National office vacancy slipped to 13.2% even as one relocation reshaped a prairie market
IG Wealth Management’s relocation of its headquarters from 447 Portage Avenue to 360 Main Street pushed Winnipeg’s class B office vacancy rate from 13.8 percent to 19.1 percent in the third quarter of 2026.
The firm’s former head office comprises approximately 280,904 square feet, according to Colliers’ Q3 2026 National Market Snapshot, and the Winnipeg office market recorded 119,527 square feet of negative net absorption, lifting overall vacancy to 14.1 percent.
Colliers notes the class B adjustment correlates with the firm conducting a database reorganization.
National office vacancy declined to 13.2 percent, a smaller drop than the 30-to-40 basis point quarterly declines of the previous year.
Average asking net rent was $21.11 per square foot, with rents rising in only three of the 13 markets tracked.
The under-construction office pipeline has fallen below 2m square feet, with what Colliers describes as little momentum to suggest a turnaround in the immediate future.
National industrial vacancy fell 20 basis points to 3.1 percent and availability fell 40 basis points to 4.8 percent, the Snapshot shows.
Approximately 9.9m square feet was absorbed in the quarter, and available industrial space dropped below 100m square feet for the first time in more than a year.
Toronto office vacancy fell nearly 30 basis points to 10.4 percent on close to 860,000 square feet of positive net absorption, with downtown accounting for roughly 75 percent of the quarterly figure and class A leasing driving the gain.
Year-to-date absorption sits just below 4.0m square feet, a level last exceeded over a full year in 2015.
Class AAA vacancy was 2.8 percent.
Calgary recorded the country’s highest office vacancy at 22.0 percent, with its downtown rate falling 42 basis points to 27.4 percent from 27.8 percent in the second quarter.
The suburban market posted 181,654 square feet of positive net absorption and a vacancy rate below 13 percent for the first time in over a decade.
Vancouver office vacancy rose to 10.2 percent on about 350,000 square feet of negative net absorption, which Colliers attributes to new listings in Burnaby and Richmond and the completions of District 104 in Surrey and Forma in False Creek Flats.
Halifax recorded the lowest rate at 7.6 percent, down from 8.3 percent in the second quarter and 8.8 percent a year earlier.
Colliers links the industrial picture to the federal Defence Industrial Strategy and the Building Canada Strong initiative, which the firm says together represent over $1tn in planned public and private investment.
Adam Jacobs, head of research for Colliers Canada, said Canada’s industrial economy appears to be on the cusp of a shift, with commercial real estate central to it.
Jacobs said national supply chains have relied on international suppliers and new investment in defence and infrastructure is creating direct real estate requirements.
Quebec City’s industrial construction pipeline is dominated by data centre projects, including QScale’s Q02 expansion in Lévis, Microsoft facilities in L’Ancienne-Lorette and Charny, and Vantage’s QC24 building.
In Ottawa, more than 95 percent of the 3.2m square foot pipeline is already pre-leased.
Saskatoon posted the country’s lowest industrial vacancy at 2.1 percent, followed by Toronto and Calgary at 2.2 percent.
