Report

Canada E-Commerce Warehouse Market Analysis

The Canada E-Commerce Warehouse market is expected to grow from USD 1.21 billion in 2025 to USD 1.26 billion in 2026 and is forecast to reach USD 1.53 billion by 2031 at 3.98% CAGR over 2026-2031.

Demand growth is shifting from capacity expansion toward fine-tuning of automation, network density, and value-added services. Walmart Canada's five-year, USD 4.51 billion logistics investment, which includes the Vaughan Distribution Centre that opened in spring 2025, underscores the confidence larger retailers place in long-run fulfillment needs. Manufacturing nearshoring into Southern Ontario, exemplified by Siemens Canada's CAD 150 million AI Manufacturing Technologies R&D Center, is enlarging upstream logistics flows and prompting new reverse-logistics and bonded-warehouse formats. Labor scarcity is nudging operators toward semi- and fully automated facilities, while same-day delivery expectations keep micro-fulfillment nodes in the investment spotlight. High industrial-land prices in the Greater Toronto Area and Metro Vancouver, along with elevated borrowing costs, temper expansion plans but simultaneously hasten automation rollouts

Canada E-Commerce Warehouse Market Trends and Insights



Soaring E-Commerce Penetration

Over 75% of Canadians now shop online, lifting national e-commerce sales past CAD 95 billion and forcing fulfillment operators to orient networks toward year-round performance rather than seasonal peaks. Metro Inc. finalized its CAD 1 billion supply-chain overhaul with automated fresh-distribution centers in Toronto and Quebec, illustrating how omnichannel grocers are merging B2C and B2B flows within single facilities. Online food revenue at Metro rose 27.6% in Q4 2024, and that sustained demand is ratcheting up the call for dark-store and micro-fulfillment capacity. Projected 37.8% CAGR in dark-store space to 2032 underscores the longevity of this structural change. Operators pairing robotics with compact urban footprints consistently hold fulfillment costs under 4% of gross-merchandise value, validating the economic case for proximity warehouses.

Same-/Next-Day Delivery Demand for Urban Fulfillment Centers

Network planners are dispersing inventory closer to consumers because 95% of Canadians in major metros can now receive parcels within three business days through optimized routing. The Stevens Company's AutoStore installation in Brampton lifted productivity fivefold and expanded capacity 25% within an unchanged footprint, setting a template for space-constrained markets. Urban land scarcity is pushing developers toward multi-storey automated designs and repurposed retail boxes, a trend that alleviates location constraints while meeting service-level targets. Successful micro-fulfillment centers demonstrate breakeven fulfillment economics, reinforcing their strategic value. Operators consequently balance real-estate premiums with operating-expense reductions achieved via robotics.

Scarcity & High Cost of Industrial Land

Metro Vancouver's industrial-land vacancy slid to 0.6% while premium Ontario parcels reached CAD 2 million per acre, forcing relocations to Alberta and other secondary markets. Developers chasing proximity to consumers now explore vertical solutions and brownfield conversions. Although GTA industrial rents dipped to CAD 17.73 per sq ft at the end of 2024, the reprieve masks an underlying shortage. Vancouver requires an additional 607 hectares of industrial land this decade to handle projected trade flows, yet municipal frameworks lag that need. Resulting bottlenecks raise positioning costs for e-commerce stocks and chip away at the market's CAGR.

Other drivers and restraints analyzed in the detailed report include:

Expansion of 3PL Networks for SMEsUS Nearshoring into Southern OntarioRising Construction Costs & Interest Rates

For complete list of drivers and restraints, kindly check the Table Of Contents.

Segment Analysis

Fulfillment centers accounted for 58.45% of the Canada E-Commerce Warehouse market share in 2025, underscoring their role as backbone nodes for national parcel flows. Distribution centers continue to bridge inter-regional freight, while cold-chain warehouses scale alongside online grocery and pharmaceutical demand. The Canada E-Commerce Warehouse market size linked to dark stores and micro-fulfillment centers is projected to expand at an 10.65% CAGR through 2031, reflecting retailers' race to achieve same-day delivery in dense metros.

Growth in dark stores represents a strategic pivot toward repurposed retail space and high-throughput automation. The global dark-store segment's 37.8% CAGR forecast to 2032 signals long-run viability for hyper-local fulfillment. Save Mart's retrofit of a shuttered Lucky supermarket into an automated micro-fulfillment node demonstrates how retailers monetize dormant real estate. Robotics-enabled dark stores consistently deliver sub-4% fulfillment cost-to-sales ratios, validating capital allocations even in premium urban corridors.

Storage retained 50.62% share in 2025, reflecting its status as the baseline warehouse service. Picking and packing remain essential, yet retailers increasingly view kitting, labeling, and custom packaging as revenue-generating differentiators. The Canada E-Commerce Warehouse market size attributed to value-added services is rising at a 9.12% CAGR through 2031, as brands outsource complexity to logistics specialists.

Ryder's client studies reveal packaging outsourcing trims logistics overhead while boosting accuracy. Buske Logistics reports that bundling kitting with fulfillment lifts order-cycle speed and customer satisfaction. Providers such as 3OVO Logistics guarantee six-hour order-to-ship windows by integrating WMS, returns processing, and assembly under one roof. Hopewell Logistics goes further, embedding contract packaging design into its planning services to lock in sticky, margin-accretive accounts.

The Canada E-Commerce Warehouse Market Report is Segmented by Warehouse Type (Fulfilment Centres, Distribution Centres, Cold-Chain Warehouses, and More), Service Type (Storage, Picking & Packing, Value-Added Services), Automation Level (Manual, Semi-Automated, Automated), End-User Industry (Apparel & Footwear, Consumer Electronics, and More). The Market Forecasts are Provided in Terms of Value (USD).

List of Companies Covered in this Report:

Canada Post DHL Group Metro Supply Chain Group FedEx United Parcel Service, Inc. Cainiao Network eShipper Kuehne + Nagel GXO Logistics Canada DelGate Logistics ShipHype Fulfillment Crane Worldwide Logistics Buske Logistics TFI International Shipfusion eCom Logistics Hub Group FB Canada Express Ottawa Logistics Fulfillment Prime Freight Logistics

Additional Benefits:

The market estimate (ME) sheet in Excel format
3 months of analyst support