See examples of office space in Canadian cities here
This year, tenants have leased a total of 704,331 square feet of office space. This is in comparison to the 441,310 they leased last year.
John O’Bryan, vice-chairman of CBRE, said: “We’ve had a relatively uneventful quarter.
“Each market has its own nuances, but the national trend is positive absorption and lower vacancy rates with steady rental growth.”
According to the report, lower rents and better amenities are part of the reason why occupancy rates have risen. Additionally, the relative strength of the Canadian economy has also played a part.
“We’re seeing no letup in demand from investors in the Canadian commercial real estate market,” Mr O’Bryan added.
“They’re feeling comfortable about acquiring additional assets because the economic fundamentals in Canada are strong and interest rates are compelling.”
In Vancouver, vacancy rates dropped from 10 per cent in the first quarter of last year to 9.1 per cent in the first quarter of this year, while in Calgary it fell from 15 per cent to 12 per cent.
Toronto, the biggest city on Canada’s East Coast, saw the vacancy rate fall from 8.7 per cent in quarter one of 2010 to 9.6 per cent last quarter.
Recently, the Bank of Canada said that businesses should benefit from the strong Canadian dollar and that they would be able to raise productivity.
However, it also warned that exporters may not see reduced pressure as the Canadian economy grows.
Jean Boivin, deputy governor of the Canadian central bank, said recently: “The fact that we have recently seen a strong dollar has played an important role in the performance of exports.”
Editor’s notes: We recently published up-to-date, as of Q1 2023, information regarding the Vancouver office space market and the Montreal office space market
In the same period, the vacancy rate in Toronto stood at 10.4 per cent, and in Calgary at 24.2 per cent.
In Q1 2023, the Canadian national vacancy rate stood at 17.3 per cent.
In Q1 2026, the overall vacancy rate in Toronto stood at 14.4 per cent, and in Calgary at 22.8 per cent.
CBRE reported that Canadian office markets started 2026 with net leasing totalling 2.1 million square feet nationwide. This pushed the overall Canadian national downtown office vacancy rate down to 18.2 per cent.
Office market data for the Vancouver and Montreal markets as of Q1 2026 has been updated on the links above.