airbnb RVs

RV sharing through Airbnb and other short-term rental sites gained ground alongside glamping during the pandemic, with some owners placing RVs in parks, paying the fees and letting them out to guests through the season.

“As we become more densified in the cities, and more vertical, it just makes sense that those types of people are going to camp in cabins or glamping-type units, because they’re used to that,” Penny said.

The more sophisticated the offering, the greater the revenue.

BCLCA’s annual occupancy and rate survey prepared by Align Consulting Group and released in March reports that full-service sites are on track for a 6.4 per cent increase this year to an average of $63.80. Province-wide, rates range from a low of $35 a night to $120 a night.

Occupancy was also strong last year, surpassing 2021 levels through September. While occupancies lagged in the final three months of the year, bookings through the end of December point to a strong start for 2023 despite economic headwinds and staffing challenges.

ERTCU Travel Group co-founder Kimo Linders, who organizes RV travel packages for international travellers, says bookings for 2023 are on track to surpass 2022 levels.

“We definitely do see a high interest in RVing,” he said, noting that post-COVID rebookings have given way to a wave of new bookings that point to sustained interest from travellers. “It’s definitely more than catching up on a few off years.”

This is good news for site operators, as international travellers typically rent RVs for 19 nights and stay at 14 locations throughout the trip. This spreads money around the province throughout the season in a way that domestic users typically don’t do.

“RVing is a way of holidaying that allows people to stay in areas where maybe coaches and cars would drive through,” Linders said. “People are actually staying in areas where money is needed.”

The steady cash flow, supported by fresh investment in amenities, adds up to a better use of the land than tenting sites, which are now primarily provided by BC Parks (which also offers WiFi at select locations).

Bleackley says the cap rate on Pathfinder’s Parksville location would likely be 6 per cent in the event of sale.

“Mobile home parks are in the 4s and 5s. Storage facilities are in the 4s and 5s,” he said. “The more [net operating income] we add, the more valuable our properties.”

Additional Rent Increase for Capital Expenditures - Residential Tenancy Act

Sat, 20 May 2023 03:31:00 GMT

In July 2021, the Residential Tenancy Act was amended to encourage more environmentally sustainable housing developments. Landlords who incurred a capital expenditure to reduce energy consumption at their property or reduce greenhouse gas emissions became eligable to obtain a higher than standard rent increase.

Given the strict limitaitons placed on increasing the rent for residential properties in B.C. over the last serveral years, this legislative amendment opened the door for more thoughtful building design and ultimately, offered a critical financial incentive to construct more modernized and sustanable retan housing stock.

To learn more about the additional rent increase available for capital expenditures, read the news release from the B.C. Residential Tenancy Branch.

Vancouver hotel demand set to outpace capacity without ‘significant’ investment

Mon, 06 Mar 2023 18:52:00 GMT

A new report by Destination Vancouver warns demand for hotel rooms in the Lower Mainland could outstrip supply as early as the summer of 2026, forcing up prices and putting our ability to host world-class events at risk. Paul Haysom reports – Mar 6, 2023

A new report from Destination Vancouver warns a lack of hotel capacity could cost the city billions in economic impact and thousands of ‘unrealized’ full-time jobs, with demand set to outpace supply in as little as three years.

The report estimates about 20,000 new hotel rooms are needed in Metro Vancouver by 2050, about half of which would be in the city of Vancouver.

From the Rugby 7s, Grey Cup, Laver Cup and the Invictus Games, to the FIFA World Cup in 2026 or something as simple as the Canucks and Whitecaps weekend home games, Destination Vancouver says the economic impact would be extensive.

It warns not keeping up with demand would cost the region more than $30 billion by 2050 and more than 168,000 full time jobs.

“It’s a conversation we need to have around strategy with the federal government, First Nations, the City of Vancouver, so everyone is well aware of it,” said Minister of Tourism Lana Popham.

“We’re going to be looking for solutions,” she said.

The City of Vancouver itself is down 1,500 hotel rooms since 2010. 550 were also purchased by the city and B.C. Housing to convert rooms into supporting housing.

“We’ve lost hotels as they have converted due to the high cost of real estate, into housing. We’ve lost hotels with the use of them being turned into supportive housing, with programs that came forward during the pandemic, but what we really want to see is flexible, more nimble policies that allow hotel use across the city,” said Coun. Sarah Kirby-Yung.

