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Office vacancy in Canada hits highest rate since 1994: CBRE

A report by commercial real estate firm CBRE says the national office vacancy rate in Canada climbed in the second quarter to its highest level since 1994.

The firm says the national office vacancy rate rose to 18.1 per cent in the second quarter, up from 17.7 per cent in the first quarter.

It was the highest level since the first quarter of 1994 when it was 18.6 per cent.

The increase came as the downtown office vacancy rate in the second quarter rose to 18.9 per cent compared with 18.4 per cent in the first quarter. The suburban office vacancy rate was 17.1 per cent, up from 16.8 per cent.

The firm says downtown vacancies in the second quarter inched higher in all major centres except for Calgary and the Waterloo region.

CBRE says Canadian office markets are grappling with the threat of a recession, interest rate hikes, tech sector weakness, tenants reducing the size of their spaces and new supply of office space.