Operator-side benchmark on what is actually transacting across Canadian franchise real estate
This is the preview edition of the Canadian Franchise Real Estate Report — a published operator-side benchmark covering resale multiples, time-on-market, lease cost trends, cap rates, and category outlook for franchise real estate transactions in Canada. Published by Zubair Afzal at Coldwell Banker Summit Realty.
Free to request. No spam. The full report is sent as a PDF to the email address you provide.
Resale multiples are holding
Multiples for major QSR brands are sitting in their normal regional bands — 2.5× to 4× normalized EBITDA depending on category, brand strength, and lease term left. Hotel resales are firmer than full-service casual dining.
Time-on-market is shorter for prepared sellers
Clean financials plus pre-cleared lease assignment cuts time-on-market from the GTA median (4 to 9 months) down to under 6 months for sub-million-dollar single units.
Drive-thru pads remain constrained in core GTA
New-development pad sites are migrating to the 905 (Mississauga, Brampton, Vaughan growth corridors). Core Toronto operators looking to expand wait 6 to 12 months for the right resale or off-market opportunity.
Hotel PIP scope is the dominant deal variable
Property improvement plan scope can swing a hotel deal by $2M to $10M+ on transactions in the $10M to $30M range. Buyers and lenders increasingly want PIP scope locked before terms are finalized.
Multi-unit operator activity is up
Multi-unit portfolio packages (3+ units, single buyer) are increasingly common. Multi-unit operators are aggressive on both buy-side acquisitions and exit packaging of partial portfolios.
Section 1
Sell-side activity in 2026 is steady across the major Canadian franchise categories. Resale multiples for QSR brands typically run 2.5× to 4× normalized EBITDA — varying by brand strength, region, lease term remaining, and the cost of any required image refresh. Casual dining trends lower, in the 2× to 3.5× band. Hotels are valued on cap rate (typically 7% to 9% for select-service) rather than EBITDA multiples. Time-on-market for clean single-unit resales runs 4 to 9 months in the GTA. Sellers who prepare in advance — clean books, pre-cleared lease assignment, qualified buyer pool — close faster and at the upper end of the multiple range. Multi-unit portfolio packages move faster when sold to a single buyer than unit-by-unit liquidation.
Section 2
Buy-side conditions vary sharply by region. In Toronto proper, drive-thru pad availability is the most constrained category — qualified buyers often wait 6 to 12 months for the right opportunity. In 905 growth corridors (Mississauga, Brampton, Vaughan), pad development continues and new sites come available more frequently. Lease costs for prime drive-thru QSR sites trend 25% to 40% higher in dense Toronto neighbourhoods than equivalent 905 sites. Build-out costs for QSR have stabilized after the 2023–2024 spikes; restaurant build-out runs $400 to $650 per square foot in the GTA. Hotel PIP costs continue to escalate — the major flags require detailed refresh plans on resale, with typical PIP scope adding $2M to $10M on a $10M to $30M transaction.
Section 3
Toronto carries the highest concentration of franchise locations and the deepest sell-side resale activity. Mississauga is the most active multi-channel market — strong shawarma and Mediterranean concept transactions, anchored hotel cluster in the airport district, and steady drive-thru pad development in growth corridors. Brampton has the fastest resale velocity — convenience and halal QSR resales often close in 3 to 6 months. Vaughan-Markham-Richmond Hill overperforms in tutoring, fitness studio, and specialty café categories due to income demographics. Each submarket has different category mix, lease cost levels, and buyer pool depth — picking the right submarket is as important as picking the right brand.
Section 4
QSR sandwich, coffee, and pizza are mature categories with active sell-side activity and consistent buyer demand. Casual dining is steadier — fewer transactions but predictable buyer pool. Hotels are stabilizing after the 2020–2023 disruption; PIP scope is the dominant deal variable. Fitness studios (Orangetheory, F45, Anytime Fitness) are steady — strong studios with growing MRR move fastest. Convenience stores have high transaction velocity, especially in Brampton and Mississauga. Shawarma and Mediterranean concepts are growing across all GTA submarkets. Tutoring franchises (Kumon, Mathnasium) overperform in high-income suburbs.
Section 5
Three trends are worth watching through 2026. First, multi-unit portfolio packages are increasingly the path for retiring operators — single-buyer portfolio sales clear faster than unit-by-unit liquidation. Second, drive-thru pad scarcity in core GTA is steering new development further into the 905 — Brampton, north Mississauga, north Vaughan are absorbing the supply. Third, hotel PIP cost discipline is becoming the deciding factor in transactions — buyers and lenders both want detailed scope locked before close. Sale-leaseback activity for operators who own underlying land is picking up as operators look for non-debt capital sources. Our coverage of each of these is expanding in the full report.
The full Canadian Franchise Real Estate Report covers every section above in depth, plus closed-deal data, lease comp tables for the major QSR brands, cap-rate trends across the hotel segment, and our quarterly market commentary. Sent as a PDF to your email — no spam, no follow-up calls unless you ask.
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Coldwell Banker Summit Realty · Licensed in Ontario
I am a real estate broker at Coldwell Banker Summit Realty who specializes in franchise location transactions across Canada. Before brokering franchise deals I sat on both sides of franchising — as a franchisor in restaurant and quick-service restaurant (QSR) concepts, and as a franchisee in real estate brokerage and mortgage franchises. That dual perspective means I read a lease the way the operator does, see the site the way the franchisor does, and structure the exit the way the buyer will underwrite it. Most brokers in this space have one of those views. I have all three.
The report tells you what the market looks like. A 15-minute call tells you what your specific deal looks like.