Canada’s National Office Vacancy Rate Hit an All-Time High in Q1

CBRE said that Canada’s overall office vacancy rate hit an all-time high in the first quarter of 2023. The overall office vacancy rate hit 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 rightsizing their businesses and rethinking their spaces are to blame for many of the vacancy rate increases.

Source: BNN Bloomberg

Innovative Ideas to Create a More Sustainable Office

As more customers become aware of their environmental impact, they’re looking to businesses they work with to have good green credentials. For companies of all sizes, innovating to make their offices work sustainably is a significant first step to becoming more eco-friendly.

For any business looking to grow, improving sustainability is essential. In the next five years, McKinsey found that 83% of experts believe Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) initiatives will increase shareholder value. Similarly, EY’s Global Institutional Investor survey found that 74% of institutional investors would divest from companies with poor sustainability performance.

With this in mind, promoting green initiatives in the office is a good starting point to future-proof performance. This article from Bizcommunity has tips for making a more sustainable workplace. 

To read the full article, visit the Bizcommunity website. 

Source: Bizcommunity

Calgary and Vancouver Are Reshaping Empty Office Spaces in Very Different Ways

As the economies of the two cities shift and businesses figure out whether their workers need to be back in the office full-time, Calgary and Vancouver are taking opposite approaches in what to do about empty office space.

In Vancouver the city has made a firm decision not to cede any of its office-tower space over to residential, resisting suggestions such conversions might help lessen the city’s serious housing crisis. “We’ve held a strong line on that. We continue to hold the strong line to ensure we have office space,” says Chris Robertson, the director of citywide and regional planning.

Calgary is doing the opposite, regarding office conversions as an opportunity to reshape its downtown away from what one city manager called a “monoculture,” beholden to a past that isn’t coming back. The city is offering incentives including paying office-tower owners hefty subsidies to tear down their buildings or convert them to apartments, to hotels, to university, college or private-school spaces, to performing-arts venues.

To read more about what the two cities are doing, visit the Globe and Mail website. 

Source: Globe and Mail