The overall office unit vacancy in Canada decreased from 13.2 percent to 10.9 percent between 2016 and 2019, but under the effects of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, vacancies spiked to record high levels. The Canadian office space net asking rent per square foot also increased from the overall stable rate of 20 Canadian dollars in previous years to over 23 Canadian dollars in 2020. Demand for prime for office space remains strong and in 2020 there was about four million square feet of new office space supplied in Canada, with about 17.3 million square feet under construction in 2021.
Toronto, the most populous city in Canada, has an abundance of major corporations such as Capital One, IBM, and Unilever to name a few. The majority of the office space in the city is located in the suburbs. The vacancy rates in suburban office buildings are significantly higher than the vacancy rates in the downtown office buildings, showing that the downtown offices are in higher demand.
Unlike Toronto, Vancouver has most of its office space located downtown. Although Vancouver is much less populous than Toronto, it is known for being a very dense city with a thriving downtown area. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the downtown office space in Vancouver is much more expensive than the national average, at about 34 Canadian dollars per square foot.
