Commercial rent intelligence

Every number has a meaning.

Definitions, dated evidence and transparent gaps make the measures useful.

Research edition · October 2026

Illustrative office architecture in warm evening light — AI-created editorial architecture illustration. Not a researched property or an availability claim.

05 / Evidence standards

Clear numbers.
Clear boundaries.

Asking rent ≠ occupied rent

An advertised quote reflects a space on offer. Official occupied-rent indexes measure rent movement within occupied buildings. They are displayed independently.

Availability ≠ vacancy

Observed advertisements describe a monitored set. A vacancy rate requires a credible total-stock denominator and a defined method. A disappearing listing is not evidence of a completed lease.

Comparable spaces come first

Original benchmarks keep net and gross quotes separate. The provisional gate requires at least five spaces across three properties in a 90-day window, with concentration and overlap checks. These gates do not establish full market representativeness.

History is preserved

Observations and releases are append-only. Updated evidence creates another dated record. Matched-space movement remains experimental until repeated coverage and stability support publication.

Reading the official chart

The index is based on occupied-space net effective rent, excluding operating costs and additional rent. A value above 100 indicates a higher index than the 2019 average, not a dollar rent. The year-over-year figure compares the same month in consecutive years. Monthly observations are published quarterly. Recent periods may be revised.

Reading report quotes

Report averages refer to the publisher’s defined market and sample. Calgary Class A office and Edmonton all-class office figures are not like-for-like comparisons. Reports are factual context only; they are not inputs to our independent median, percentile or distribution calculations.

What this release does not estimate

No independent asking-rent benchmark, custom asking-rent index, achieved lease rate, property valuation or tenant-leverage score is published yet. Unknown costs and unsupported comparisons remain visible.

Coverage and boundaries

Edition 02 covers 27 source geographies and 60 official series, with 90 monthly observations per series from January 2019 to June 2026. Source geography labels use 2016 Census boundaries. Ottawa-Gatineau is the Ontario part, and Territories combines the three territories.

Separate building-type series do not exist for every city. A geographic or sector gap remains a gap. Different index levels across markets cannot establish different dollar-rent levels.

Reviewing original asking observations

An asking observation needs explicit units and payment period, a dated source, a unique premises identity, a defined rent basis and a reuse-rights decision. Pending candidates cannot become eligible public observations. Overlapping configurations are withheld until resolved.

The provisional release gate needs at least five comparable spaces across three properties within a 90-day window. A property cannot contribute more than half the sample. These are minimum evidence gates, not a claim of broad representativeness or statistical certainty.

Imagery and editorial examples

The three architectural images in this edition are AI-created editorial illustrations. They do not identify a researched property, show verified availability or support a claim about a local market. Captions make that distinction visible.

Worked lease examples use explicitly hypothetical figures. They explain calculation mechanics and are not rent forecasts, property appraisals or confirmed transaction terms.

Sources and scope.

Sources checked 12 October 2026. Numerical examples are hypothetical; figures from the official index carry their published source period.

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