Oil Slump, Space Glut Leave Canada Offices Emptiest in Decade
- Nation's vacancy rate rises to 11.8%, highest since 2005
- Calgary, hit hard by energy rout, in market `bloodbath'
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Office vacancies in Canada jumped to a 10-year high as a wave of new supply met with a plunge in oil prices and waning demand for space.
The country’s vacancy rate rose to 11.8 percent in the third quarter, the highest since the first three months of 2005, when it was 11.9 percent, according to a report by CBRE Group Inc. Developers are building at least 17.5 million square feet (1.6 million square meters) of office space coast to coast, almost half of it in Edmonton and Calgary, two cities hit hard by the oil slide. That’s set to keep nationwide vacancies above 10 percent for quarters to come, according to the brokerage.