A practical guide to Canadian REIT investing in 2025
The chart below compares total returns, which measure both price appreciation and reinvested dividends, across major Canadian and U.S. equity benchmarks since 2016.
While the S&P 500 and S&P/TSX 60 have surged higher, Canadian real estate investment trusts (REITs) have badly lagged. The gap hasn’t narrowed meaningfully either. Even with distributions reinvested, the S&P/TSX Capped REIT Index remains well below its pre-COVID highs, with little evidence of a sustained rebound.
I’m not a value investor by nature, nor a sector picker, but divergences like this give me pause. Canadian REITs may quietly represent one of the few asset classes that aren’t overvalued today—and could offer genuine recovery potential in the years…
