Ottawa's commercial real estate brokers say the federal government is out looking at office buildings again, and the tours point to a coming search for more space.
Landlords are seeing the tours
Victoria Scott of CBRE said landlords report that the government has started touring spaces. Ian Woodhead of Colliers went further, saying the federal government is "definitely out in force" touring buildings.
The activity follows a request in June from Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC). It was asking for information on "contiguous office space of at least 1,000 square metres (10,700 square feet)." That is a single connected block of that size, not scattered floors across a building.
What brokers expect next
Neither broker described a finished deal. Both pointed to a formal process still to come.
Scott said CBRE is "anticipating a tender will come to market in the near- to mid-term." Woodhead expects PSPC to issue a request for proposals for new space later this year or early in 2027.
The sources do not say how much space the government wants in total, which buildings it has seen, or where it would like to locate.
Where Ottawa's vacancy rate stands
The push comes as the market has tightened somewhat. CBRE reported that Ottawa's office vacancy rate fell one-tenth of a point to 14.9 per cent. Downtown, the vacancy rate fell to 15.3 per cent from 16.1 per cent in the second quarter.
Colliers measures it differently and put Ottawa's vacancy rate at 13 per cent at the end of September. The two firms' figures are not directly comparable, but both describe a market with less empty space than before.
Kanata firms are squeezed too
Federal demand is not the only pressure on large blocks of space. A shortage of "contiguous, large-block" space in the defence-tech hotbed of Kanata is limiting the options of defence-tech firms looking for room, according to the report.
That means a federal tender for big contiguous floors could compete with growing tech companies for the same kind of space.
Why it matters for Ottawa
For landlords with large floors to fill, a tender is the signal they have been waiting for. For companies hunting for their own large blocks, it may mean more competition.
It also sits alongside a different pressure on the same workforce.
For now, the next step to watch is whether PSPC issues the tender or request for proposals that brokers are predicting.
Sources: Ottawa Business Journal
