Warehouse space in Calgary costs $13 to $19 per square foot per year all-in for a direct lease, $14 to $28 per pallet per month for 3PL rack storage, and $3.00 to $5.50 per order for pick, pack and ship. Those are the three numbers most people searching this question want, and they are Warehouse Bridge network data, current as of Q2 2026.
The rest of this guide is for the person who has to turn those bands into a budget. Every Calgary rate we track is in one table below, followed by what actually moves pricing inside the city, a worked monthly example for a mid-size requirement, and a straight comparison against Toronto and Vancouver using the same rate bands. If you want capacity rather than numbers, the Calgary warehouse network page lists current facilities by cluster. If you are planning multi-province replenishment out of Calgary, the prairie distribution guide covers transit windows and cross-dock flow-through.
Calgary Warehouse Rate Table: 2026
Every service we quote in Calgary, with the full band. Rates are for pre-vetted operators in the Warehouse Bridge network and bracket the spread across submarkets, so a single quote will land inside the band rather than on the midpoint.
| Service | Calgary rate (2026) | Unit | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Direct lease, all-in (net + TMI) | $13 - $19 | Per sq ft per year | $1.10 - $1.60 per sq ft per month. Includes taxes, maintenance and insurance. |
| Pallet handling (ambient) | $8 - $15 | Per pallet, per move in or out | Unloading, inspection, putaway on receipt. Same fee on the way out. |
| Pallet storage (ambient) | $14 - $28 | Per pallet per month | Standard 48x40 pallet in racking. |
| Pick, pack and ship | $3.00 - $5.50 | Per order | Single-item parcel. Extra units billed as additional picks. |
| Cold storage handling | $12 - $20 | Per pallet, per move in or out | Temperature-controlled receiving and dispatch. |
| Refrigerated storage | $25 - $35 | Per pallet per month | Chilled, 2 to 8C. |
| Frozen storage | $38 - $48 | Per pallet per month | Frozen, -18C. Blended cold band is $25 - $48. |
| Cross-dock / container destuff | $375 - $550 | Per container | Deconsolidation and handling. Quoted separately from pallet receiving. |
| Trailer parking | $150 - $300 | Per trailer per month | Secured yard, 53 ft. |
| Industrial vacancy | 4% - 7% | Market | Widest band of the major markets alongside Edmonton. |
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Check live rates →All figures: Warehouse Bridge network data, Q2 2026. All-in rent means net rent plus TMI, annualized from a monthly per-square-foot rate. Minimum commitments, Q4 surcharges and packaging or carrier charges are quoted separately and are not rate-module figures.
Two things to read off the table. First, the storage band is wide. A $14 pallet and a $28 pallet are both Calgary, and the difference is building age, clear height, submarket and how much volume you bring. Second, cold storage is not a small premium. Refrigerated storage starts where ambient storage ends, and frozen runs almost three times the ambient low. If any part of your inventory needs temperature control, model it as its own line.
What Drives Calgary Pricing
Four submarkets, one rate band
Calgary warehousing sits in four submarkets: Balzac, Northeast Industrial, Southeast Industrial and Airdrie. The Warehouse Bridge network currently clusters as three facilities and 360,000 square feet in the Balzac logistics hub, three facilities and 410,000 square feet in Calgary Northeast Industrial, and two facilities and 280,000 square feet in Calgary Southeast Industrial.
Balzac and the northeast corridor hold the newest large-format buildings and the top of the rent band. The CN intermodal terminal at Balzac is the reason: containers arriving by rail from Vancouver are devanned minutes from the ramp, which is what the $375 to $550 cross-dock line is priced against. Older southeast product with lower clear heights trades toward the bottom of the band. Airdrie is the overflow valve when Balzac is full.
Energy-sector base load
Calgary’s industrial stock was built for oil and gas equipment and supply: heavy floors, drive-in doors, laydown yards. That stock keeps the market deeper than a city of its size would otherwise support, and when energy activity slows, some of it returns to market as general storage at competitive rates. It is one reason the storage band bottoms out at $14 while Toronto bottoms at $18.
Vacancy at 4 to 7 percent, and what it means at the table
Calgary industrial vacancy is 4 to 7 percent. Toronto is 1.5 to 3 percent. Vancouver is 1 to 2.5 percent. That gap is the whole negotiating story.
Below 3 percent vacancy, the provider sets terms because the client has nowhere else to go. At 4 to 7 percent, the client has two or three alternatives for most requirements, and providers know it. That shows up less in the headline rate and more in the terms around it:
- Minimum commitments in Calgary sit at 25 to 50 pallets, roughly half the Toronto and Vancouver floors.
- Q4 peak surcharges run 10 to 15 percent in Calgary, against 15 to 25 percent in Toronto and 15 to 30 percent in Vancouver.
- Month-to-month and six-month terms are available for overflow and project storage without a large premium.
Push on those three before the rate itself. A Calgary operator moves on minimums and term far more readily than on per-unit price, and for a variable-volume operation those levers are worth more.