It says significant investment is needed to recoup the losses, and existing development applications and permits submitted are currently insufficient.

Airbnb, which currently offers about 3,500 listings in the area., would like to play a bigger role.

“I’m thinking all these events coming to Vancouver, people are looking towards those as opportunities to leave town, and opportunities to make extra money by engaging in short-term rentals even for short periods of time,” said Nathan Rotman, Airbnb Regional Lead for Canada and US Northeast.

One of the biggest issues, the report points out, is space. One idea being floated is a hotel barge in Coal Harbour, that the city is open to.

Vancouver is one of the best cities in Western Canada

Wed, 30 Nov 2022 21:10:27 GMT

Annual Resonance Consultancy ranking lists five Canadian cities among the 100 best metro regions on the planet in its annual report released November 28.

Resonance is a leading advisor in tourism, real estate and economic development, and its Best Cities rankings quantify the relative quality of place, reputation and competitive identity for the world's principal cities with metropolitan populations of 1 million or more,

Bloomberg calls it “the most comprehensive study of its kind; it identifies cities that are most desirable for locals, visitors, and business people alike, rather than simply looking at livability or tourism appeal.”

In Canada, Toronto is ranked No. 24; Montreal is No. 57; Calgary is No. 65, Vancouver is No. 69 and Ottawa came in near the bottom, ranked at No. 96, just ahead of Hanoi.

Calgary, the top-ranked city in Western Canada, topped Vancouver due to the Alberta city's business acumen, according to Resonance.

B.C. hotel operators hopeful after successful season

Wed, 09 Nov 2022 18:59:00 GMT

A wildly successful tourism season has Western Canadian hoteliers looking to build on the lessons of the past three years as a recession looms.

Occupancies rose 60 per cent nationally in the nine months ended September versus a year ago, pushing average daily room rates to $183.76, or 34 per cent above last year. This boosted revenue per available room (RevPAR) to $110.11, up 113 per cent versus a year ago.

“It’s been a remarkable recovery, and for us it’s been right across the country,” said Brian Leon, CEO of Choice Hotels Canada, speaking at the Western Canada Lodging Conference in Vancouver on October 25. “We’re going to end this year with RevPAR probably a little more than 10 per cent higher than it was in 2019. We would never have expected that.”

Vancouver led the country, with an average occupancy rate of 70.3 per cent in the period. Room rates followed suit, rising 49 per cent to a nation-leading $243.72 a night. RevPAR increased a stunning 153 per cent to $171.34 from just $67.69 a year earlier despite ongoing border closures.

“This market has really seen great recovery over the past year,” said Jim Chu, executive vice-president and chief growth officer of Hyatt Hotels Corp. “And that’s without China.”

The strength of demand in Vancouver stands out next to Calgary, where hotel performance continues to lag Western Canada. Occupancies averaged 57.1 per cent in the first nine months of 2022 while room rates are also below average at $153.63 a night. This compares to 62.5 per cent occupancy in the same period of 2019 when rates averaged $145.92.

RevPAR in most major markets has yet to return to pre-pandemic levels but hoteliers have also reopened with an eye to keeping costs in check. Shorter wine lists, smaller menus, and offerings tailored to visitors – primarily leisure and group stays – have been critical.

“A lot of job-sharing, a lot of engineering of processes and tasks” took place, said Jiri Rumlena, president of SilverBirch Hotels & Resorts, which saw its workforce fall to 18 per cent of normal during the pandemic. It rebuilt its staff to 80 per cent of normal this summer, but guest experiences took longer to recover. “Standards didn’t come back in certain areas as they normally should have,” Rumlena acknowledged.

Labour woes

While consolidation of roles has helped address the labour shortage, and cutbacks in housekeeping helped control costs, Cindy Schoenauer, vice-president, hospitality and gaming with Cushman & Wakefield, isn’t sure it’s a strategy for long-term success.

“I don’t know if that’s something hotels want to keep doing because at the same time you’re talking about really rapid [room rate] growth,” she said. “There needs to be value to what you’re paying as well.”

The sector’s revival should be good news for workers after two years of turmoil.

“We’re not blind to the fact that the entire hospitality industry, ski included, have been in the forefront of media over the past two years and the basic narrative has been lack of stability,” said Christopher Nicolson, CEO of the Canada West Ski Areas Association, based in Kelowna. “As stability returns, that will definitely help recruiting as well.”

