Official registries and open data list 112,962 active companies in real estate and rental and leasing in Quebec, which puts Quebec in 1st place in Canada for this sector (97 % of the national total). 6,542 of them (6 %) have at least one known director, and 2,288 (2 %) published an official change in the last 18 months: incorporation, amendment, change of director or address.
Want a closer look at these companies? ciblr sends you 5 profiles of companies in real estate and rental and leasing in Quebec free of charge, contact details included.
Get 5 profiles from this segmentReal estate and rental and leasing (NAICS 53) is the largest sector of the Canadian economy by value added and the most dispersed by number of entities: over one million establishments, the vast majority of which are holding companies with no employees. After three years of correction, the resale market stabilized in 2025 (470,000 transactions, average price of $673,000), rental housing moved from shortage to balance, and office and industrial space began to recover in 2026.
NAICS 53 covers lessors of real estate (residential, office, retail, industrial, storage), real estate brokers and agencies, property managers and appraisers, as well as the rental of goods (vehicles, machinery, equipment, consumer goods) and lessors of patents and trademarks. According to ISED, the sector's GDP grew 2.9% in 2024, faster than the economy (2.0%); Ontario ($112.2 billion in chained 2012 dollars), British Columbia ($58.2 billion), Quebec ($50.8 billion) and Alberta ($42.8 billion) form its core.
The structure is unusual: ISED counts 1,103,910 establishments in 2025 but only 59,281 employers, 77.0% of them with one to four employees and only 33 with more than 500. The large employers are real estate investment trusts and managers (Brookfield, Cadillac Fairview, Oxford, Ivanhoé Cambridge, RioCan, CAPREIT, Boardwalk), brokerage networks (Royal LePage, RE/MAX, Century 21, Via Capitale) and rental companies (Enterprise, United Rentals, Cooper).
Residential resales totalled 470,314 transactions in 2025 according to CREA (-1.9%), at an average price of $673,335 (-0.1%); in December, inventory stood at 4.5 months of sales. In rental housing, CMHC reports a vacancy rate of 3.1% in 2025 and an average rent of $1,550 for a two-bedroom purpose-built apartment, and $2,305 for a rented condo.
Residential has passed the trough but lacks momentum: in July 2026 CREA revised its forecast to 463,336 sales in 2026 (-1.4%) and 480,567 in 2027 (+3.7%), with an average price of $686,710 in 2026 (+1.1%). Ontario is the only province where sales are expected to grow in 2026, Alberta resumed price increases in the second quarter, Newfoundland and Labrador remains the last seller's market, and slowing population growth is dampening activity faster than expected.
Rental housing has flipped. CMHC notes that the national vacancy rate rose from 2.2% to 3.1% in 2025, above its ten-year average, driven by lower immigration and rental construction well above historical trends, especially in Calgary, Edmonton and Montreal. In the first half of 2026, asking rents are falling: the two-bedroom index is down 10.2% in Vancouver, 7.7% in Calgary and 6.3% in Toronto compared with early 2024, while Ottawa (+4.4%) and Edmonton remain stable; landlords cite competition from new supply.
Commercial is recovering. In Q2 2026 CBRE records four consecutive quarters of positive net office absorption, declining vacancy in all classes, 2.6% vacancy in Toronto's trophy towers (9.4% nationally) and the first office construction start in Vancouver since 2024. In industrial, the availability rate fell for the first time since 2022 (5.5%), with 3.9 million square feet absorbed in the quarter and 25.3 million under construction, despite rents down 3.9% year over year ($14.78 per square foot). Housing construction remains supported by federal programs (CMHC loans, GST exemption on new rental, Build Canada Homes).
Brokerage is regulated by the provinces: OACIQ in Quebec (Real Estate Brokerage Act), RECO in Ontario (TRESA, 2023), BCFSA in British Columbia, RECA in Alberta. Appraisers fall under the Appraisal Institute of Canada and, in Quebec, the Ordre des évaluateurs agréés. Residential tenancies are governed by specialized tribunals (Tribunal administratif du logement, Landlord and Tenant Board, Residential Tenancy Branch) and, depending on the province, rent control.
