Calgary industrial is tighter than it looks.

The headline number understates it

A 2.7% vacancy rate is tight by any standard, and it tightened rather than loosened through the quarter — down from 3.0% in Q1, with availability at its lowest since Q3 2023.

But vacancy alone flatters the position, because it counts space that exists today and says nothing about what is coming. The construction figure is where people get comfortable, and it is where they should not.

Most of the pipeline is already committed

There is roughly 3.78 million square feet under construction across the market, which sounds like relief on the way. Close to 2.64 million square feet of it is already pre-leased.

That leaves something in the order of a million square feet genuinely uncommitted across an entire metropolitan market — and the deliveries are not imminent. Meaningful new supply is expected around the middle of 2027.

The gap between 3.78 million square feet under construction and roughly one million actually available is the number worth carrying into a leasing conversation.

The Southeast is where the demand went

Leasing across the market reached 2.4 million square feet in the quarter. The Southeast submarket accounted for over 980,000 of that — more than 40% of the city's activity — with Balzac second at close to 700,000.

Southeast Calgary is the corridor most retail distribution runs through, minutes from Peigan, Stoney, Barlow and Glenmore. That it led the city on leasing while overall vacancy fell is the clearest signal in the quarter.

What it means if you need space

Rents are moving with the tightness — average net asking rents rose again quarter over quarter. Calgary remains cheaper than the other major Canadian industrial markets, but the direction is one way for now.

The practical consequence for a tenant is that the question shifts. In a loose market you negotiate on price; in this one the first question is whether anyone has the space at all, and the second is how quickly you can commit. With new deliveries a year out, waiting for the market to soften is a strategy with a known cost.

Where we sit in it

We have space in the Southeast now, at 4770 68 Avenue SE — 28 foot clear, ESFR throughout, twelve dock doors — and onboarding is a credit check and a signed agreement, typically two to three days.

Tell us the footprint or the pallet count and you will get a straight answer on whether it is there, inside 48 hours. If it is not, you will get that answer too.