It won’t be easy, though. The sector was down 400,000 workers during the pandemic but recouped about 200,000 people this summer before returning to a deficit of 300,000 workers this fall.

While the federal Temporary Foreign Workers program has been tweaked to allow the sector to bring in up to 30 per cent of the workers it needs, the sector needs to continue working to secure domestic workers.

“We have to get out and tell our story,” said Susie Grynol, president and CEO of the Hotels Association of Canada.

Part of that story is that 90 per cent of hoteliers increased wages this past summer to attract workers.

“We want to be the sector people want to work in,” she said.

“We’ve seen leisure recover, but we have yet to see corporate [incentive travel] and meeting, conference group demand recover,” Schoenauer added. “It’s started, it’s just taking a little longer.”

Asset sales

Leon believes this year’s recovery will support fresh investment in properties that will improve the guest experience and position hotels for the future.

“Our hotels this summer, from a financial perspective, are in a lot better shape than they were a year ago,” he said.

The market is also benefitting from the removal of 6,800 rooms, primarily older product, since 2020, when governments stepped in at the onset of the pandemic to snap up properties for alternative uses, primarily social housing.

“You have rooms coming out that’s going to help our recovery,” McCluskie said.

However, with urban hotel markets still challenged by a lack of business travel, many of the 15 sales seen in B.C. this year have been in smaller, secondary markets outside the main centres. An example is the Kanata Hotel & Conference Centre in Kelowna, which sold this year for what is said to be highest price paid for a hotel in the region.

Just one hotel property changed hands in Vancouver, that was not purchased for redevelopment or an alternative use.

(Looking for Hotel for sale BC , we are happy to help.)

Canada’s biggest franchise show to open in Vancouver

Wed, 02 Nov 2022 20:07:00 GMT

The Franchise Canada Show Vancouver, the largest such exhibition in Canada, is being held November 12-13, 2022, at the Vancouver Convention Centre, organized by the Canadian Franchise Association (CFA) and partially sponsored by major franchise companies.

According to the CFA, franchising is exhibiting strength as the 12th largest contributor to the Canadian economy.

“Total franchise-related employment in Canada is expected to grow by 2.1 per cent to 1.85 million jobs by 2023. In British Columbia, the number of franchise establishments is expected to increase by 206 to a total of 10,683 net establishments by the end of 2023, the second-highest growth among Canadian provinces, following Ontario,” according to Sherry McNeil, the CFA’s president & CEO.

She noted the Franchise Show allows would-be franchisees to meet with representatives from top franchise brands and learn from successful local franchise owners and other experts in franchising.

“This is the largest franchise-only exhibition in Canada, where you can explore the world of franchising as an opportunity to be in business for yourself, but not by yourself,” McNeil added.

Entry is free for those who pre-register.

Topics covered at this year’s show include how to select a franchise, franchise financing and franchise legal issues.

Victoria eight-unit multi-family rental sells for $3.6 million

Thu, 22 Sep 2022 16:44:00 GMT

Well located and well-maintained apartment building, built in 1949, with stunning ocean views along desirable Crescent Road, Victoria, B.C.

Type of property; Multi-family

Location: 1860 Crescent, Victoria, B.C.

Number of units: 8

Property size: 14,857 square feet (approx.)

Sale price: $3.6 million

Calgary coffee chain splashes into Vancouver

Mon, 25 Jul 2022 20:10:00 GMT

Calgary-based Deville Coffee will soon make a splashy arrival in Vancouver, marking a major expansion of the brand.

Paul Brassard and Mark Nolan opened Calgary's first Deville cafe in 2008. The chain has a major presence in Calgary, with a dozen locations around the city and a thirteenth one in the works for Calgary’s airport. Deville also has an outlet in Edmonton and one in Kelowna, B.C.

In Vancouver, Deville has announced four outposts: 745 Thurlow (at the 745 Thurlow office building); The Post (in the former Canada Post redevelopment on West Georgia Street in the downtown); Bentall 5; and Waterfront (at 333 Seymour Street).

It appears the Waterfront location will be the first to open its doors this July, though a specific date has not yet been shared on Deville's social media.

Jason Cunningham, co-founder of 98 Food Co., which is Deville’s franchisor, said a Deville Coffee franchise costs $25,000 and a turnkey location can run between 500 square feet and 1,500 square feet, and cost up to $375,000. However, not all locations look the same.

