Warehouse space in Vancouver costs $20 to $29 per square foot per year all-in in 2026. Pallet storage runs $20 to $40 per pallet per month. 3PL pick, pack and ship runs $4.00 to $7.00 per order. Every one of those bands is the highest of the eight Canadian markets Warehouse Bridge tracks.
This page is the cost reference for the Lower Mainland: the rate table by service, what moves a quote within each band, a worked monthly budget, and Vancouver against Toronto and Calgary on the same lines. For facility availability by submarket, see the Vancouver warehouse network page. For how import container programs are structured through the port (drayage, demurrage, transload), see Vancouver import container programs. This page covers the money only.
Vancouver Warehouse Rates by Service: 2026
All figures are Warehouse Bridge network data, Q2 2026. Bands bracket the submarkets, so a single quote lands inside them, not at the midpoint.
| Service | Vancouver rate (2026) | Unit |
|---|---|---|
| Direct lease, all-in (net rent + TMI) | $20 - $29 | Per sq ft/year |
| Direct lease, all-in, monthly equivalent | $1.65 - $2.40 | Per sq ft/month |
| Pallet storage (ambient, 48x40) | $20 - $40 | Per pallet/month |
| Pallet handling (ambient) | $12 - $20 | Per pallet, per move in or out |
| Pick, pack and ship | $4.00 - $7.00 | Per order |
| Cold storage, refrigerated | $35 - $48 | Per pallet/month |
| Cold storage, frozen | $50 - $65 | Per pallet/month |
| Cold storage handling | $16 - $25 | Per pallet, per move in or out |
| Cross-dock / container deconsolidation | $500 - $700 | Per container |
| Trailer parking (secured yard, 53 ft) | $225 - $450 | Per trailer/month |
| Industrial vacancy | 1% - 2.5% | Metro Vancouver |
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Check live rates →Three things to read correctly. The lease band is all-in: net rent plus taxes, maintenance and insurance, annualized from the monthly rate a landlord quotes. Storage excludes handling, so every pallet also pays $12 to $20 on the way in and again on the way out. Cross-dock is per container and separate from pallet receiving; drayage, chassis, demurrage and detention are quoted by the terminal and the ocean carrier, not the warehouse, and are not on any line above.
What Drives Vancouver Pricing
A market that cannot add land
Metro Vancouver is boxed in by mountains, ocean, the US border, and the Agricultural Land Reserve across most of what is left. New industrial supply arrives in small increments, mostly redevelopment rather than greenfield big-box. That is the structural reason the lease band sits at $20 to $29 while Calgary, with room to build, sits at $13 to $19.
Port proximity and the submarkets
The Warehouse Bridge Vancouver network runs 28+ facilities and roughly 3.1 million square feet of available space across Surrey, Delta, Richmond, Langley and Burnaby. Surrey holds the largest cluster (4 facilities, 520,000 sq ft), followed by Delta (3 facilities, 420,000 sq ft), Langley (2 facilities, 300,000 sq ft) and Richmond (2 facilities, 260,000 sq ft).
Distance to the terminals sets where a facility lands in the band. Delta and Richmond are the short-dray submarkets and the most contested. Richmond, Burnaby and parts of Surrey are supply-limited. Langley is furthest from the terminals with the newest large-format stock, the usual answer for outbound programs that do not cycle containers daily. Delta and Surrey generally quote more competitively than Richmond or Vancouver proper, with the caveat that a Delta facility beside Deltaport is priced for the dray it saves.
Vacancy at 1 to 2.5 percent
Industrial vacancy in Metro Vancouver runs 1 to 2.5 percent, the lowest band of the eight markets in the module. The landlord or 3PL rarely needs your business to fill the building. The levers that still work: flexibility on submarket (Langley or east Surrey instead of Delta), a longer term for a rate inside the band, a firm pallet or order commitment, negotiating in Q1, and taking older stock with lower clear heights. Do not model Calgary-style concessions. There is no oversupply here to trade against.
