Thanks for your help, I have considered buying a franchise but as you may know:
1. Good locations are taken
2. Priority generally given to current owners
3. It is a business I would have to overlook on a consistent basis (However a hotel investment I think would be okay in this sense, but again, good Hotel franchises are way more expensive plus again good locations are taken, and I do not want to work in the Boonies)
Again with the diversification: I'd be more inclined to buy several 350k stores than 1 multi-million dollar hotel. The added benefit is you do not need to be as involved as you think, as you can hire middle management pretty easily at that level. (I grew up in a 7-Eleven store, which was purchased by a guy in a similar situation to you, along with several other ones from prior owners).
Second, you can talk to far away yet successful chains and offer to be the "anchor" locally. Find a Vancouver chain, for instance, and convince them to open stores in Toronto, etc.
Also, remember there are tons of chains out there, including ones that don't have offices/aren't mainly associated with their offices. I mean, for instance, stuff like Deco, which is a lot of "on site" window repair (Full disclosure: I have a indirect relationship with them, but I say their name more because I'm an American who knows few Canadian businesses than any particular knowledge of Deco).
I would not be surprised to find out there is a Canadian office of business affairs who'd help point you towards franchise opportunities.
Lastly, you can purchase them from people who already own them (with most franchises). I know that's how my family got out of their 7-Eleven store. In this economy, I'm sure there are people looking to sell. If you look hard enough, you may find one who is doing so due to hardship rather than due to poor performance.
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All that said: I say all the above because franchises are stupidly good at maintaining wealth. If you want passive and are willing to risk inflation issues, I'd go to with passive.
Also, you may want to buy some USD right now if you're all in CAD. USD swung down due to oil price issues. Oanda is cheap for large currency transactions according to my banker friend (flat fee as opposed to %). RBC also has free CAD->USD conversion for Canadians IIRC.
Then again, this might be permanent, and speculation is never a great way to gain security.
