Canada's population has witnessed historic growth since 2020, driven largely by elevated immigration levels introduced to support economic growth and workforce needs. As immigration targets are reduced, population growth is expected to slow to just 0.6% annually between 2026 and 2031, and industrial occupiers can no longer rely on the broad-based labour force growth of recent years to meet future hiring needs. The Canada Industrial Labour Report breaks down these dynamics and other current trends in the industrial labour and real estate market.
That population expansion, paired with pent-up post-pandemic demand, fueled unprecedented industrial market growth and drove manufacturing, transportation, and warehousing employment up 2.2% annually from 2021 through 2024. Conditions have since normalized, and growth in these sectors is expected to level off. Trade uncertainty continues to weigh on manufacturing in particular, with production-occupation employment forecast to grow just 0.2% annually through 2030, while logistics and warehousing remain more resilient at 0.8%.
This report looks at the interplay between the supply and demand for industrial labour in the warehouse and manufacturing sectors, as well as supply and demand for industrial space across the country's key metropolitan markets:
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