The senior housing market in Canada is similar to to the United States, according to global real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield.
Senior housing operating metrics are in recovery mode in Canada, and operators are seeing occupancy and rent growth trending in a positive direction, says a recent report from the company that details senior living operating performance in Canada.
National senior living occupancy in Canada has increased by 4 points year over year, to 88%, according to the report. Based on favorable supply and demand fundamentals, Cushman & Wakefield said it expects national occupancy to surpass its pre-pandemic level of 92% by the end of 2025.
“Canadian and US seniors housing markets are more similar than they are different,” Sean McCrorie, the firm’s executive vice president and practice leader for seniors housing and healthcare, told the McKnight’s Business Daily. “Both markets benefit from significant population growth tailwinds and are now beginning to target a similar boomer cohort that has a different set of needs and wants from previous generations.”
Baby boomers, born between 1946 and 1964, are influencing new senior living communities in both countries, “resulting in an evolving set of amenities, unit type and care level assortment and the range of services that are offered within the properties,” McCrorie said.
As in the United States, he noted, the senior living market in Canada has been affected over the past five years by declining supply growth and development activity brought on by increasing construction and interest rate costs.
But one notable difference exists in the senior living market between the two countries, McCrorie said: “Due to our universal healthcare, the government picks up most of the tab when it comes to … skilled nursing facility properties.”
