Canada’s national office vacancy rate hit all-time high in Q1: CBRE

CBRE says Canada’s national office vacancy rate hit an all-time high in the first quarter of the year.

The real estate firm says the country’s overall office vacancy rate amounted to 17.7%, while downtown office vacancies sat at 18.4% and the suburban rate landed at 16.8%.

Toronto’s downtown office vacancy rate reached 15.3%, the highest level Canada’s largest office market has seen since 1995.

Vancouver’s downtown office vacancy rate rose to 10.4%, the highest it’s been since 2004.

Ottawa and Montreal both recorded their all-time highest downtown office vacancy rates at 13.2% and 16.5%, respectively.

CBRE says tech companies downsizing their businesses and rethinking their spaces are to blame for many of the vacancy rate increases.

The Canadian Press

The Canadian Press is a national news agency headquartered in Toronto and founded in 1917.