The Greater Montreal Area’s office availability rate is approaching 20%, says a new report from Avison Young.

The availability rate reached 18.4% in the second quarter but is relatively stable, having risen a modest 20 basis points from the first quarter, said the full-service commercial real estate company.

“This [rate] is low compared to the increases observed in 2021 and 2022,” said Avison Young in the report headed by Marie-France Benoit, the company’s national director of insight and innovation. “Furthermore, class A buildings show a slight decrease in availability this quarter.”

A total of 20.2 million square feet of office space was available across the region, compared to 2.2 msf in the the first quarter of 2023. Absorption was negative-514,000 sf year-over-year.

Avison Young said space reductions associated with lease renewals signed before the COVID-19 pandemic have not ended. But more tenants are willing to sign long-term leases.

Sublease space rose 130 basis points to 14.7% quarter-over-quarter.