Downtown office vacancy hits 30 per cent in Waterloo Region

: A new study shows Waterloo Region is struggling to fill downtown office space. CTV’s Jeff Pickel takes a look at the numbers.

Downtown office space is not hard to find in Waterloo Region.

A new study from CBRE Canada found the national average sat at 20 percent.

On the local level, London reported the highest rate of office vacancy at 31.4 per cent, followed by Calgary at 30.7 per cent, and Waterloo Region rounded out the top three at 30 per cent.

The report said the national average held firm for the last year and a half, indicating the vacancy rate has plateaued. However, the authors suggest economic uncertainty could delay a bounce back.

While the report did not break down the vacancy rate for each city within Waterloo Region, officials are aware of the problem.

“What the City of Kitchener has done is invested in some of our startups,” said Kitchener Councillor Stephanie Stretch. “Through Communitech and through the University of Waterloo’s incubator, [the city is] seeing a large number of startups, which should translate into more office space being used downtown.”

Stretch said making downtown Kitchener an attractive place to work is a priority.

“We’re working on a lot of some of those really basic things like safety and security, so that we’re able to make our downtown core great,” she said.

According to the CBRE report, office space construction has stalled at a 20-year low.