By Brielle Scott
Toronto is the largest city in Canada, with key industries driving the city’s economic momentum including financial services, technology, real estate, film and television production, and advanced manufacturing. As a global financial center, Toronto is home to major banks and insurance firms, contributing significantly to national GDP and investment inflows. The city ranks among the top North American tech hubs, supported by a deep talent pool, competitive costs and robust venture capital activity.
The commercial real estate (CRE) industry’s construction spending and ongoing operations in Toronto are a significant driver of the economy, generating $17.1 billion CAD in economic activity in 2024, according to a new report released by the NAIOP Research Foundation and authored by Altus Group. It’s no surprise, then, that city serves as the perfect host to commercial real estate leaders attending CRE.Converge next month for unparalleled networking and valuable industry insights.
According to the report, Toronto’s economy added 315,900 net new jobs to the local workforce in the past three years (about 3.0% average annual growth). Several employment trends contribute toward CRE performance:
- Private sector office jobs outperformed the total workforce modestly, advancing by 3.7% per year. Toronto’s office market remains significantly impacted by pandemic- and post-pandemic-related office space compression, which has left it with significant surplus space. However, the recent growth in private sector office jobs is an encouraging factor and provides support for the core markets in downtown Class AAA assets.
- Public sector office employment advanced rapidly by about 4.1% per year.
- Employment in industrial sectors advanced by a very strong 6.1% per year, supporting manufacturing and assembly space along with transportation and logistics.
- Employment in the retail sector lagged in Toronto over the past three years, advancing by only 1.1% per year, underscoring some of the continued challenges in that sector as it copes with restructuring within consumer spending.
Ontario’s CRE sector is anchored by significant construction investment in new and existing buildings, which amounted to $32.9 billion CAD in 2024, up some 32% (in nominal dollar terms) from 2021. The brokerage operations and the property, asset management and landlord operations components of the CRE sector are disproportionately large in Ontario, and in Toronto in particular. Many companies operating in these sectors have located their national operations in Toronto.
Significant investments continue to shape the urban and economic landscape, with projects such as the Ontario Line transit expansion and waterfront revitalization initiatives enhancing infrastructure capacity and long-term livability in the city.
Learn more about how commercial real estate is building Canada’s economy – including data by province and major market – by reading the full report, “Economic Impacts of Commercial Real Estate in Canada, 2025 Edition.”
