Learn how to navigate the Canadian housing market and make smarter choices when purchasing your next investment property with expert insights from Scott McGillivray.
For many Canadians, real estate is a deeply personal milestone. It’s an investment in the future, and often a building block for wealth. But as we look ahead, a new reality is taking shape. With mortgage renewals on the horizon, economic uncertainty and real estate markets showing varied performance across the provinces, homeowners and buyers alike are facing more complex decisions than ever. Is now the time to look into an investment property, buy, sell or renovate?
In this episode of Smart Advice, host Carissa Lucreziano sits down with real estate investment expert, entrepreneur, and television host Scott McGillivray. Known for empowering Canadians through shows like Vacation House Rules and Renovation Resort, Scott brings sharp insight to a timely conversation. Together they explore what’s happening in the 2025 real estate market—from pre-construction drawbacks and cash-flow-positive regions to renovation trends and hidden equity opportunities. Scott's refreshingly candid advice offers both caution and optimism to those looking to make their next move in today’s unpredictable environment.
This episode gives you actionable insights to make smarter financial decisions and seize the real estate opportunity others may miss.
[11:41] Scott: “Your ticket to getting good deals right now — as long as you know what a good deal really looks like, that doesn't mean just go buy it — but Ontario, British Columbia, Quebec, those are the provinces right now where you see the opportunity.”
[25:42] Scott: “Trying to chase opportunities in real estate is a fool's game. Putting yourself in the path of progress is strategic. So when everyone else is doing nothing, that's the best time to do something.”
Scott McGillivray is one of Canada’s most trusted voices in real estate, known for turning properties into powerful wealth-building tools. As the host of HGTV’s Vacation House Rules and Renovation Resort, he brings over 20 years of experience in property investment, construction, and market analysis. Through hundreds of income-generating properties across Canada, Scott has mastered the art of strategic renovations and resilient investing.
Today, he helps Canadians navigate complex housing decisions with a clear, practical approach grounded in data and experience. Whether the market is cooling or heating up, Scott equips homeowners and investors with the tools to act confidently and build long-term value.
Connect with Scott McGillivray on his LinkedIn and website.
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Carissa: Welcome to Smart Advice, a podcast connecting you with timely financial advice, investment strategies and economic trends, empowering you with insights to make informed decisions about your money. I'm CIBC's financial advice expert, Carissa Lucreziano.
Real estate has always been more than just property in Canada. It's about building stability, wealth, creating opportunity, and for many, setting the foundation for the future. But as we step into 2025, the landscape is changing. Interest rates are beginning to ease, but Canadians are still feeling the pinch of higher costs and economic uncertainty. With a wave of mortgage renewals on the way, a lot of people are rethinking their game plan. Whether you are eyeing your first place, navigating an investment, or trying to decide if it's finally time to flip that switch on, that renovation, the choices are more complex, but also more important than ever.
So today, we're diving into it all. What's really going on in the market? What are the trends in Canadian real estate and how do you make your home or your investment property work harder for you. No better person to tackle it with than real estate expert investor and TV host Scott McGillivray. From Scott's vacation house rules to the renovation resort and all the new projects he has underway, it's a busy year for Scott. One thing he is always leaning into is helping Canadians think, how to approach investing in real estate, and how to make the most of their renovations.
Scott, thank you so much for being here today. I'm so excited for this conversation, and thanks for being here on the show again a second time.
Scott: Yeah, I'm back. We got a lot to talk about.
Carissa: We have a lot to talk about, and I'm looking forward to all your insights. So let's get right into it. Let's talk about the market, right?
Scott: Oh, you want to do this, don't you?
Carissa: Yes, I do. Let's talk about the market. There's mixed confidence in the market, economic uncertainty. You know, people thinking about where rates are going. Are they stable? Are they going to go up or down? Many Canadians are thinking about the next move. It is spring market.
Scott: Yes.
