Toronto’s Commercial Rent Crisis: Rents Up 140% While Small Businesses Scramble To Decide Whether To Renew, Relocate Or Finally Buy

In Toronto, average retail rents have surged roughly 142% since 2019, jumping from about 19 dollars to nearly 50 dollars per square foot, including an almost 70% spike in just one year. All over Canada, small-business owners are sharing stories of closing profitable shops because there are effectively no hard caps on commercial rent hikes, and lease terms and landlord remedies often leave tenants with little leverage when renewal time hits. When clients come to me as a commercial mortgage broker, I help them run the math on renewing, relocating, or finally buying their own space so they can turn unpredictable rent into a controlled ownership cost wherever that makes sense. And when buying is still a stretch, I use those financing numbers to arm them for tougher lease negotiations, so they understand their true occupancy cost before signing anything.

Source: https://6ixretail.com/2026/01/toronto-commercial-rent-crisis-better-way-alliance/

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