Value-Add Multifamily Investing in Canada: Scale to MLI Select with Millan Jankovich

Scott Dillingham is a mortgage expert who has helped clients finance over $1 billion in real estate across Canada. In this episode of The Wisdom Lifestyle Money Show, Scott sits down with Millan Jankovich for a practical look at value-add multifamily investing in Canada—from Toronto duplex and triplex conversions to apartment buildings in Kitchener, Cambridge, and a 107-unit Hamilton complex.

Millan shares how operators earn the right to scale: build a track record on smaller deals, protect investor capital with governance and clean reporting, and keep control of construction, property management, and timelines instead of treating multifamily as passive. Listeners hear real project math—including an eight-unit Cambridge building where rents were roughly 100% below market, rental income rose around 300%, and NOI roughly doubled after a premium renovation.

They also dig into density plays (converting warehouse space into a new residential unit; splitting oversized Hamilton suites to add about 40 apartments) and how CMHC MLI Select fits as a planned refinance exit once a value-add project is stabilized—not as a shortcut around underwriting.

Key Takeaways

• Value-add multifamily investing in Canada is about forcing NOI through renovations, unit adds, and rent resets—not waiting for the market to lift values.
• Scaling from single-family and duplex conversions into apartments usually requires track record, connections, or partners who already have the playbook.
• Vertical integration (construction + property management + development) increases control over timelines, tenant selection, and outcomes—and makes the work more active, not less.
• Governance, accounting, and investor communication are non-negotiable when other people’s capital is in the deal.
• Cambridge example: off-market vacant purchase plus commercial-to-residential conversion moved a building from three residential units to four.
• Cambridge eight-unit example: rents ~100% below market; after turnover and premium renovations, rental income rose ~300% and NOI roughly doubled.
• Hamilton example: 107 units across two buildings; emptied a 73-unit building, pursued ~40 additional apartments by splitting 1,200–1,300 sq ft suites, with a CMHC MLI Select refinance planned after stabilization.
• Duplex and triplex conversions remain a strong “bread and butter” strategy in today’s market for smaller partnership tickets.

Links and Show References

If you are modeling a value-add apartment acquisition or a CMHC MLI Select refinance after renovations, read the full breakdown in our value-add multifamily and MLI Select scale-up guide. Ready to talk financing? Book a free strategy call.