Carissa: We've been waiting for the spring market, it seems for a long time. What do you see as the real opportunities right now?
Scott: Good question, and there are some very interesting opportunities. They're not as obvious as people would like them to be. No one's got a crystal ball, but the good news is we now have enough information, enough decisions have been made, that we can start mapping out the next few years and where you should focus if you want to win.
The first thing that I'll say is the narrative that I've been hearing is that it's a delayed spring market. People have been waiting for some decisions and some tariffs and some elections to be had, but that's kind of behind us now. So, we need to map out the path forward.
The reality is, it's not going to be a normal spring market in the real estate space. It's going to be unusually divided across Canada. I think the interior provinces and some of the Atlantic provinces are going to get a little bit more of the delayed start that people are hoping for, whereas British Columbia, Quebec, Ontario — they're going to see a new normal moving forward, which is a slower pace, longer days on the market. All the old tricks are gone, just more common sense, real estate, where people can take their time and people can do inspections and people can get proper financing in place. But that itself comes with some good opportunities as well.
Carissa:But there is opportunity out there, like in this environment, right? There's opportunity. It's just to your point. People are still waiting whether it's the rates, environment.
Scott: Let’s get into it, right? You want to talk about opportunity. The silver lining is strong right now. What I mean by that is the general metrics, if you took the temperature check on the market, it's not fantastic. Most people are a little hesitant and confused. It's not a great time to be selling, but what does that mean for buyers? Flip side, there is an opportunity. If you've been waiting, if you're a first time home buyer who's been waiting for years for an opportunity to get into the market, this is the opportunity you've been waiting for.
If you are looking to upgrade, this is a good time to be thinking about upgrade, because larger properties will be priced at a greater discount than smaller properties. If you've been waiting to take on a renovation, there are some opportunities to take advantage of the current labor force being less busy having more capacity than they've had in the last several years.
Carissa:That's a good point.
Scott: Yeah, we've been looking at cost per square foot pricing. It's started to come down. All the forecasts are coming down on cost per square foot pricing for contractors and for large projects. So there's never, you know — it's never all bad news. What I like to say is that when something is happening over here that's negative, then maybe something over here is positive. So for someone like myself, or for someone who wants to get into the housing market, pick up an investment property, upsize or do major renovation, this is the time to pay attention.
Carissa: Okay, let's talk about the condo market for just a moment. I know you need more than a moment just to talk about the condo market.
Scott: Oh, it’s fine. I had a good time here today. Let's go.
Carissa:So, you know, a lot of talk about the condo market, and that it is stagnant. But how long do you think that's gonna last? For not only people that maybe want to get in because now the price points are good for those maybe first time homebuyers, but also for those that have maybe bought a few years ago and have a couple units.
Scott: This is a tricky one, because now very specific markets, when we talk about the condo market, like, let's take Toronto, for instance. Not a great news story right now, absorption isn't happening at the rate people want it to. The builders, the developers, projects that they purchased in 2020, 2021, even 2019 they're now not getting the cost per the sale, per square foot that they were projecting. So, it's not a good news story, and there's a lot of inventory sitting out there.
The challenge is that the rules have changed. The rates changed, the rules changed, pricing changed, immigration changed, the government changed. So all these things have shifted. So when you get into when the developers started now, the goal posts have shifted, right? And especially when it comes to new condos: the challenge with new condos you got to remember is that for first time home buyers or a new immigrant or somebody who's thinking about buying a condo, if you're buying a brand new condo, the reality is, it's mostly investors that buy pre-construction because you're waiting five to seven years.
So if you're like, “Oh, I'm a first time home buyer, I'm gonna buy a condo and have a home in five to seven years.” No, you're looking for something to move into in the next six months. Same thing with somebody who may have just come to Canada, they need somewhere to live. So that's going to be the existing inventory. Existing inventory, I think, is going to do better in the next few years than pre construction. It's going to have more of a lag, because we don't have a lot of investor incentives right now. I think until there's a few policy changes or interest rates continue to become more favorable, that market is going to struggle.
