Market analysis
The City retained Cushman & Wakefield to conduct a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the industrial lands and sector in Calgary. The report findings are summarized below. You can also view the full Industrial Area Growth Strategy Consulting Report.
Land inventory
Industrial land supply
As of 2020, Calgary had approximately 7,000 hectares of industrial lands. Within this supply about 58% or 4,000 hectares are existing, developed and occupied, while the remaining 42% or 3,000 hectares are vacant and undeveloped. Parts of these vacant lands are serviced, while other parts are not.
Potentially underutilized lands are defined as parcels that are equal to or greater than 2 hectares, with less than 20 per cent site coverage.
A vast majority of the industrial lands are located east of Deerfoot Trail, and are concentrated in Northeast, Central and Southeast submarkets. The occupied industrial areas are made up of diverse land uses. Uses found here are predominantly industrial in nature at around 84% of the area (3,600 hectares), commercial uses make up 12% or 500 hectares, while the remaining 4% or 180 hectares are made up of other uses.
Vacant industrial lands sorted by category
Geography
| Geographic location | Hectors of vacant industrial land | % of vacant land |
|---|---|---|
| Southeast | 1,489 ha | 50% |
| Northeast | 1,407 ha | 47% |
| Other | 78 ha | 3% |
| Total as of 2020 | 2,974 ha | 100% |
Districts
| Land use districts | Hectors of vacant industrial land | % of vacant land |
|---|---|---|
| S-FUD – Future Urban Development* | 1,748 ha | 60% |
| Industrial | 874 ha | 29% |
| Industrial – Multiple | 287 ha | 10% |
| Direct Control District | 27 ha | 1% |
| Total as of 2020 | 2,936 ha | 100% |
*Lands that are identified as future industrial lands in the Municipal Development Plan (MDP) and specific Area Structure Plan (ASPs) have S-FUD land use designations
Servicing Status
| Servicing status | Hectors of vacant industrial land | % of vacant land |
|---|---|---|
| Serviced | 887 ha | 30% |
| Partially Serviced | 1,315 ha | 44% |
| Unserviced | 771 ha | 26% |
| Total as of 2020 | 2,973 ha | 100% |
Parcel Size
| Parcel size | Hectors of vacant industrial land | % of vacant land |
|---|---|---|
| <0.5 ha | 12 ha | 21% |
| 0.5 – 1 ha | 52 ha | 27% |
| 1-5 ha | 239 ha | 37% |
| 5-25 ha | 739 ha | 12% |
| >25 ha | 1,932 ha | 3% |
| Total as of 2020 | 2,974 ha | 100% |
Building inventory
Industrial building inventory
As of Q3, 2020, Calgary’s industrial building inventory was nearly 131 million sf. This makes Calgary the fourth largest industrial market in Canada – behind Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver, just ahead of Edmonton, at 130 million sf.
| Submarket | Building inventory | % of inventory |
|---|---|---|
| Southeast | 60.8 million sf | 47% |
| Northeast | 47.7 million sf | 37% |
| Central | 22.3 million sf | 17 |
| Total | 131 millon sf | 100% |
The Southeast submarket has the largest share of industrial building inventory, as well as industrial vacant land supply. This highlights the importance of the southeast in the industrial sector.
Key industries
Industrial sector’s future growth
Calgary is home to several industrial subsectors. The largest subsectors include warehousing and storage, general and specialized freight trucking, wholesale trade and manufacturing. The top 20 industrial subsectors that are anticipated to account for the largest gains in employment in Calgary by 2041 is listed below.
| 2016 | 2016 | 2041* | 2041* | 2041* | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Industrial Subsector | Jobs | Rank | Jobs | Additional Jobs | Rank |
| Warehousing and Storage | 3,830 | 1 | 11,505 | 7,675 | 1 |
| General freight trucking | 2,810 | 3 | 7,400 | 4,590 | 2 |
| Food merchant wholesalers | 2,615 | 4 | 5,188 | 2,573 | 3 |
| Specialized freight trucking | 1,735 | 13 | 3,051 | 1,316 | 4 |
| Architectural and Structural metals manufacturing | 1,765 | 11 | 2,963 | 1,198 | 5 |
| Other miscellaneous manufacturing | 1,190 | 17 | 2,370 | 1,180 | 6 |
| Recyclable material merchants wholesalers | 730 | 27 | 1,846 | 1,116 | 7 |
| Bakeries and tortilla manufacturing | 1,490 | 14 | 2,604 | 1,114 | 8 |
| Beverage merchant wholesalers | 470 | 37 | 1,245 | 775 | 9 |
| Petroleum and petroleum products merchant wholesalers | 2,125 | 6 | 2,759 | 634 | 10 |
| Beverage manufacturing | 1,085 | 20 | 1,654 | 569 | 11 |
| Glass and glass product manufacturing | 460 | 39 | 916 | 456 | 12 |
| Farm product merchant wholesaler | 245 | 67 | 687 | 442 | 13 |
| Household and institutional furniture and kitchen cabinet manufacturing | 1,405 | 15 | 1,807 | 402 | 14 |
| Aerospace product and parts manufacturing | 405 | 44 | 704 | 299 | 15 |
| Other food manufacturing | 465 | 38 | 726 | 261 | 16 |
| Meat product manufacturing | 1,170 | 18 | 1,414 | 244 | 17 |
| Basic chemical manufacturing | 845 | 25 | 1,081 | 236 | 18 |
| Navigational, measuring, medical and control instruments manufacturing | 1,125 | 19 | 1,358 | 233 | 19 |
| Industrial machinery manufacturing | 190 | 70 | 374 | 184 | 20 |
| Total New Jobs by 2041 | 25,497 |
*This forecast is based on Industrial Area Growth Strategy Consulting Report,Cushman & Wakefield