“We build stores to suit the neighbourhood, and the building we are located in,” says Cunningham. “It’s not a cookie-cutter approach.”

It's unclear so far which Vancouver bakers, if any, Deville will be working with for their cafe's food selections.

Commercial Lease Operating Costs: The Lease Secret That Can Cost You Money

Tue, 19 Jul 2022 16:42:00 GMT

As a commercial tenant, the monthly base rent you pay your landlord for leasing commercial space may not be the only rent you pay! Many commercial tenants will also pay a secondary amount for property operating costs. The good news is that both these rents are often negotiable.

What Do I Pay for When I Pay Operating Costs?

To clarify, operating costs (also referred to as Common Area Maintenance/CAM, Triple Net/NNN Charges, or Additional Rent) are the costs of maintaining and managing a property. Examples of valid operating costs include property taxes, property insurance, maintenance, utilities, landscaping (which includes snow removal), and garbage collection. Valid operating costs will benefit all of the tenants in a commercial property—not just one or two. Commercial tenants need to understand and remember that operating costs are charged proportionately to all tenants. Therefore, a tenant occupying seven percent of a commercial property will, typically, pay seven percent of the total operating costs.

Operating costs are not, however, used equally. For instance, we are familiar with one tenant who created only one bag of garbage per week. He chose to load this bag into his own van, take it home, and place it outside with his own trash. Despite this, he was still obligated to pay his proportionate share of operating costs. In this case, it may be possible to exclude these charges for an individual tenant who can argue they are receiving no benefits from such operating costs.

What Shouldn’t I Be Paying For?

Any costs that are not covered by the commercial tenant’s contribution to Operating Expenses become the responsibility of the landlord. Understandably, landlords want to ensure that tenants’ fees cover all the building costs. What is wrong, however, is when all the tenants within a commercial property are paying needlessly to subsidize capital improvements on the building. The capital improvements costs could mean the construction of a new building or the installation of new pylon signs on a property when none existed before.

Another common scenario when operating costs can increase dramatically is when a new landlord purchases a building that has a large amount of deferred maintenance to be completed. The landlord’s motivation to complete this maintenance is to charge higher rents and fill vacancies, but this comes at the expense of higher operating costs for the current tenants. Commercial tenants should be looking at other similar buildings in the area to compare operating costs. If operating costs at one particular building are quite low and the property appears in need of updating, it is reasonable that these costs may rise significantly in the future.

How Do I Protect Myself from Paying Too Much?

A commercial property’s operating costs need to be completely spelled out in a tenant’s lease agreement. When this occurs, a tenant can examine, question, and negotiate each listed item. Beware that commercial landlords can be quite creative when it comes to listing operating costs. We have seen cases where landlords require all of their tenants to pay an annual fee to have a pool of money available for damage not covered by insurance. In most of these cases, the tenants were required to pay this fee for the entire duration of their tenancy. If damage occurs during a tenancy, a landlord will tap into this reserve fund; if a tenant relocates, the money that he/she paid into the pool will not be refundable.

When a building is fully occupied (or close to fully occupied), the landlord may be less motivated to try to charge their tenants more than their fair share. Before signing the lease, a tenant must ensure that there is no language within the lease permitting the landlord to charge back shares of operating costs for any vacancies to the tenants currently occupying the property. Even if your lease does not permit this, tenants must review their Operating Statements closely every year to ensure that they are not absorbing operating costs that should be attributed to any vacancies.

When it comes to deciphering operating costs, read carefully! These are a few of the potentially detrimental issues that can negatively affect commercial tenants:

Administration/Management Fees: If tenants are paying the property manager’s salary through operating costs, but the landlord adds a further 15 percent management fee to CAM costs, this can be considered double-dipping (or double-billing for essentially the same service). If the landlord levies administration fees on property taxes and/or insurance, it may be possible to exclude these items from the fee as there is very little landlord’s administrative work involved with these.
Utilities: Electricity, natural gas, and water may be provided by the landlord or be separately metered for each tenant. In some cases, the landlord may have one meter on the property and a check meter on each tenant’s unit to measure consumption. If you’re paying your own utilities to the utility company, you’ll have your own meter. Often, the landlord bills back utilities to tenants in operating costs. Make sure that you know in advance what your lease agreement calls for so you don’t pay twice.
Tenant Audit Rights: The landlord has a fiduciary responsibility for accountability to the tenants for the money collected from and spent on behalf of the tenants. Your lease should include tenant audit rights which allow you to examine the landlord’s books, if necessary.

