Market-research firm IBISWorld Inc. has released a report examining the Canadian self-storage market. The “Storage and Warehouse Leasing in Canada” publication contains industry statistics, market data, trends, and information on the sector’s largest operators. Company analysts believe the Canadian market is poised to grow through 2020 but forecast the pace to slow after surging the past five years, according to a press release.

By the end of this year, the Canadian storage market is expected to have achieved a 4.1 percent annual growth rate since 2010, driven largely by an influx of business- and residential-customer move-ins. Per-capita disposable income has risen alongside a growing number of residents who have downsized from single-family homes to apartments, condos and assisted-living facilities, triggering a need for additional storage space, according to the release. Industry revenue is expected to increase 0.2 percent this year to $648 million, according to Will McKitterick, an IBISWorld analyst.

While the Canada market has been historically diverse, with just two storage operators controlling more than 5 percent of the industry, U.S.-based real estate investment trusts (REITs) have begun to expand to north of the border, according to the release. “These operators have leveraged their size and scale to expand their businesses through a series of acquisitions that have resulted in some industry consolidation over the period,” McKitterick said.

The REIT activity has coincided with an increase in storage operators new to the business, “enticed by the low cost and high profit margins associated with self-storage management,” the release said.

The market-research report is available for a fee through the IBISWorld Canada website.

IBISWorld specializes in industry and procurement research. The company employs teams of analysts in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States. Its research reports provide information and analysis on market conditions and forecasts, and industry supply chains.

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