Downtown Winnipeg seeing high rate of office vacancy

Downtown Winnipeg is seeing a rise in office vacancy.

According to a new report from Coldwell Banker Richard Ellis (CBRE), office vacancy rates rose to 17 per cent in downtown Winnipeg in the second quarter. This brings the city just below the national average of 18.9 per cent for downtown vacancy.

Compared to other Canadian cities, Winnipeg is on the lower end of downtown office vacancy rates, with only Vancouver, Ottawa and Toronto faring better. Edmonton, London and Calgary had the highest rates of downtown office vacancy.

Calgary and Halifax were the only cities that saw decreased vacancy this quarter.

Winnipeg’s suburban office vacancy rates are much lower compared to downtown.

The report shows the city has one of the lowest suburban vacancy rates at 9.7 per cent, with only Vancouver and London seeing lower rates.

Earlier in the year, CTV News Winnipeg reported that downtown Winnipeg is in a rebuilding phase after the pandemic caused more people to start working from home.

- With files from CTV’s Daniel Halmarson.