The submarket spread
Cushman & Wakefield's Vancouver MarketBeat for Q1 2026 puts overall regional vacancy at 4.1%, down forty basis points quarter over quarter. The number is small — the spread underneath it is not.
North Shore led the tightening at 1.6%. Fraser Valley sat at 2.5%, Richmond at 2.9%, Surrey at 3.0%. Vancouver-proper came in at 3.8%, Burnaby and Delta at 4.1%. Maple Meadows topped the list at 6.5%.
What the spread tells you
- When a submarket reads under 2%, you are not negotiating — you are competing.
- Submarkets in the 2.5% to 3.5% range are landlord-favourable but still workable for prepared tenants.
- Anything over 5% is where concession packages, free rent, and tenant inducement allowances are still real.
Where rents sit
Vancouver-proper net asking rents are tracking $22 to $32 PSF for general industrial — a range that varies more by building functionality than by neighbourhood. Suburb submarkets remain below Vancouver-proper but the gap is narrowing as Surrey and Delta absorb modern Class A product.
"Vacancy in Metro Vancouver is not a single number. It is a map with very different rules in every cell."
This note is an editorial read of the source above. Quoted figures and conclusions belong to the original publisher; the framing and submarket interpretation are ours.