Strata-lot market expands as RV sales explode across Canada

Tue, 05 Jul 2022 04:52:06 GMT

In Canada’s top beach destination of Tofino, B.C., recreational vehicle (RV) owners have the option renting a weekend spot at the Surf Grove campground, while others can rent RV from $150 to $250 per night.

RV sites have been offered for sale in lakefront parks from Cultus Lake to the Cariboo and in the Thompson-Okanagan, such as at Mara Lake and Shuswap Lake, for many years.

But the boom in RV sales since the start of the pandemic has created a surge in the creation of parks specializing in RV real estate. In the U.S., massive RV campgrounds have emerged, such as the 2,500-pad, 700-acre gated Port Susan Camping Club in. Tulalip, Washington, where memberships start at US$34,900.
The Canadian RV Association reports demand for new vehicles outstripped supply over the first six months 2021 — Canadian dealers sold 30,376 vehicles, while U.S. manufacturers shipped another 30,102 north of the border.

In the U.S., RV retail sales are on a record pace, according to RVBusiness magazine’s most recent market report. In 2020, the U.S. industry sold 520,075 vehicles, while in the first six months of last year 325,032 units sold.

In pre-COVID 2019, the U.S. RV industry sold 463,941 units.

The industry is expecting another surge in 2022, as effects of the pandemic linger and newcomers to RVing consider trading up their vehicles.

Prices for Class A diesel motorhomes start at $350,000, according to the Canadian Recreation Vehicle Association, but new smaller Class B and C units sell from $60,000 and used units sell from $10,000. New fifth-wheel trailers are priced from $50,000 to $160,000.

Today the average size of an RV on western roads is 40 feet long and 13 feet wide – twice the size of such vehicles two decades ago – and they are often rigged out with furnishings, TVs and complete kitchens.

The problem is where to park for the average 4.5 annual camping trips that owners use them. While there are public campgrounds, about 25 per cent of owners wheel into private campsites, and this is where recreational real estate investors can make money.

“RV units are getting better, made with more conveniences and there are great finance plans to purchase. Lots of units are being sold every day,” said Rudy Nielsen, president of the Niho Group, which includes LandQuest Realty that has been involved in selling B.C. recreational land for decades. “You might have an RV unit, but unless you book well into advance a place at a private or government campsite in summer you have nowhere to go.”

Shane Styles, president of Epic Real Estate Solutions in Kelowna, has seen the rising sales of RV’s, mostly large fifth-wheel units, and he says the demand for purchasing a permanent RV camping spot is a natural progression. He explained that a lack of rentable camping spots, record high prices for fuel, the cost of seasonal storage of an RV and an opportunity to recoup the cost of an RV investment are all playing into the demand for RV strata lots.
He said owning a strata site in an RV park allows the unit to stay securely in one place year-round and to be rented out when not in use. In some cases, people have made a large RV their permanent residence.

One of the largest and newest RV parks in B.C. is The Shores, a 389-pad RV resort being developed at Old Town Bay at Sicamous on Shuswsap Lake in the eastern Okanagan. The RV resort will be equipped with a swimming pool, community centre and a waterfront beach location, all part of a 210-acre development that includes separate parcels for single-detached and strata homes.

The “five-star” RV resort has access to Shuswap Lake and the Eagle River, according to real estate agent Zane Bouvette, who is working with developer Gary Tebbutt of Compass Developments on the project.

Bouvette said the RV strata lots at the Shores are priced from $185,000 for a 2,600-square-foot pad and up to $225,000 for a lot of around 3,400 square feet.

There is also the potential for investors to purchase existing campgrounds and convert some of the land to strata RV lots. In some locations, such as Kamloops and the North, there is the potential of renting strata RVs to resource construction workers as well as tourists. An example of a listing is a 60-pad RV park at Charlie Lake near Fort St. John in north east B.C., the centre of Canada’s liquefied natural gas industry.

“Contract and construction workers ensure income in the low season,” noted Kathy Miller of Re/Max Commercial, who has the campground listed for $8.8 million.