The federal government acts through taxation and financing: CMHC (mortgage insurance, rental and affordable housing financing, Build Canada Homes), OSFI (mortgage stress test, loan-to-income limits), the ban on purchases by non-residents extended to 2027, the Underused Housing Tax and the anti-money laundering regime (FINTRAC) covering brokers and developers. Municipalities decide zoning, permits and, increasingly, short-term rental rules.
Associations structure the sector: the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) and its boards (QPAREB, TRREB, Greater Vancouver Realtors), the Canadian Home Builders' Association, CORPIQ for Quebec landlords, the Federation of Rental-housing Providers of Ontario, BOMA Canada and NAIOP for commercial, REALPAC for institutional investors. The major buyers are pension funds (PSP Investments, Caisse de dépôt, OMERS, CPP Investments), REITs, government tenants (PSPC, Société québécoise des infrastructures, Infrastructure Ontario) and developers of towers and mixed-use districts.
Who buys what: owners and managers buy maintenance and technical services (HVAC, elevators, security, janitorial), renovation and energy efficiency, insurance, property and lease management software, legal and tax services, financing and appraisal; brokers buy marketing, photography, CRM, training and liability insurance; equipment rental companies buy fleets, telematics and maintenance. The very small size of employers (77% with one to four employees) makes bundled offers and self-service platforms effective.
Cycles and signals to watch: monthly CREA and board statistics, housing starts and CMHC's Rental Market Report, policy rates and the quarterly office and industrial reports from CBRE, Colliers and JLL; permit applications and zoning changes announce projects 18 to 36 months ahead; commercial lease expiries and management mandates awarded by REITs open tender cycles for service providers.
How ciblr helps: spot recently created real estate companies (often one vehicle per project or building), identify property managers and landlords with 5 to 99 employees by province, track hiring of building managers and brokers as an expansion signal, and cross-reference public leasing, maintenance and appraisal contracts awarded by governments and municipalities.
11,263 employers and GDP of $50.8 billion. Residential was the most dynamic in the country in 2025: 97,214 sales (+8%) and median single-family prices up 9% ($491,500) according to QPAREB, with active listings well below the ten-year average. OACIQ, the Tribunal administratif du logement and CORPIQ structure the market; Montreal absorbed 786,000 square feet of industrial space in Q2 2026.
Of these 112,962 companies, 6,556 are federally incorporated, 106,404 are known through the provincial registry. 10,472 of them were founded in 2025 and 2026, that is 9 % of the active base; 6,399 incorporations in 2025. That is in line with the average of the three previous years (5,695 a year): a steady pace of creation.
Over the last 12 months, 212 companies in the sector (<1 %) won at least one public contract, 708 contracts in all, published by governments, cities and public bodies. 12 received a federal grant or contribution (12 agreements).
Headcount is known for 112,907 companies (100 %): 51,629 declared jobs in total, and the median company has 1-4 employees.
22,409 companies (20 %) publish a general phone or email, 21,482 have a website verified by ciblr, 1,691 hold an official licence or permit, 2 show a job posting on their own site.
Moves published in the last 90 days: 15 new incorporations, 193 relocations, 38 public contracts, 78 hirings, 74 dissolutions.
112,962 companies in real estate and rental and leasing are active in Quebec according to official registries and open data, that is 97 % of the 115,996 companies in the sector across Canada.
6,542 of these companies (6 %) have at least one director on the federal registry (the only registry that publishes directors), which lets you approach them through the right person.
ciblr sends 5 company profiles from this target free of charge, directors and contact details included. The subscription at 99 CAD per month gives access to the whole target, with Excel export and change tracking.
Every company counted here is active in an official registry (Corporations Canada, Registraire des entreprises du Québec, OrgBook BC) or named by an official open source (licence, public contract, grant, registered employer). The sector is a NAICS code, size comes from the declared headcount when a source provides it and otherwise from an estimate based on the registry (board size, age, status, statute), and "recent signal" means a published move (incorporation, amendment, change of director, address, contract, grant, hiring) in the last 18 months. Figures are recomputed every week from the ciblr database. No data is purchased or invented.
ciblr sends you 5 profiles of companies in real estate and rental and leasing in Quebec free of charge, directors and contact details included. For the whole target, the subscription is 99 CAD per month, no commitment.