Canadian Coliving Ecosystem & Converting Empty Offices Into Coliving with Toboggan Flats S2 Ep1

Canada is sitting on a housing crisis, and the answer might be hiding inside its empty office towers.In this episode of Everything Co-living, Mayank Pokharna sits down with Robert Barnard, co-founder of Toboggan Flats, to explore one of Canada's most compelling housing solutions: converting vacant B & C-class office buildings into affordable, community-first co-living spaces.Robert walks us through the macro forces reshaping Canadian housing; from sky-high rents eating 50%+ of young workers' incomes to the loneliness epidemic hitting Gen Z hardest. Then he takes us inside a live case study in Ottawa: an 11-story office building being reimagined as a 390-person co-living community, close to Parliament Hill, the University of Ottawa, and a major hospital.In this episode:- Why Canada's housing stock is inflexible and what needs to change- How co-living addresses affordability, loneliness, and climate simultaneously- The 9-month conversion timeline vs. years for new builds- Three unit types: 4-bed share, studio, en-suite, and why the mix matters25% common space per floor by design; small, medium, and large interaction zones- The employer triangle strategy: universities, hospitals, government- Target IRR of 15–20% and development yields of ~5% for investors- Why demand is the easy part and supply is Canada's real challengeReach Robert at: [email protected] | tobogganflats.comEverything Co-living: everythingcoliving.comTIMESTAMPS00:00 — Intro: Mayank & Robert01:38 — 10-year housing journey in Canada05:55 — Why co-living, why now07:58 — The loneliness crisis in Canada10:30 — The office vacancy opportunity12:53 — Ottawa case study walkthrough19:08 — Room, street, neighbourhood community model27:07 — Financials: IRR, yields, stabilisation model32:27 — Demand signals from around the world35:53 — Closing thoughts#coliving #canadahousing #officetoresidential #affordablehousing #realestatecanada #colivingcanada #tobogganflats #everythingcoliving #housingcrisis #purposebuiltrental