3AGroup Re/Max Nyda, of Agassiz, B.C., has a 98-acre RV park and campground, which includes a store and gas station, for sale at Baker Creek, B C. in the Cariboo for $1.37 million.

Multi-Family CAP rate in 2022

Mon, 02 May 2022 22:03:00 GMT

Multifamily cap rate movement unremarkable in Q1

Monday, May 2, 2022

Vancouver is the rare exception where market analysts foresee upward cap rate movement in the multifamily sector for the second quarter of 2022. However, that’s in the context of taking claim to Canada’s lowest cap rates yet again during the first three months of the year.

Elsewhere, cap rates are mostly expected to hold steady this spring, but push downward in Halifax, Waterloo and Winnipeg. The latter market presented investors with Canada’s highest cap rates, in the range of 5 to 6 per cent for both high-rise and low-rise acquisitions, during the first quarter.

Colliers Canada pegs Vancouver’s Q1 cap rates in the range of 2.25 to 3.5 per cent for high-rise product and 2.5 to 4 per cent for low-rise. Toronto posted the next low rates among the 10 markets Colliers surveys at 3 to 3.75 per cent for high-rise and 2.75 to 3.75 for low-rise buildings.

Canada-wide, multifamily again registered the lowest average cap rate — at 4.1 per cent — of any property type. That compares to a national cap rate average of 5.33 per cent across all first quarter investment. Colliers analysts foresee other factors will keep investors interested in the coming months.

“The interest rate and inflation issues will hurt consumers most as the era of cheap financing ends,” they maintain. “Prospective first-home buyers may remain renters as their purchasing power diminishes, leading to strong fundamental growth prospects for the multifamily sector looking ahead.”

Colliers’ executive director for Toronto, Tim Loch, points to the robust price-per-unit vendors are now attaining, which was notably seen in Q1’s biggest deal. Hazelview Investment paid more than $154 million for a three-building portfolio comprising 382 units, equating to more than $403,000 per unit.

Q1 cap rates also settled below the national average in nearby Waterloo — ranging from 3.25 per cent to 4 per cent for high-rise and 3.5 to 4.25 per cent for low-rise. Karl Innanen, Colliers executive director for Waterloo, projects vendors will be able to entertain multiple offers as rising rents further drive down cap rates into the future.

Oliver Tighe, Colliers executive director in Ottawa, notes compressing cap rates have not frightened off investors who perceive upside potential to increase rents either through upgrades or infill development on existing sites. A lack of available institutional-grade product in the city has also weighed in that decision-making. Colliers pegs Q1 cap rates at 4 to 4.75 per cent for high-rise and 3.75 to 4.75 for low-rise product.

“There are a number of new stabilized multi-family buildings expected to come to market in the first half of 2022, which should set a benchmark for what investors are willing to pay for a new stabilized asset in Ottawa,” Tighe observes.

Looking west, Rob Preteau, a Colliers senior associate in Winnipeg, suggests investors are likewise “taking a buy/renovate approach to increase rental rates”, while Perry Gereluk, Colliers vice president in Edmonton, underscores rebounding economic activity and provincial in-migration trends that should bode well for rental housing demand. He predicts cap rates “may edge lower” toward the end of 2022.

Calgary and Edmonton registered cap rates in a somewhat similar range — at 4 to 4.25 per cent at the low end and 5.25 to 5.5 per cent at the high end — during the first three months of this year. That’s predicted to remain stable for Q2.

On the west coast, the quarter’s largest deal in Vancouver saw Centurion Apartment REIT acquire a four-building, 514-unit portfolio for $81.7 million or approximately $159,000 per unit. A notable deal in Victoria was the $28-million sale of 93-unit building, equating to $301,000 per unit and a cap rate nearing 3 per cent.

NEWS: Commercial real estate sales heightened in 2021

Thu, 31 Mar 2022 18:44:08 GMT

Sales activity in the Lower Mainland’s commercial real estate market reached the second-highest annual total on record in 2021.

There were 2,659 commercial real estate sales in the Lower Mainland in 2021, a 65.3 per cent increase from the 1,609 sales in 2020, according to data from Commercial Edge, a commercial real estate system operated by the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV).

Last year’s sales total is the second highest on record behind 2016 when 2,848 sales were recorded.

The total dollar value of commercial real estate sales in the Lower Mainland was $14.396 billion in 2021, a 66.7 per cent increase from $8.635 billion in 2020.

