Commercial property in Canada had a total return of 8.0 percent in 2015, according to the REALpac/IPD Canada Quarterly Property Index, up from 7.3 percent in the previous year.

The best-performing property type was retail, with a total return of 8.8 percent, while industrial lagged with a total return of 6.0 percent. Top cities for investment were Toronto (12.8 percent) and Vancouver (12.5 percent), while the oil-dependent markets of Calgary and Edmonton had total returns of 0.9 percent and 3.2 percent, respectively — significant declines from the 2014 returns of 8.8 percent and 6.7 percent, respectively.