Guy Hoquet l'Immobilier expands to Quebec: a Lycaon Data study behind its first agency in Montreal

In June 2025, Lycaon Data delivered to Guy Hoquet l'Immobilier an analysis of the Montreal and Quebec City markets, built to prepare the opening of several franchised agencies. In April 2026, the group opened its first Quebec agency in Montreal. Inaugurated on September 24, 2026 in the presence of Stéphane Fritz, the Montreal agency is aiming for 80 brokers by the end of 2027.

In between, the study served as a working basis for both the head office and the Quebec partners. It informed three decisions made by Guy Hoquet and the Quebec entrepreneurs: how to position the model in this market, the size of the project and the level of recruitment targets.

For Guy Hoquet l'Immobilier, the 3rd largest franchised real estate agency network in France with 450 agencies, this is a first: no French real estate franchise had yet set up in Canada.

The study answers three questions: where to set up, with how many brokers, and on which types of property. It starts from the Quebec market as a whole, narrows down to Montreal and Quebec City, then to the agency itself.

For each of the two cities, the report covers:

• Brokerage structure: how the local market is organized, sales volumes and average broker productivity.
• Agency size: the team size suited to the local market.
• Price segments: how demand breaks down by price range.
• Neighborhood potential: an area-by-area reading of the market.
• Revenue: a broker's earnings and an agency's revenue, under a central sales scenario.

• Positioning the model: the study provided an objective reading of the local market, from which Guy Hoquet and its Quebec partners settled on their positioning.
• Sizing the project: the Quebec entrepreneurs and Guy Hoquet decided on the agency's size and priority areas, drawing on the study's benchmarks.
• Setting recruitment targets: drawing on productivity data for the local market, Guy Hoquet and its Quebec partners were able to set recruitment targets that are both ambitious and achievable.

A network opening agencies in a new country can't simply carry over its usual benchmarks. Volumes and price ranges vary from one neighborhood to the next.

The 2025 context made this reading all the more useful. After the rate hikes of late 2022 and the contraction of 2023, the Quebec market had begun to recover. A favorable window for a new entrant, but in an already structured market.

This type of analysis is relevant to several profiles:

• Franchise networks: choose the cities and neighborhoods to set up in, and set the target agency size before signing up franchisees.
• Independent agencies: open a second agency or a new area without cannibalizing existing business.
• Franchisees: present a well-argued business forecast to their bank and their network.

Founded in 1994, Guy Hoquet l'Immobilier is the 3rd largest franchised real estate agency network in France, with 450 agencies and 2,600 employees. Already present in Morocco and the French overseas territories, the group was named Franchisor of the Year 2025 at European level.

The Montreal agency is led by Stéphane Granier, head of Guy Hoquet Québec and license holder, and Alexandre Bensemhoun, co-founder, two real estate professionals originally from France who have been working in Quebec for more than 10 years.