Following two strong quarters of positive absorption, Q4 experienced significant negative absorption, increasing the vacancy rate from 19.0% to 19.5%. Rising inflation has resulted in higher construction costs for tenant improvements, which resulted in select firms opting to renew their lease rather than relocate and incur high build-out costs. With a rapid increase in borrowing costs, a potential recession looming and a Provincial election on the horizon in 2023, there is some uncertainty as to what 2023 will hold.

Flight-to-quality persisted as much of Montreal’s class A suburban, and AAA downtown offices saw a marked decline in both vacancy and availability.

Q4 2022 saw vacancy and availability rise at a gradual pace as the market continued to experience the impacts of the past two years of pandemic restrictions and subsequent socioeconomic headwinds.

The Greater Edmonton industrial market ended the year in the same fashion as the rest of 2022, experiencing high leasing activity and a drop in vacancy. The vacancy rate decreased by 130 basis points year-over-year (YoY) and declined for the 9th consecutive quarter to 4.1%, a low not seen since 2015. With Greater Edmonton experiencing its 10th consecutive quarter of positive absorption, led by a Colliers team pre-leasing 297,043 SF at Horizon BP, the vacancy rate declined further to 4.1%. New construction projects were announced, including Leon’s/The Brick’s construction on a 500,000 square foot distribution centre in Northwest Edmonton. Home Depot also started construction on a 207,000 square foot distribution facility in Acheson. Rental rates increased at year-end to $10.33 per square foot. This is an average rental rate increase of 10.2% YoY for the entire Edmonton market.