We need to see more immigration. We need to see reduced development fees, like they need to cut those development costs in half, because nobody sees that as an end product, right? A development cost is like, here's $50,000 per unit. It's like a stamp, it's a $50,000 stamp. Let's go right?
Carissa: Yeah.
Scott: So those development fees, they need to come down. Maybe some of the taxes on new construction need to come down. If those government policies come into play, it'll be a game changer for the condo market.
Carissa: Yeah, andI think they will, you're right. They will have to think about, how do they stimulate that buyer? And because it is a good opportunity, it looks like it'll be a good opportunity for those, you know, new home buyers and getting in. It's just stimulating that with maybe?
Scott: It is stimulation. Listen, there's natural market flows that happen, but the greatest impact to the value of real estate in the real estate market itself is done through government intervention.
Carissa: Yes,
Scott: In this country, that's my experience for 25 years. We all know what happens when interest rates go up and interest rates go down. Wonderful. That's pretty but it's when the rules change. It's when the capital gains rules change. Look at the impact that threat had on the market. It's when they talk about removing the GST on new home purchases. It's when they reduce development fees. Those are the things that have a tangible effect on the market.
So, the government is holding all the cards right now, and it will be really interesting now that we know what our new government looks like here, whether you like it or not, we know that we're at the mercy of some of their decisions. Even the smallest tweak in those decisions can have a massive impact.
If they remove the GST on all new home sale purchases, up to a million dollars for everybody, that will have a very positive impact on the condo market and the market in general. If they limit that to first-time home buyers alone, you're now talking about less than 10% of the buying pool, and the reality is that new first time home buyers typically need to buy something that's already built. If they're buying something that's in development in five to ten years, or five to seven years, it's harder for them. They may not be able to wait that long.
So small decisions that the government is going to make are going to have some huge impacts. So I don't- Listen, I don't fault people who are waiting and sitting on the sidelines, right? There's a good reason to make no decision at all.
However, to get to your original point, which is, “What is the good news story here?” The good news story is that I am personally purchasing properties right now at 70% I would say, of what it would have cost me to buy those properties a year and a half to two years ago. For the savvy investors— and that's not every property, I'll put in ten offers, and nine of them will get turned down, but the one that I do get will be some of the best deals I've ever seen.
Carissa:Let's talk about that a little bit more. So real estate opportunities can vary across Canada, province to province, city to city. You can tell us all about that. If you think about the growth opportunity the next five years, even five maybe ten, where are the hidden gems, pockets that you think Canadians should keep an eye on? What are you keeping an eye on?
Scott: That's a really good question, I think, if you are an investor… there's really two types of investors. There's investors who are looking for cash flow, and the winning provinces for you are going to be Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, New Brunswick, even Newfoundland. You can affordably purchase a home and get reasonable rental rates and have positive cash flow. That's a good investment for the average Canadian, great returns. It's a long term play.
If you're an equity investor, if you're the type of investor who's like, I don't need the cash flow, but I want the values to go up. Your ticket to getting good deals right now — as long as you know what a good deal really looks like, that doesn't mean just go buy it — but Ontario, British Columbia, Quebec, those are the provinces right now where you see the opportunity. It's a buying opportunity to get in at a reasonable rate, you might be a little more cash flow neutral, because price points are naturally higher. But these are some of Canada's most premium cities are in those provinces, and those are AAA properties.
Carissa:Any tips on how you— if somebody's in Ontario or somebody's in BC, and they're looking like province to province.
Scott: Yes.
Carissa: Any tips on what to think about when you're buying province to province?
Scott: Thatis a good question. The absolute number one investment right now in 2025, here we are, we're almost at the midpoint. I would say that the number one investment that someone can make is in themselves. This is the time to up your game. This is the time to learn a new skill, make new relationships and connections. Work with professionals, whether it's a trusted agent or an advisor, you need to sit down and have a good conversation, because this is the time to position yourself.
