Greater Vancouver’s industrial vacancy reached its highest point in a decade during the second quarter, says a new report from Newmark.

The region’s industrial vacancy climbed to 3.1% at mid-2025, the highest level in a decade and up steadily since late 2021, says Newmark.

The traditionally tight market has loosened over the past year. Greater Vancouver recorded negative absorption of about 438,000 square feet in the first half of the year, an improvement over the 1.5-msf loss a year earlier. Sublease availability reached a record 2.4 msf, the most since tracking began in 2008.

After gaining momentum through late 2024 and early 2025, leasing activity slowed in the second quarter amid uncertainty over potential U.S. tariffs. Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows posted the GVA’s highest vacancy rate at 4.2%, followed by the Fraser Valley at 3.9% and Vancouver and the Tri-Cities, both at 3.7%. The North Shore had the lowest vacancy at 1.5%.

Ongoing tariff concerns have caused some companies to proceed with investments, while others delayed or cancelled plans. Submarkets with heavier exposure to trade activity tended to record higher vacancy and sublease space.

Industrial strata sales totalled about $369 million in the first half, the lowest since 2020. Meanwhile, overall industrial sales (excluding strata) were roughly $395 million, the weakest first-half tally since at least 2015.

Both figures were hit by a sharp second-quarter slowdown, with strata investment at its lowest quarterly level since early 2019 and overall industrial sales in steep decline since late 2024.

Andrew Petrozzi, Newmark’s head of Canadian research, authored the report.

Photo: Courtesy of Newmark