NEWS: Hotel action moves back to Metro markets as pandemic wanes

Fri, 18 Mar 2022 15:47:00 GMT

Smaller hotels and motels in B.C. outlier markets had outperformed occupancy rates of urban flags that rely on corporate and tourism trade, but times are changing -Frank O'BrienMar 18, 2022 7:05 AM

This March, Coast Hotels brought two Peace River hotels, the 63-room former Pomeroy Inn in Grimshaw Alberta, and the 72-room Lakeview Inn in Fort St. John, B.C., under its banner, an indication of the interest in smaller properties and secondary markets that maintained the hospitality sector throughout much of the pandemic.

Okanagan, B.C., hotels, for example, were setting record levels for room revenues during the early summer of last year, but forest fires and then heavy flooding cratered the market. Room revenue data from the provincial government showed $22.1 million worth of hotel rooms were booked in Kelowna alone in the month of July, by far the biggest month ever for the local hotel sector.

But room revenues in Kelowna in August fell to $16.6 million, a level roughly typical for the past five years as guests increasingly avoid the region during peak wildfire season.

In the South Okanagan, Penticton and Osoyoos saw a similar trend. In Penticton, July posted $8.1 million in bookings, also a high-water mark for the community, before falling to $6 million in August.

Penticton opened a new hotel in July 2020, the 98-room Fairfield by Marriott, part of building surge that year that saw the addition of a total of 364 hotel rooms in Kelowna at the new Hampton Inn & Suites at the Kelowna Airport, Hyatt Place Kelowna and Microtel Inn & Suites, even as the pandemic was raging.

But, with the easing of COVID-19 restrictions, analysts expect sales and construction of of upscale urban properties to begin ramping up in 2022.

“The national forecast expects full-year occupancy in 2022 to be 60 per cent and the average daily room rate (ADR) to reach $156 resulting in revenue per available room (RevPAR) of $93, up 61 per cent on 2021,” said Laura Baxter, director of hospitality analytics, Canada, for CoStar Group.

The momentum for major hotel transactions began in late 2021, according to Avison Young.

Hotel transaction volume in Canada’s six largest markets was $712 million last year, Avison Young reported. That was up 124 per cent from 2020 and exceeds the 2019 total – prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Traditionally, the majority of hotel transactions that do occur are smaller, but they stand out more [in 2021] simply because there were so few larger transactions of $25 million plus,” Avison Young principal Curtis Gallagher told the Real Estate News Exchange.

Carrie Russell, senior manager at hotel industry consultancy HVS International, does not expect Canadian hotel revenues to fully recover to pre-COVID levels for at least two years.

“In 2019 RevPAR was $107, and in 2021 it was $56, so just over 50 per cent of the peak number,” Russell noted in a March 8 email to Western Investor.

“This year we expect a 44 per cent increase in RevPAR to almost $80 with continued recovery until 2024 when it has fully recovered. Since the health restrictions have started to lift across the country, we are seeing booking activity increase and hoteliers are optimistic about performance in the spring and summer with a return of sporting events, meetings and social gatherings. Corporate travel is also starting to resume, albeit at a very moderate pace right now,” she added.

Last year, Vancouver posted the strongest performance metrics, with a 48 per cent occupancy, $156.35 average daily rate and $77.65 RevPAR, while Edmonton reported the lowest ADR and RevPAR figures with $103.80 and $37.16, respectively, Avison Young reported.

Gallagher believes all revenue numbers in major Canadian cities will be higher this year than in 2021.

He thinks Calgary and Edmonton might perform surprisingly well owing to increases in oil prices, which were trading in the US$100 per-barrel range in March.

Colliers, in its 2022 Canadian Hotel Investment Report states, “The recovery is underway but will be a journey” The agency notes there is pent-up demand for travel, particularly for leisure, and leisure/business travel.

After near-zero construction of new hotels in Metro Vancouver over the past three years, there are signs of new hotels being built.

On March 4 Peterson Group and Coromandel Properties announced they had bought a 0.73-acre site in Vancouver’s Oakridge area for a joint-venture new hotel as part of a residential complex.

Landa Global Properties announced last June it plans a major hotel as a keystone of a mixed-use development on a 3.5-acre site near Richmond’s Oval Village waterfront.

