Calgary’s office market fundamentals improving despite economic uncertainty
Office-using employment growth in Alberta has slowed significantly in Q1, dropping to 1.3% year over year in February. Q1 2025 leasing activity of 0.8 million square feet (msf) remains consistent with Q1 2023 and Q1 2024 activity despite continuing economic headwinds. Calgary’s office market has continued to tighten, with availability dropping 330 basis points (bps) over the last year to 18.9%. This return to healthier availability has been driven by continued leasing activity alongside a year-over-year inventory reduction of 2.6 msf from various conversion projects. As was the case in the previous quarter, the South and West End Downtown submarkets are the only submarkets that continue to post higher availability than the market average. Available sublease space has remained relatively flat year over year, currently at 2.1 msf.