A 10,000 sq ft warehouse lease breaks even with shared 3PL pallet storage at 828 to 964 pallets per month across eight Canadian cities (Warehouse Bridge network data, Q2 2026). Toronto breaks even at 919 pallets and Vancouver at 964. Halifax is lowest at 828. Below those counts, shared storage costs less than the lease on space alone. Above them, the lease costs less per pallet, before labour, racking and systems. The arithmetic is below, so you can rerun it with your own square footage.
The two numbers being compared
The lease number is the all-in industrial rent: net rent plus TMI (property taxes, common area maintenance and insurance), quoted per square foot per month. The storage number is the 3PL rate per pallet per month for a standard 48x40 ambient pallet. Both come from Warehouse Bridge network data for Q2 2026.
The two use different units, so you need a bridge between them: square feet per pallet. We do not have a measured figure for this. Our in-house warehousing vs 3PL guide describes a 25,000 sq ft building holding 1,500 to 2,500 pallet positions. At the dense end, 25,000 divided by 2,500 is 10 sq ft per position. This post uses 10 sq ft per pallet position as an assumption. It includes aisles and dock space, and it favours the lease. A less dense layout makes the lease look worse.
Break-even by city
The test case is a 10,000 sq ft lease, which holds 1,000 pallet positions at 10 sq ft each. The break-even pallet count is the number of pallets at which shared storage costs the same as the monthly lease.
The formula is:
- Monthly lease = 10,000 sq ft x all-in rent per sq ft per month
- Break-even pallets = monthly lease divided by storage rate per pallet per month
- We use the midpoint of each band for both rates
| City | All-in rent ($/sq ft/month) | Lease for 10,000 sq ft ($/month) | Lease per pallet position at 10 sq ft | Shared storage ($/pallet/month) | Break-even pallets |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toronto / GTA | $1.40 to $2.00 | $14,000 to $20,000 | $14.00 to $20.00 | $13 to $24 | 919 |
| Vancouver | $1.65 to $2.40 | $16,500 to $24,000 | $16.50 to $24.00 | $14 to $28 | 964 |
| Calgary | $1.10 to $1.60 | $11,000 to $16,000 | $11.00 to $16.00 | $10 to $20 | 900 |
| Montreal | $1.15 to $1.75 | $11,500 to $17,500 | $11.50 to $17.50 | $11 to $22 | 879 |
| Edmonton | $0.95 to $1.45 | $9,500 to $14,500 | $9.50 to $14.50 | $9 to $18 | 889 |
| Winnipeg | $0.85 to $1.35 | $8,500 to $13,500 | $8.50 to $13.50 | $8 to $17 | 880 |
| Ottawa | $1.15 to $1.65 | $11,500 to $16,500 | $11.50 to $16.50 | $10 to $21 | 903 |
| Halifax | $0.95 to $1.45 | $9,500 to $14,500 | $9.50 to $14.50 | $10 to $19 | 828 |
These are market bands. Send your volume and city to see current pricing.
Check live pricingA worked example: Toronto
The Toronto rent band is $1.40 to $2.00, with a midpoint of $1.70. Ten thousand square feet at $1.70 is $17,000 per month. The Toronto storage band is $13 to $24, with a midpoint of $18.50 per pallet. Seventeen thousand divided by 18.50 is 919 pallets.
So if you would hold fewer than about 919 pallets on average in a 10,000 sq ft Toronto lease, shared storage costs less on space. At 919 pallets you pay the same either way. At the full 1,000 pallets the lease works out to $17.00 per position, against $18.50 shared. In percentage terms, the lease has to be about 92% full to match shared storage in Toronto, and about 83% to 96% full across the eight cities.
Why density changes the answer
The break-even pallet count does not depend on square feet per pallet. It depends only on the lease and the storage rate. What density changes is whether you can physically reach it.
At 12 sq ft per position, a 10,000 sq ft lease holds about 833 pallets. That is above Halifax’s break-even of 828 and below every other city’s. In seven of the eight cities the lease would never break even on space cost, even when completely full. This is why the assumption matters, and why we state it plainly. Racking height, aisle width and how much of the floor goes to dock and staging all move it.
What the lease number leaves out
The all-in lease figure covers rent, property taxes, common area maintenance and insurance. It is not the cost of running a warehouse. These costs sit on top of it:
- Labour for receiving, put-away, picking and shipping, including supervision and turnover
- Pallet racking and the cost to install it
- Forklifts, pallet jacks and other material handling equipment
- A warehouse management system, with implementation and licensing
- Utilities, maintenance and the deposit that usually comes with a lease
- The cost of empty space when your volume falls below the break-even
We have no network figures for labour, racking or systems, so this post does not put a dollar amount on them. The point is direction: every item on the list raises the in-house side of the comparison, which pushes the real break-even higher than the space-only numbers above. Our cost stack for a 25,000 sq ft operation works through those lines with their own sources.
The 3PL rate also leaves things out. Shared storage is billed per pallet per month, and handling is billed separately per pallet move in or out. Toronto handling is $7 to $13 per move. For a comparison that holds up, add handling to the 3PL side and labour to the lease side. Our pallet storage cost guide covers the 3PL side by city.
When a lease is still the right call
Break-even is only about cost on a flat month. Other things push the decision one way or the other:
- Steady volume. If your pallet count stays above the break-even all year, the lease cost per pallet holds. If it swings with seasons, you pay for the empty space.
- Term length. A lease commits you for years. Shared storage can be scaled up or down with a short notice period, or used for overflow in peak months through overflow storage.
- Control. A dedicated building gives you control over layout, hours and who handles your goods.
- Vacancy. Where vacancy is tight, such as Toronto at 1.5 to 3 percent, finding the right building takes time, and landlord concessions are limited.
Many shippers end up with a mix: a lease sized to the stable base load and shared storage for the rest.
How to get a real number
The table above uses band midpoints and a 10,000 sq ft test case. Your own numbers will differ with building class, clear height, pallet profile and turn rate. To get a priced comparison for your volume, send your pallet count, turn rate and city through our quote form. For a view of one market, see the Toronto or Vancouver page, or run your own figures in the warehouse cost calculator. The full set of city rates is in the 2026 warehouse market report.