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WAS THE CONVERSATION STILL DOMINATED BY TARIFFS AND PRESIDENT TRUMP? Ted: Last year, we were talking about Trump, Trump, Trump, and certainly his name came up a lot, but it wasn’t the primary focus. We were looking a lot more internally. How can we, as a society, make better and faster decisions? How can we put in place systems that allow people to make decisions with greater certainty about timing and costs? So there was less talk about Trump this year, even with the new war and all that entails. The theme was uncertainty. Any part of our business, whether it’s immigration, interest rates, title, or demand, none of those buckets had a tremendous amount of certainty around them. Different people had different views, certainly, but there was no consensus. Cynthia: The Hon. John R. Baird, Senior Business Advisor, Bennett Jones & Former Minister of Foreign Affairs at the Government of Canada, highlighted that we must take President Trump seriously, but not literally. The world is
the folks in the particular Vancouver market see their day-to- day, there are a ton of challenges going on in the rest of the world. So if you’re a dollar of capital looking to be placed in real estate, notwithstanding the challenges in BC, we’re still an attractive place to invest. Cynthia: I would say that we are in a more pragmatic environment, where buyers and sellers are highly aware of market conditions. The truly entrepreneurial groups, of which we have many in BC, will do very well, assuming they make some bets in the next 12 months. It’s exciting to think about 10 years from now, looking back on this time, and hoping we’ll be in a way better place as a province and country. And we can say this was an inflection point. ■ Alex Gray
learning to operate with this Trump 2.0. As such, there was less focus on Trump this year as compared to 2025. There are many factors at play globally and nationally, though the US remains an important one to watch. WHAT WERE SOME OF THE HIGHLIGHTS OF THE CONFERENCE? Ted: I received the most feedback on the Cowichan Case Panel. There was robust discussion on that panel, and the room was packed. There were two leaders in their field (Thomas Isaac and Robert Janes) on stage having an open discussion on the topic and from what I heard from attendees, that conversation was well-received. Another highlight was Benjamin Tal. I always say that without him, it’s not worth putting on the conference. Cynthia: We had some fantastic speakers from a macro level, including Benjamin. Jon Ramscar, President & CEO, Canada at CBRE Limited, delivered a market overview
speech that really set the tone for the event. The global investor panel was a highlight and moderating the closing panel was also a privilege; we had some brilliant people speaking to the direction that we need to go as a province and as a country. WHERE ARE INVESTORS PUTTING THEIR MONEY AMID ALL THIS UNCERTAINTY? Ted: I think that was the biggest debate: what is the safe bet? Certainly, I think there’s a lot of optimism around the hotel sector. A few folks talked about the retirement sector quite a bit. If you look at the residential market as a whole, we’ve got a record inventory of rental units coming online in Vancouver. We’ve got about 5,000 units delivered and unoccupied in the condo market, but seniors housing is still very popular. People felt good about retail. They felt good about industrial. They felt pretty good about class A office. The big thing that’s weighing down our market, where the most question marks are, is the residential side. Cynthia: We are seeing some big bets from foreign capital on the commercial side, like the Post trade, acquired by Pontegedea. Others are looking here and acquiring aggressively, and that trend looks poised to continue, assuming enough quality assets are available to transact. WHAT WAS THE PARTING MESSAGE OF THE CONFERENCE? Ted: Our outgoing question was, “What do you feel good about? What’s giving you hope?” They were all very positive. There are some pretty severe challenges facing the industry and Canada in general. The main message that kept coming up throughout the entire forum was that, as challenging as
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Canadian Real Estate Forums / Spring 2026 12
Canadian Real Estate Forums / Spring 2026 13
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