Downtown Ottawa’s office market could get smaller as more availabilities spur utilization changes, says Avison Young.

The firm’s second-quarter Ottawa office market shows that direct availabilities in Canada’s capital are at their highest point in a decade. Total availabilities, including sublease space, were only exceeded in the second quarter of 2021 – the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The office sector’s total available lease area increased by one million square feet year-over-year, while the overall availability rate climbed 230 basis points to 13.6 per cent.

Avison Young said it is helping tenants adjust to a hybrid model as employees work in the office and remotely.

“These plans involve lowering the overall footprint but upping in-office amenities for a ‘sticky’ work environment that employees are eager to be productive in when they visit the office,” said Avison Young.

Ottawa’s downtown core will never disappear, said the company.

“It will just become a more attractive and vibrant place in which to live.”