A wave of nearly identical modern renovations has flooded Quebec’s rental market. Tenants are increasingly passing on these units in favor of buildings with genuine character.
According to Zach Hofland, Co-Founder of Rentack, a Montreal-based rental listing platform, the post-COVID investment boom produced so much visually similar rental stock that differentiation now drives leasing performance more than price, finish quality, or location.
Quebec’s Cookie-Cutter Problem
When rental demand surged across Quebec following the pandemic, investors moved quickly. Buildings were acquired, renovated, and listed at speed. The aesthetic that emerged was consistent: white walls, black fixtures, clean lines, modern finishes. It looked good. It was good quality. And for a time, it rented well.
That window has closed, according to Hofland. “There’s a large amount of similar product on the market,” he says. “What’s really making a difference right now is unique product – tenants tend to shift to those unique apartments.”
The problem is not poor execution. Hofland acknowledges many of these renovations represent genuine investment. The problem is volume. When dozens of buildings in the same neighborhood offer the same aesthetic at similar prices, tenants have no reason to commit quickly. They browse, compare, and wait. Landlords feel the pressure as a result.
What’s Actually Working
Hofland identifies two categories that have largely avoided the slowdown. The first is large-scale new development with distinctive amenities: buildings that offer something a renovated low-rise cannot replicate. The second is Quebec’s older building stock.
“In Quebec we have a lot of very old buildings, an old province, a lot of old cities,” Hofland says. “You have areas that have very old buildings that are very beautiful with immaculate build quality and attention to design that you don’t really find in new products.”
These heritage properties have original architectural details and craftsmanship that predate cost-cutting construction norms. They are holding their occupancy in ways that newer renovations are not. Tenants seeking something different from the standard modern look are gravitating toward them. Landlords who own this stock have been somewhat insulated from the broader market softening.
The middle ground is where the real pain concentrates. Properties that are neither distinctive new developments nor genuinely characterful older buildings are caught between two stronger categories. “The standard, more lower-end renovation, low-rise projects – there’s just so much of it that people are looking for something a bit different,” Hofland says.
Beyond the Numbers
High-end stock is not automatically protected. The assumption that premium finishes guarantee strong occupancy does not hold in Quebec’s current environment, according to Hofland.
“It’s not as black and white as high-end luxury products rent well, low ones don’t, or cheap apartments rent well and expensive ones don’t,” he says. “It’s a lot more complex than that.” Even high-quality buildings are struggling if they do not stand apart from competitors at their price level.
For investors underwriting Quebec acquisitions based on finish tier alone, Hofland’s findings carry a warning. A building that commanded strong rents and low vacancy two years ago may now compete against a wave of nearly identical properties in the same area. The differentiating factor is no longer renovation quality. It is whether the property offers something nearby buildings cannot easily replicate.
Why Listings Matter
Hofland argues that part of the solution lies in how properties are marketed. Listings that fail to communicate what makes a unit distinctive, through poor photography, vague descriptions, or incomplete information, compound the problem for landlords already competing in a crowded segment.
“A big issue for people and why they hate looking for apartments is people not being clear enough, photos not being clear enough, information about the apartment just not being 100% or explaining everything properly,” Hofland says. “They end up going to see the place and it’s different – it’s not what they thought.”
For landlords with genuinely distinctive stock, that gap matters more than it might elsewhere. A heritage building with original architectural detail, or a new development with amenities competitors can’t match, only wins a tenant’s attention if the listing actually shows it. When a listing understates or obscures what sets a unit apart, that differentiation never reaches the tenant before they move on to the next option.
There is no single fix tied to one tool or service. Whether landlords rely on professional photographers, leasing agents, or a listing platform, the goal is the same: closing the gap between what a property actually offers and what the listing communicates. In a market already crowded with near-identical renovations, that gap is often the difference between a unit that leases quickly and one that sits vacant.
The correction now underway in Quebec’s rental market may reshape what gets built next. If generic renovations continue to underperform, developers may reconsider the low-cost, high-volume renovation model that defined the post-COVID boom, especially as heritage stock and purpose-built rentals with real amenity differentiation hold their ground.
Hofland says the market is in the midst of a correctional period and that he thinks conditions will get slightly worse before they improve. For landlords already holding underperforming stock, he frames the core challenge plainly: “Matching the product to the price is really the main hurdle to jump over.”
About the Expert: Zach Hofland is a Co-Founder of Rentack, a Montreal-based rental listing and marketing platform.