When that next opportunity presents itself, which is probably in the next six months, you're gonna have a really lucrative opportunity in front of you. If you don't know what to do about it, or you don't have the right team around you, someone else is gonna take advantage of that. It is a time for people just to be honest with themselves, even me, I'm like, I don't know everything about real estate. I work on it every day, and I'm excited about it, but I'm not a real estate agent, I'm not a mortgage broker, I'm not a financial advisor.
I have people on my team, and I'm rallying with them. I'm having lunches, right? I'm going to their events. I'm asking lots of questions. I'm pounding the ground and doing the heavy lifting while most people are sitting on the sidelines. So the moment that opportunity is there. I'm not chasing to build those relationships and to educate myself and surround myself with the right individuals. I'll have that team ready to go.
Carissa: Yeah, andthat's such a good point. I mean, CIBC, we just launched an ambitions index, and one of the things that came out through that index is those that feel that they're gaining success, or like, you know, gaining momentum towards their ambition, they think about things like that. They're thinking about financial education. How do they get more savvy? How are they prepared to your point, so that when the opportunity is there they can execute, right?
Scott: Yeah.
Carissa: So great advice. Thanks, Scott. So let's shift to one of your favorite things.
Scott: Yes.
Carissa: Renovations.
Scott: Oh, yeah.
Carissa: So in late 2024 from one of our polls, our homeowners poll, 50% of Canadians were either thinking about doing a renovation. They completed a renovation. I do believe that Canadians are still thinking about that and planning. Spring is here too, so it's a good time. Talk to us about the trends. Where are Canadians spending their money when it comes to renovations? Where should they spend their money when it comes to renovations?
Scott: Okay, let's see if I can remember this, because I'm going to divide it into two parts— your question, which is, you know, people are thinking about renovations, taking on renovations. Is this a good time? What should they focus on? Here's what we know right now. Cost of labor has come down. So if you've been waiting to do a renovation or you have something that needs to be done, it's a good time to be reaching out, especially at the contractor level. We see that people have capacity, and when they have capacity, they're better at pricing, they're more available.
Two years ago, it was like six months to get a contractor, and everything was premium pricing. Now you're probably six weeks to get a contractor.
Carissa: That's good news.
Scott: Yeah, this is good news. It's a good time to look at getting a few things done around your place. Small to medium renovations are going to have the biggest return on investment. Upgrading fixtures, flooring, cabinets, hardware, paint, those types of upgrades on your home, they can be done quickly. They're affordable. They have the best return on investment.
Carissa: It's like aesthetics, right?
Scott: It's like aesthetics. It's like putting on a new outfit. How hard was that? Hey, ah, right? Look at us. We're doing all okay. The other reason why I tell people to focus on these not only are they a little more affordable and available to be done right now, but it's also predictable.
We live in a time where not everything is predictable. In a few months from now, appliances could have a huge tariff on them, and that's something that I've been watching with my renovations. We've been bringing in air conditioners and furnaces and fridges and all these finished products like that, things that are complete, like a vehicle or an appliance, the threat of those having a big price increase are real. That may happen.
So, it's a good time if you can focus on something in the next 90 days, and you can purchase your materials, and it's things that the stores have in inventory. Fantastic. Let me touch on larger renovations for a second, because those are a little less predictable. You can still lock in, I think, good quality trades folks at reasonable pricing. But if you're rebuilding a home right now, and a lot of your materials might be purchased in a year or so, you need to have some flexibility. You need to have a safety net.
Sit down with your life partner or your parent or your child or whoever the other financial decision maker is in your home, and then talk to the person who manages your money or your mortgage or your investments, and all of you need to get together and say, if we take this on, what are our options if our pricing changes? Like, what is our threshold? What's our safety net? Like, what's our comfort zone? Because you should be excited to take on a renovation, and the best way to be excited is to be able to predict where you're going and how you're going to get there.
