What Shop, Bay and Office Space Actually Rents for in Metro Vancouver: September 2026 Numbers

Median asking rents per square foot for industrial, retail and office space across Metro Vancouver, from 1,216 live listings tracked in September 2026.

Island trades expanding to the mainland ask the same question first: what will a bay or a small shop cost me over there? The big brokerages publish quarterly reports, but those describe downtown towers and institutional warehouses, not the 1,500 to 3,000 square foot units a plumbing, millwork or auto business actually rents.

One Vancouver firm publishes the small-space picture. David Siccia Properties collects every live commercial-for-lease listing on the public classifieds across Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley each day, removes reposts, and releases the medians monthly in its Metro Vancouver commercial lease rates report. The September 2026 edition covers 1,216 live listings, 701 of them with a stated rate.

THE HEADLINE NUMBERS

Industrial and warehouse: median asking rent $21.00 per square foot per year. The middle half of listings run $18 to $25. Median size 2,528 square feet.

Retail: median asking rent $39.08 per square foot per year. The middle half run $28 to $55. Median size 1,234 square feet.

Office: median asking rent $35.03 per square foot per year. The middle half run $22 to $49. Median size 887 square feet.

All commercial: median asking rent $28.00 per square foot per year. The middle half run $20 to $44. Median size 1,400 square feet.

Commercial rent is quoted per square foot per year. To get a monthly figure, multiply the rate by the area and divide by twelve. A median industrial bay, 2,528 square feet at $21, is about $4,420 a month in base rent.

BASE RENT IS NOT THE WHOLE BILL

Most Metro Vancouver commercial leases are net leases. On top of base rent the tenant pays additional rent: a share of the building's property tax, insurance and operating costs, commonly another $6 to $12 per square foot, plus 5% GST on the total. A listing that quotes only base rent is not hiding anything; that is the convention. The firm's plain-language guide to commercial lease types in BC walks through a worked example.

BY CITY

All asset types combined, September 2026: Vancouver $26.00 (439 priced listings), North Vancouver $29.80, Richmond $25.84, Burnaby $36.82, Surrey $35.00, Langley $39.11 and Port Coquitlam $20.00. City medians follow the mix of space on the market, so a city with mostly small office suites looks expensive next to one with mostly industrial bays. For a like-for-like number, Vancouver industrial is $20.90 and Richmond industrial $24.61.

HOW TO READ THESE NUMBERS

They are asking rents. Signed deals usually land 5 to 15 percent lower once free rent and improvement allowances are counted. The net effective rent calculator shows the difference.

The sample is small private-owner and small-brokerage space, which is exactly what a trade business rents. It does not describe Class A towers.

Thin samples are flagged in the report, and any cell with fewer than five priced listings is suppressed.

IF YOU OWN RATHER THAN RENT

The same data tells an owner whether an asking rate is realistic. The free lease rate estimator places a space against live listings of the same type in the same city. And if the unit has been sitting, 38% of the competition is other owners listing on their own, none of whom can post to the MLS. David Siccia has his own MLS access, which is why owners who have been listing by themselves bring him in.

Source: David Siccia Properties, Metro Vancouver commercial asking rates, September 2026. 236-998-5841.

Disclosure: the publisher of this directory also works with David Siccia Properties.

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