Worked Example: A Mid-Size Calgary 3PL Budget
Take a distributor holding 300 pallets in Calgary, receiving 150 pallets and shipping 150 pallets out each month, fulfilling 2,500 parcel orders a month, and devanning four containers a month through the Balzac corridor. Using Calgary mid-band values from the table above:
- Pallet storage: 300 pallets x $21 (mid-band of $14 to $28) = $6,300
- Pallet handling: 300 moves x $11.50 (mid-band of $8 to $15) = $3,450
- Pick, pack and ship: 2,500 orders x $4.25 (mid-band of $3.00 to $5.50) = $10,625
- Cross-dock: 4 containers x $462.50 (mid-band of $375 to $550) = $1,850
Monthly total: $22,225, or roughly $22,200 before packaging materials, outbound carrier charges, returns processing and account management. Those lines are real and they stack on top. Budget them as a percentage of the base and get each one on the rate card in writing.
For the same operation as a direct lease, a 25,000 square foot building at the $1.35 mid-band ($1.10 to $1.60 per square foot per month all-in) is $33,750 a month in rent alone, with a band of $27,500 to $40,000. That figure carries no labour, racking, WMS or equipment, which is the trade every 3PL quote is priced against. Run your own volumes through the warehouse cost calculator to see where the crossover sits for your profile.
Calgary vs Toronto vs Vancouver
Same rate module, same three markets, every band side by side.
| Service | Calgary | Toronto (GTA) | Vancouver |
|---|---|---|---|
| All-in rent ($/sq ft/year) | $13 - $19 | $17 - $24 | $20 - $29 |
| Pallet handling ($/pallet/move) | $8 - $15 | $10 - $18 | $12 - $20 |
| Pallet storage ($/pallet/month) | $14 - $28 | $18 - $35 | $20 - $40 |
| Pick, pack and ship ($/order) | $3.00 - $5.50 | $3.50 - $6.50 | $4.00 - $7.00 |
| Refrigerated storage ($/pallet/month) | $25 - $35 | $30 - $40 | $35 - $48 |
| Frozen storage ($/pallet/month) | $38 - $48 | $45 - $55 | $50 - $65 |
| Cross-dock ($/container) | $375 - $550 | $450 - $650 | $500 - $700 |
| Trailer parking ($/trailer/month) | $150 - $300 | $200 - $400 | $225 - $450 |
| Industrial vacancy | 4% - 7% | 1.5% - 3% | 1% - 2.5% |
Warehouse Bridge network data, Q2 2026.
Run the worked example above through the other two markets at their mid-band values and the gap is concrete. The same 300 pallet, 2,500 order, four container operation costs $26,850 a month in Toronto and $29,950 in Vancouver, against $22,225 in Calgary. That is roughly 17 percent below Toronto and 26 percent below Vancouver on the warehouse side alone, every month.
The offset is freight. A Calgary node shipping parcels to Ontario and Quebec customers pays more per outbound order than a GTA node does, and for a brand whose demand is concentrated east of Winnipeg, that carrier delta can eat the warehouse saving. Calgary wins the total landed cost comparison when a meaningful share of the outbound volume stays west of the Manitoba border, or when the inbound flow is arriving through Vancouver by rail in the first place. The 2026 Canadian warehouse cost guide has the full six-city breakdown, and the pallet storage cost guide goes deeper on how storage is billed.
When Calgary Is the Right Node
Calgary is the right warehouse node when at least one of the following is true.
The inbound is coming through Vancouver by rail. Containers on the CN line reach the Balzac ramp without touching Lower Mainland warehouse space, which means you avoid the highest rent and lowest vacancy in the country and devan at $375 to $550 a container instead of $500 to $700.
Outbound demand is western and prairie. Alberta, Saskatchewan, British Columbia interior and Manitoba are all ground-reachable from one Calgary facility. The prairie replenishment guide covers the corridor timing and when a second site starts to pay.
The requirement is variable or short-term. At 4 to 7 percent vacancy with 25 to 50 pallet minimums, Calgary is the easiest major market in which to place overflow, project or seasonal storage without a long commitment.
Cold chain is part of the profile. Refrigerated at $25 to $35 and frozen at $38 to $48 per pallet per month put Calgary well below Toronto and Vancouver for temperature-controlled inventory, and the food and agricultural base means the capacity exists.
Calgary is the wrong node when the customer base is overwhelmingly in the GTA and Montreal and nothing moves west. The warehouse saving does not survive the freight bill, and a Toronto facility with Calgary added later is the better sequence.
Get a Calgary Number for Your Requirement
The bands above bracket what you will actually be quoted. Where you land inside them depends on volume, term, submarket and service mix. Warehouse Bridge pulls live pricing from pre-vetted operators across Balzac, the northeast and southeast corridors and Airdrie, and negotiates the terms that matter in a 4 to 7 percent vacancy market.
For every Calgary band alongside the other seven markets we track, see the Canadian Warehouse Market Report 2026. For a quote built on your pallet count, order volume and inbound flow, request a Calgary quote. We respond within 24 hours.