Meanwhile, developer Marcon and QuadReal Properties have released plans for a 150-room hotel "comparable to a Hilton or Marriott,” as part of a large mixed-use proposal in Coquitlam Town Centre on Pinetree Way and Lougheed Highway.

SOLD - 12 Units Multi-Family, Maple Ridge BC, $2,850,000

Thu, 27 Jan 2022 21:57:00 GMT

Great opportunity to purchase a three (3) storey, twelve (12) unit, multi-family apartment building, centrally located in Maple Ridge. The property provides a significant upside for income growth, with the current Net Operating Income (NOI) being $76,619.65. The property includes balcony space, shared laundry, and secured parking. Zoned RM-2 (Medium Density Apartment Residential District). The property is situated on 224th Street, just South of Lougheed Highway, and is within walking distance to the town centre, many retail amenities, restaurants & cafes, Brickwood Park, and the Port Haney Wharf.

2021 Restaurant Sales Report British Columbia

Mon, 03 Jan 2022 22:46:03 GMT

There were 148 restaurant business ONLY sold in 2021 in Greater Vancouver area including 2 restaurant spaces For Lease. Price range $100,000-$200,000 has the most restaurant business sold, next in line was total 49 restaurant businesses sold under $100,000.

TOP 1, Vancouver - 62 SOLD

TOP 2, Surrey - 17 SOLD

TOP 3, Burnaby - 12 SOLD

FULL REPORT

SOLD- 54 units Multi-family apartment, Coquitlam BC, $15,000,000

Thu, 30 Dec 2021 23:28:20 GMT

17 Years Pride of Ownership. Very Well Maintained 54 Units Apartment Building in Coquitlam. Very low Vacancy. 39,600 SQFT Corner Lot. Roof was done in 2009, New Plumbing and New Boiler in 2011. Half of units updated with laminate floor. All adult tenants (40+), no kids, no pets, no BBQ, no party. Always quiet and clean.

News - Federated Cop-op buys 181 Husky gas stations

Fri, 17 Dec 2021 16:54:00 GMT

$264 million deal is the largest retail acquisition in the Co-op’s history

(Most of the stations being sold are in B.C. and Alberta)

Saskatoon-based Federated Co-operatives Limited (FCL) is investing $264 million to purchase 181 Husky retail fuel sites in Western Canada from Cenovus Energy Inc., the largest retail acquisition in the Co-op's history.

The December 2021 announcement was made on behalf of local Co-ops in the Co-operative Retailing System.

The acquired retail fuel sites include a mix of gas bars, on-site car washes and convenience stores. Once the deal is complete, FCL said, it will transfer the sites to several independent local co-ops across Western Canada.

"These new locations will strengthen our presence in Western Canada and will bring our unmatched service and support to new geographic areas,” stated the FCL in a release.

The deal is part of about $660 million in asset sales Cenovus announced December 7. It’s subject to regulatory review by the Competition Bureau of Canada, which may determine which sites stay in the deal.

Those that stay will be transferred over to local Co-ops, while others will remain with Husky branding for a short time while being suppled, according to FCL.

FULL STORY

SOLD- 22 rooms Motel, Southern BC, $1,799,900

Sun, 12 Dec 2021 22:44:13 GMT

The most affordable motel currently listed in the Lower Mainland. Prime location in Hxx. Opportunity to own a motel business in beautiful Hxx. This motel is located just within walking distance to shopping center, restaurants, gas stations and some fast food chains. It has 22 rooms on huge .587 acre of flat and useable land.

SOLD - 6 units Multi-family buildingS, MacKenzie BC, $599,900

Thu, 09 Dec 2021 22:35:00 GMT

Excellent investment opportunity in a good location. 6 units, 6 titles, all rented. tHERE ARE TWO SEPARATE BUILDINGS. Just newly updated. Each unit has a single carport. Backs onto schoolyard.

For Sale: Profitable Barber + Salon, $250,000 NW Calgary, AB

Tue, 23 Nov 2021 02:17:00 GMT

PROFITABLE Barber + Salon for sale, $250,000 in NW Calgary, AB

--The ONLY barber in the community

--gross sales $380k in 2020, $500k in 2021

--Rent is $4800/month including op cost, utilities $500/month

-- 3 hair cut tables, 6 salon tables, 2 sinks

-- 2.5 yrs lease left, 5 yrs renewal option

-- 2 barbers, 2 hair stylists

--contact for confidential details @403-805-7766