Though Canadian office markets have enjoyed post-recession stability, Avison Young reports that it may soon come under pressure.

In the recent 2014 Canada, U.S. Forecast, Avison Young shows that the national office vacancy rate was on the rise at the end of 2013. Between the end of 2012 and the end of 2013, the rate rose from 7.5 per cent to 8.3 per cent.

The report forecasts that rates will continue to rise, with the national rate reaching 9.2 per cent by the end of 2014. There is currently 27 million square feet of new office developments scheduled to be completed by 2017 that is under construction across Canada.

The forecast covers office, retail, industrial and investment markets in 36 Canadian and American metropolitan regions.

Overall, the Canadian commercial real estate market is expected to remain strong, as there continues to be ongoing development in the major markets.

“Though stable, it is not entirely surprising to see the commercial real estate sector in Canada pull back a little. Keep in mind, while other property markets around the world were wallowing in recession, Canada bounced back fairly quickly,” says Bill Argeropoulos, vice-president and director of research (Canada) for Avison Young. “If anything, we are well-positioned to exploit our proximity to the U.S., which is still the home of the globe’s largest economy.”

Eight of the 11 Canadian office markets surveyed showed rising vacancy rates. Only Edmonton, Ottawa and Quebec City saw year-over-year improvement.