A wave of investment commitments, major facility expansions and new industrial districts is reshaping the outlook for Canada’s warehouse and logistics real estate sector, as federal officials and institutional investors push to accelerate hundreds of billions of dollars in capital deployment across the country.
At the Canada Investment Summit in Toronto this week, co-hosted by the federal government, CPP Investments and the Public Sector Pension Investment Board, a prospectus of 160 projects was distributed to attendees including BlackRock chairman and CEO Larry Fink, Blackstone president and COO Jon Gray and Barclays CEO C.S. Venkatakrishnan. The event aims to “enable more than $1 trillion in total investment from public, private, and institutional partners,” according to the Prime Minister’s Office.
Banks and Pension Funds Commit Hundreds of Billions
TD Bank announced a $150-billion, five-year commitment to drive lending, underwriting and advisory activity, while Scotiabank pledged more than $100 billion to support Canadian companies and projects, alongside launching a new Scotia Growth Institute. Those announcements followed roughly $100 billion in prior pledges from RBC, BMO, CIBC, Sun Life, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, PSP and Power Sustainable. Separately, CPP Investments and Brookfield launched a $50-billion Maple Fund aimed at large-scale infrastructure and strategic industry investments.
While commercial real estate is not a direct target of the summit, analysts say industrial space stands to benefit most as supply chains and manufacturing capacity expand. “Supply chains and trade corridors are evolving, creating opportunities across logistics, manufacturing, warehousing and development land as businesses adapt to a more diversified trading environment,” said Avison Young principal and director of market intelligence Marie-France Benoit, adding that the shift “is likely to drive industrial real estate transaction activity as companies reposition operations and investors pursue emerging opportunities.”
A new Colliers report, Nation-Building in Canada: Real Estate Implications and Opportunities, similarly concludes industrial real estate could be the biggest beneficiary of nation-building projects. Colliers Canada head of research Adam Jacobs told RENX that industrial space is likely to see the largest jump in demand because “it’s just simpler to develop industrial than office or highrise condo.” He also pointed to rising defence spending, after Canada confirmed it met NATO’s two per cent of GDP defence target in the 2025-2026 fiscal year, as a potential driver of new warehousing and logistics demand tied to military manufacturing supply chains.
New Industrial Districts Taking Shape
Among the 160 projects highlighted in the summit’s investment prospectus are several large-scale industrial developments. The Prairie Economic Gateway east of Calgary spans 2,190 acres and is anchored by the nearly 1,300-acre Shepard Logistics Centre, controlled by Shepard Development, part of the Simpson Group/CANA, with plans for rail-served manufacturing and distribution tied into CPKC’s network.
In Quebec, the Saguenay industrial-port zone is pursuing major industrial users by combining port access, rail connections and hydroelectric power, with more than $400 million in identified infrastructure investment around the district. In Chatham-Kent, Ont., Canadian Energies has proposed a 300-acre manufacturing campus for solar-module and battery-storage production. And in Manitoba, the Arctic Gateway Group — owned by 41 Indigenous and northern communities, including 29 First Nations — is pursuing a Port of Churchill expansion valued at as much as US$57 billion that could make warehousing and storage more viable along the Hudson Bay Railway corridor.
Expansion Activity Already Underway
Beyond the summit-linked projects, individual developers are moving ahead with industrial builds. Montreal-based Broccolini has started construction on a 62,000-square-foot addition, plus 20,000 square feet of storage space, at Coke Canada Bottling’s 670,000-square-foot Brampton, Ont. facility — its largest in the country, employing 1,300 people. The $141-million project, targeted for completion in late 2027, will add a production line capable of making at least 20 million additional cases annually. Coke Canada Bottling president Tony Chow said the company is “committed to growing in Brampton and building a future-ready, multi-generational business.” The Brampton facility has seen more than $230 million invested since the company became independent eight years ago, and Coke Canada Bottling also opened a $75-million, 60,000-square-foot plant in Calgary in January.
Broccolini, which has roughly 23.6 million square feet of industrial, commercial, institutional and residential real estate developed or underway and a land bank exceeding 2,500 acres, is also building Automann’s 333,363-square-foot logistics hub in Caledon, Ont., featuring a 40-foot clear height and 27 dock doors, scheduled for completion later this year.
Capital Commitments Tied to Canada's Investment Push
Execution Remains the Key Question
Despite the optimism, analysts caution that turning capital commitments into completed industrial space will take time. Benoit said the summit “signals that the federal government’s trade diversification strategy is moving from vision to execution,” but noted regulatory and tax changes may be needed to address long-standing barriers to major development. Jacobs similarly described a potential “knock-on effect” cascading into legal, consulting, engineering, finance and insurance industries as a tailwind for industrial real estate, even as specifics on many projects remain undetermined.
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