Navigating Tariffs and Uncertainty: How Canada’s Real Estate Leaders Are Staying the Course

My answer is no. And I say that not from blind optimism, but from experience built across three decades in this market.

Tariffs Are a Headache, Not a Dealbreaker

Let’s be direct about what U.S. tariffs mean for Canadian real estate development. Steel, aluminum, and lumber – all critical inputs in high-rise construction – are subject to price pressure when trade policy tightens. For developers in the Greater Toronto Area, this translates to higher per-unit construction costs, strained timelines, and tighter conversations with general contractors.

I’ve been navigating supply chain disruptions since I began acquiring properties during the recession of the early 1990s. Back then, the challenge was different – interest rates had crushed valuations, and most people were walking away from real estate entirely. I was buying. The lesson I took from that period has defined how I approach every economic headwind since: volatility creates opportunity for those with the patience and capital to hold a long-term view.

Today’s tariff environment is disruptive. It is not, however, a fundamental shift in the underlying demand drivers that make the GTA one of the most resilient real estate markets in North America.

Why the GTA Remains a Generational Opportunity

Toronto and its surrounding municipalities continue to face a structural housing shortage that no tariff can erase. Immigration targets remain aggressive. Transit expansion – including Metrolinx’s regional rail buildout – is actively reshaping which corridors will anchor the next decade of density. Land along these corridors is finite, and the municipalities controlling it are increasingly aligned on intensification as policy.

Sky Property Group Inc. has spent years assembling land in precisely these corridors. Our focus on future development potential has always been grounded in a simple thesis: the best time to position yourself in a growth corridor is before the market prices it in. By the time a transit station opens and zoning approvals become front-page news, the window for meaningful land acquisition has often closed.

This is the work that doesn’t make headlines – patient, disciplined accumulation of strategically located land, held through economic cycles, and developed when the conditions are right.

The Cost of Sitting on the Sidelines

One of the most persistent misconceptions I encounter is the idea that uncertainty is a reason to wait. In real estate, waiting has a cost that rarely appears on a spreadsheet. When construction costs rise, so do replacement values – meaning the land you chose not to acquire at today’s price becomes harder to replace tomorrow.

Canada’s housing shortage is not going to be solved quickly. The federal government has acknowledged it, municipalities have acknowledged it, and the development community is doing everything it can within a regulatory environment that remains slow and complex. Every year of underbuilding widens the gap between supply and demand. For long-term holders, that gap is the investment case.

Building Through It

At Sky Property Group Inc., we are not pausing. We are building through it – adapting our procurement strategies, working closely with our construction and finance partners, and continuing to advance our land assembly pipeline across the GTA.

This means engaging early with general contractors to lock in pricing where possible, identifying domestic material suppliers to reduce tariff exposure, and maintaining the kind of financial discipline that allows us to move decisively when acquisition opportunities arise – as they always do when costs create hesitation in other buyers.

It also means continuing to invest in the communities where we operate. Long-term development is not extractive – it is relational. The neighbourhoods we work in are the neighbourhoods that will benefit from the intensification we bring. That alignment of interest matters to me, and it shapes how Sky Property Group Inc. approaches every project.

A Word on Resilience

I started my career as a registered nurse before transitioning into real estate investment. That background shaped how I think about long-term outcomes, risk management, and the importance of staying focused when conditions are difficult. In healthcare, you don’t abandon a patient because the situation is complicated. You adapt, you stay present, and you keep moving toward the goal.

Real estate development, at its best, requires that same orientation. The market will always present reasons to stop. Leadership means finding the reasons to continue – and building something that lasts.

Looking Ahead

The tariff situation will evolve. Trade relationships between Canada and the United States have weathered many cycles and will continue to do so. What will not change is Toronto’s fundamental need for more housing, more density, and more thoughtful land development.

Ladan Hosseinzadeh Sadeghi and Sky Property Group Inc. remain committed to that work – through the uncertainty, through the headwinds, and toward the communities we are building for the long term.

Contact Information

Ladan Hosseinzadeh Sadeghi
ladanhosseinzadehsadeghi@gmail.com

SOURCE: Sky Property Group Inc.