I think working with not just your family, but the people who support the finances in your family is the best path, especially for a long term renovation, something big and massive, like a rebuild or tear down or complete gut job.
Carissa:Yes,you have to have the cost flexibility. You always talk about having that anyways, but in this environment with some uncertainty over the longer term. So how do you— any tips on cutting those costs? Like, where do you really lean in? I know it's a tough question, because there's so many variables, and depending on what renovation you're doing and all that. But what are some good tips?
Scott: Some good tips and the second part of your question I'll put together. So, which was, what are the best investments to make into real estate right now. So first of all, anything that's over personalized or potentially an exotic renovation. I know that sounds a bit odd, but people will build this eight car garage that's a little exotic on a home, the return on investment just isn't there right now. Those are return on lifestyle choices and every renovation is a balance between return on investment and return on lifestyle. You want to have both right?
What are the things that are best for my home and its potential resale value and are going to last? What are the things that I want? I want a gym or a pool or a six car garage, because those might not get you your money back when you go to sell your home, but it may increase your enjoyment of your home. Everything is a balance. When you talk about what are the best investments in real estate now and where are the trends going, I will tell you that the number one trend in real estate right now, and you may not be expecting this, is accessibility.
Carissa: Yeah.
Scott: Accessible homes are increasing in value and outpacing everything else. So single level homes, the less steps, the better. Showers with no thresholds, large turning radius, wide doorways, you may not notice it. And what's great is that the average individual won't even notice these things. So it doesn't prevent someone from buying a home. If the doorway is 36 inches wide versus 32 inches wide, might just look like a nice big door, but for accessibility purposes? People, you need to look at how much money the baby boomers have. They have all of it.
Carissa: Yeah, they do.
Scott: They have most of it. Baby boomers have so much money, and they are a huge influence on the real estate market. And the reality is, a lot of them don't want to have to move. So if you look at the renovations that are being done, the first thing that people look at is: can I make the home that I've been living in more accessible so that I can stay here longer? So something I've always looked at with my properties is that the bungalows that I've owned for 25 years have outpaced two story homes.
They've outpaced condos and semi-detached homes and it's not by a little, it's by a lot. So the second benefit to having a bungalow, let's call it, is that typically they have large footprints in the lower level as well. So the opportunity for accessory dwellings and secondary units and rental income is real. It's like a double whammy win. That is the largest trend in like, value creation in real estate right now.
Carissa: That's interesting and I like what you said too, about thinking when you're thinking about renovations: the value for resale, but also the value for lifestyle. On your last point, it's a good segue into, you know, you help educate Canadians on how to turn their homes into income properties, and you do a lot of this.
But it's not just about basements anymore. It's about the laneway homes or the smaller homes on bigger land, whether it's farm or other. I know you have a lot of great advice here. What should homeowners be thinking if they want to turn their personal space into something to earn an income?
Scott: There's lots of different ways to generate income from a home. It's evolved for sure over the years, and that has been based on policy and government changes and zoning regulations. Right? We look at what the typical zoning now allows for four separate units on a residential space. That's wild. I remember when I started getting into real estate investing, like even putting in a basement apartment was pulling teeth.
I went to the city of Toronto to register the first income property that I did in the city, and they're like, there are only 100 registered rental units in the entire city. I'm like, “Are you kidding me?” I think I saw 100 today. Like it was not normal to do this legitimately. So, there's been a huge evolution in the real estate space, this idea that generating additional income from the home you already have, that's a positive thing. There's ways to do it well, and there's ways to do it wrong. You gotta be careful. You do this the wrong way, and you'll never do it again. You do this the right way, and you'll be addicted and you'll never go back, right?
So, yes, basement apartments, super obvious. Even some of the older homes in Toronto, we've seen multi level properties become triplexes and fourplexes. Realistically, anything four units or less can still be absorbed as a residential mortgage. It's pretty standard to get insurance on a property like that, if its owner occupied four units or less, pre-accessible. When you get more than four units, it gets a little more intense. The financing changes, the insurance changes, lots of different pieces. But for the average individual who's looking to generate additional income, you now have more options.
