35 per cent of German institutional investors can envisage investing directly or indirectly in Canadian property. For around 20 per cent, the vast country to the north of the USA is no longer unfamiliar territory. They already hold Canadian property in their portfolios. These are the key findings of a survey conducted by RUECKERCONSULT on behalf of Fiera Real Estate amongst institutional investors in August and September 2026.
Wenzel Hoberg, Global Head of Real Estate at Fiera Real Estate, comments: “We are very pleased that more than a third can envisage investing in Canada. European investors are increasingly recognising the advantages that Canada offers as an investment location. In addition to solid economic growth, Canada impresses with continuous population growth, which is primarily driven by skilled immigration. Consequently, demand is strong across all asset classes.”
The study also sought further details regarding investment in Canada. One aspect concerns the timing of investment. The third who expressed an interest in Canada can envisage investing there within the next two to four years.
Risk appetite was also assessed. Here, a varied picture emerges. A number of investors can envisage pursuing several risk strategies simultaneously when it comes to Canadian property: around 71 per cent stated they would focus on core and core-plus, around 57 per cent on value-add and around 29 per cent on opportunistic investments.
Canadian residential property by far the most popular
“When asked about property types, there was a clear winner. 86 per cent prefer residential property,” says Hoberg. This is followed by logistics at 43 per cent, then offices at 29 per cent. Retail and healthcare received the least interest, at 14 per cent. “Investors’ strong preference for residential property comes as no surprise to us and is consistent with the insights gained from numerous discussions. Many institutional investors already hold large residential portfolios in Germany and wish to diversify within this property sector. Canada, with its positive demographics, is a very good complement to this,” Hoberg continues.
Respondents have relatively high return expectations for Canada. Around 57 per cent expect a total return of more than 8.0 per cent per annum, whilst 43 per cent expect between 5.0 and 6.0 per cent.
A total of 20 institutional investors took part in the survey – including 35 per cent banks, 25 per cent each from pension funds and occupational pension schemes, 10 per cent insurance companies and 5 per cent church-affiliated investors.
55 per cent of respondents manage property assets worth less than 500 million euros, around 15 per cent manage between 500 million euros and 1.0 billion euros, a quarter manage between 1.0 and 5.0 billion euros, and 5 per cent manage more than 5.0 billion euros.