Worked Example: A Mid-Size Vancouver Requirement
Take a common mid-size requirement: 150 pallets on hand, 40 pallets in and 40 out per month, 2,000 direct-to-consumer orders per month, and 4 containers deconsolidated per month. Every rate below is the midpoint of the Vancouver band above.
| Line | Mid-band rate | Volume | Monthly cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pallet storage | $30 per pallet/month | 150 pallets | $4,500 |
| Pallet handling | $16 per move | 80 moves (40 in, 40 out) | $1,280 |
| Pick, pack and ship | $5.50 per order | 2,000 orders | $11,000 |
| Cross-dock | $600 per container | 4 containers | $2,400 |
| Total, core 3PL lines | $19,180 |
That is the core warehouse invoice. Packaging, outbound carrier charges, returns, account management, and any Q4 peak surcharge stack on top, and most operators carry a monthly minimum that this requirement clears.
For a direct lease on the same operation, 20,000 square feet at $1.65 to $2.40 per square foot per month is $33,000 to $48,000 per month for rent alone, before labour, racking, equipment, WMS and insurance.
Vancouver vs Toronto vs Calgary on the Same Lines
| Service | Vancouver | Toronto / GTA | Calgary |
|---|---|---|---|
| All-in lease (per sq ft/year) | $20 - $29 | $17 - $24 | $13 - $19 |
| Pallet storage (per pallet/month) | $20 - $40 | $18 - $35 | $14 - $28 |
| Pallet handling (per move) | $12 - $20 | $10 - $18 | $8 - $15 |
| Pick, pack and ship (per order) | $4.00 - $7.00 | $3.50 - $6.50 | $3.00 - $5.50 |
| Cross-dock (per container) | $500 - $700 | $450 - $650 | $375 - $550 |
| Refrigerated storage (per pallet/month) | $35 - $48 | $30 - $40 | $25 - $35 |
| Frozen storage (per pallet/month) | $50 - $65 | $45 - $55 | $38 - $48 |
| Industrial vacancy | 1% - 2.5% | 1.5% - 3% | 4% - 7% |
Run the worked example above at each market’s mid-band and the same requirement costs $17,295 per month in Toronto and $14,420 per month in Calgary against $19,180 in Vancouver. The Vancouver premium is $1,885 per month over Toronto and $4,760 per month over Calgary, or roughly $57,000 per year on the Calgary comparison at those volumes.
Which market to deploy in first is a coverage, border and labour question, covered in Toronto vs Vancouver for fulfillment. This page only prices the lines once that call is made.
When the Vancouver Premium Is Worth Paying
Vancouver earns its rate on one type of program: containerized imports from Asia that need to be touched once at the port and moved. The container is drayed a short distance, deconsolidated at $500 to $700, and the goods ship out as orders or get palletized onto domestic trailers. Dwell is short, so storage at $20 to $40 is a small share of the invoice. Staging inland would add a linehaul and a second handling cycle before the first order ships.
The same logic holds for fast-turning inventory sold into BC and Alberta, and for cold chain imports that need refrigerated or frozen receiving the day the container clears. Paying $35 to $48 refrigerated or $50 to $65 frozen in Vancouver beats moving perishable product inland first.
Staging inland wins when inventory sits. If pallets dwell for months, the $20 to $40 storage line becomes the biggest number on the invoice, and Calgary at $14 to $28 pulls ahead even after paying Vancouver cross-dock on the way through. At the worked example’s 150 pallets, the storage saving alone is $1,350 per month at mid-band, and that saving has to cover the inland move, which is quoted by the carrier and is not in this table. Slow-turning bulk, eastern-weighted demand, and product that ships by full truckload to retail distribution centres are the profiles where the math favours touching the container in Vancouver and storing it somewhere cheaper.
The rule that comes out of this: pay Vancouver rates for handling and cross-dock, because the port is in Vancouver. Pay Vancouver rates for storage only when the inventory will not be there long.
Getting a Vancouver Number for Your Volumes
Your quote inside these bands depends on submarket, term, commitment, and timing. The full eight-market picture on every line above is in the Canadian Warehouse Market Report 2026.
For a Vancouver quote built on your pallet count, order volume and container schedule, request a quote. We respond within 24 hours with facility options across Surrey, Delta, Richmond, Langley and Burnaby and the rate each is prepared to hold.