It's not just a basement apartment. There's laneway homes, there's accessory dwelling units, auxiliary. There’s these tiny homes, prefabbed opportunities. I see all kinds of different things, and no matter which way you decide to generate additional income on your property, maybe it's short term rentals, maybe it's a basement apartment, maybe it's a laneway house. No matter which one you look at, you've got to run the numbers. If you're not running the numbers, it doesn't matter how pretty it is, how interesting it is, how excited you are about it. If the math doesn't work, everything else falls apart.
So you want to look at your return. If you're putting a $200,000 laneway home on your property, I would want that to generate $1,800 to $2,000 a month in rent, right? Kind of a 1% rule, one month of rent should be worth 1% of the cost of doing it. That is, to me, just quick, quick math. I'm not saying this means it's absolutely foolproof, because there could be other carrying cost issues, but that is the quickest way of looking at anything that brings in more than 1% a month in rent versus the cost of doing it. Typically is in a premium rental category for me. Anything less than that, then maybe you got to look at your cost of financing, or the utilities or carrying costs, make sure that those are in line, so that the profitability still makes sense.
Carissa: Great tips. I think just at the fundamentals, you need to understand the numbers. So thank you for that. Finally, before we wrap up, and I can't believe we're already wrapping up, because—
Scott: Why are you wrapping up? We just got started.
Carissa: I know. So, I would love to know if you could share, and this is going to be hard if you could share one piece of advice, one piece of advice to Canadians looking to make their next move in real estate. What would it be?
Scott: Oh, this is a good question. Yeah, I would say the number one tip for anyone considering purchasing a home or moving this year or doing a renovation, would be: start now while everyone else is in a state of decision paralysis. You want to get the best opportunities in real estate when they happen, you already have to be in the path of progress, I call it. Trying to chase opportunities in real estate is a fool's game. Putting yourself in the path of progress is strategic. So when everyone else is doing nothing, that's the best time to do something. But do it. Do it well, and do it strategically.
Surround yourself with the right people, like minded individuals who tell you how you can do things. Don't listen to people who tell you how you can't do things. That means you're not talking to the right people and you want to this is the best time to position yourself to take advantage of the opportunities that by the time the market shifts and the costs of renovation go back up, or inflation starts to go back up, or housing prices get out of reach, it'll be too late. And you'll look back and say, “Wow, 2025 it was sitting there right in front of me.” Everything, all those opportunities and you'll have to ask yourself, “What did I do about it?”
Carissa:Well that was an amazing tip for Canadians. If you're going to leave us with something it really is around, just seize the opportunity, but also throughout this whole episode in our conversation, it was really about being prepared, bunkering down, doing the numbers and and being ready for that opportunity. So thank you so much for being here, Scott, it's always a pleasure. Great conversation. Could continue talking and talking for hours, but you know, we only have so much time today, but looking forward for you to come back
Scott: Absolutely. Carissa, thank you.
Carissa: As Scott reminded us today, real estate in 2025 is anything but predictable, and that's what makes it full of opportunity. Whether you are navigating a renovation, weighing in on your next investment, or deciding if now is the time to buy or sell, there is no single formula for success. Buying or selling a home is one of the biggest financial and emotional decisions you will ever make. With the right team by your side, combining advice from real estate experts, a mortgage advisor and a financial advisor gives you a 360 view that fits you. You can get closer to your goals and have a personalized roadmap to get there with preparation and by working with the right team.
To learn more about how CIBC can support your real estate journey, visit cibc.com/smartadvice. Thank you for tuning in to this episode of Smart Advice. I'm Carissa Lucreziano. If you enjoyed this conversation, feel free to share it with your network, and don't forget to follow Smart Advice on your favorite podcast platform.