How Big Is the Canadian Self-Storage Market?

November 2025

A Market Ripe for Growth

Canada’s self-storage industry has evolved from a niche service into a dynamic segment of the commercial real estate market. In 2025, the country is home to over 3,400 facilities and roughly 116 million square feet of rentable storage space. This translates into approximately 3.2 square feet per person—far below the United States’ average of more than 8 square feet per capita.

While Canada’s self-storage sector represents a sizable and mature industry, it remains meaningfully underpenetrated relative to population and housing density. This gap presents compelling opportunities for developers, operators, and investors who are ready to capitalize on demand in underserved regions.

How the Self-Storage Market Is Structured

The self-storage industry in Canada, like the U.S., is highly fragmented. Although national REITs dominate headlines, small regional and independent owners still account for over 57% of the self-storage market. Understanding the breakdown of operator types is crucial to comprehending how the industry operates.

Key Self-Storage Industry Stats (Canada)

MetricDetails
Facilities Tracked by StorTrack3,481
Total Rentable Space116+ million net rentable square feet
Average Space per Capita3.2 sf/capita
Estimated Market SizeOver $4 billion (est.)
Average Unit CostCAD $3.12/sf (climate-controlled), CAD $2.37/sf (non-climate-controlled)
Largest OperatorsStorageVault Canada, Access Storage (150+ stores each)

What’s Driving Growth?

  • Population growth and immigration: Canada is experiencing record-high immigration, which fuels housing demand and indirectly increases storage needs.
  • Housing affordability: Rising home prices and limited living space, especially in cities like Toronto and Vancouver, make storage a practical extension of housing.
  • Urban densification: More people living in condos and apartments with smaller footprints drives demand for external storage.
  • Mobility and Household transitions: Moves related to work relocation, education, downsizing, or family changes create temporary and long-term storage needs.
  • Delayed homeownership: Younger households renting longer often use storage as a supplement while waiting to buy.
  • Small business and e-commerce growth: Entrepreneurs and online retailers use storage facilities as flexible, low-cost logistics and inventory hubs.
  • Seasonal demand: Demand for storing recreational equipment, vehicles, and seasonal items (e.g., winter/summer gear) is strong in Canada’s climate.
  • Life events: Divorce, downsizing from an aging population), estate handling (death), household formation and consumption-driven space constraints contribute steady demand.
  • Limited new supply: Zoning restrictions and high land costs in urban areas reinforce reliance on existing facilities, keeping demand strong relative to supply.

Canada in a Global Context

How does Canada compare with other self-storage markets around the world?

The data reveals that Canada sits between Europe (lower penetration) and the U.S. (mature), with a supply closer to that of the UK. With room to grow, Canada is positioned to bridge this gap in the coming decade.

Final Thoughts: Canada’s self-storage market is big, but not yet mature. With only 3.2 square feet per capita compared to the U.S.’s 8+, it is a clear growth story. Developers and investors face challenges, including zoning hurdles, land costs, and slow-moving consolidation. However, the fundamentals – strong consumer adoption, urban demand, and steady rent growth – all point toward continued expansion.

Key Takeaway

Valued at an estimated $4-5 billion in 2025, Canada’s self-storage industry continues to expand as demand rises in populated urban centers. With more than 3,400 facilities nationwide, the sector is evolving from a niche asset class into a core component of the country’s real estate landscape. Supported by data-driven analytics from platforms such as StorTrack, operators are well-positioned to capture and sustain this momentum.

FAQ: People Also Ask

Is self-storage still a good investment?
Data-driven tools like StorTrack help identify underserved areas by tracking supply, pricing, and development pipelines.
Which Canadian city has the most self-storage?
The Greater Toronto Area (GTA) ranks both in demand density and total rentable square footage. Other large Canadian markets include Vancouver, Montreal, and Ontario, all of which show similarly modest per-capita storage levels.
How fast is the industry growing?
While growth slowed slightly post-pandemic, new development is still active in select markets. According to StorTrack, there are over 140 active development projects currently in the pipeline, adding an estimated 8.6 million net rentable square feet to existing stock.

TL;DR — Canadian Self-Storage Industry at a Glance

  • 3,400+ facilities actively tracked by StorTrack
  • Market value: $4–5 billion
  • 117M square feet of rentable space
  • Average 3.2 sf/capita nationally (some cities > 30 sf/capita)
  • CAD $3.12/sf (climate) and $2.37/sf (non-climate)
  • Demand driven by population growth from immigration, housing affordability pressures, business and commercial use, mobility trends, and other lifestyle shifts keeps Canada’s self-storage market strong.

StorTrack’s Explorer platform makes it easy to evaluate self-storage markets across Canada with instant access to key data points such as current and historical rates, store counts, square footage per capita, and active developments. Whether you’re researching your next investment or benchmarking performance, you can generate detailed, interactive market reports in seconds.

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