Toronto

As 2022 drew to a close, the Toronto and Greater Toronto Area (GTA) office struggled to find a “new normal” as the pandemic fallout, workplace evolution, rising interest rates, and geopolitical events weighed heavily on occupier decisions.

With growing economic uncertainty as 2022 came to a close, the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) industrial market powered forward and shattered new records in Q4.

After a long and tenuous 2 years hiatus, tenants are finally back in offices. Stores and restaurants in downtown Toronto's PATH are open for business. With the increasing adoption of hybrid work models, landlords face further pressure to retain tenants through new amenities and facilities, such as conference rooms and gyms, to name a few. In this article, we explore how the cost of such programs or projects can affect the operating expenses incurred by tenants at commercial offices.

While it will be some time before we can compare actual 2022 Additional Rents to 2021 costs, most landlords have provided their 2022 estimates – and compared to 2021, Operating Costs have increased across the GTA. Could this be a sign of what to expect in a post-pandemic world?

Organizations have been plotting a full-scale return to work since the pandemic began, but those plans are typically based on the assumption of a consistent “new normal.” After two years of COVID-related disruptions, however, it is clear that organizations will need to put additional time and energy into developing a more resilient hybrid strategy; one that will hold up in the face of whatever disruptions come next.

Executing a successful transition to hybrid work requires a deep understanding of company culture by business leaders and managers. The more you understand your organization's unique culture, the better prepared you are to execute a remote strategy that enables your workforce to enhance their outputs.

As organizations navigate the post-pandemic office era, business leaders need to balance cutting costs in one area as it affects another. To achieve cost neutrality, organizations must focus on investing in employee flexibility, creating a desirable working environment, and adopting technology solutions to facilitate hybrid work. Read the third article in our Work + Place series co-authored by Stacey Litwin-Davies and Jamie Grossman as we explore how business leaders can design a workspace that serves as a powerful recruiting tool for new candidates and a robust retention tool for existing staff.

From team needs to individual staff preferences, workplace culture and management style, organizations need a balanced approach that takes into account the wide range of hybrid solutions that exist.