I like to think of real estate as a downstream industry. What I mean by this is that the demand for space — whether it be housing or office space — happens downstream from other underlying economic activities.

For example, if someone creates a successful business and then hires a bunch of new employees, at least two things happen. The company now needs to consume more office space, and the employees of this successful company will likely demand more housing. Maybe they're relocating for this new job, or maybe they just got a pay increase and now want to consume more housing.

Whatever the exact case, real estate is the tail of the dog, and the new and successful company is the dog itself. Sometimes real estate gets mistaken for the dog itself. Rising real estate values become a substitute (albeit a poor one) for genuine economic growth.

But this does nothing to help overall productivity and innovation. And eventually you'll need to find some bonafide dogs. That's why I think this recent op-ed (which was presented in partnership with Shopify) is an important one:

But nation-building isn’t only cranes and concrete. It’s also the builders who start companies and create new industries. If we want a prosperous future, Canada can’t just be a place that builds big things; it has to be a place that builds new things. A Founder Nation.

Our growth challenge isn’t just shovels in the ground. It’s whether new businesses are forming, whether founders have the tools and freedom to scale, and whether our economy is dynamic enough to let tomorrow’s builders outcompete yesterday’s incumbents.

I couldn't agree more. We need to build — in every sense of the word. Over-indexing on real estate alone is not sustainable long term. And I say this as a real estate developer who makes a living from monetizing space.