New Shopify office in Downtown Vancouver could stress rental market
Posted January 29, 2020 1:51 pm.
Last Updated January 29, 2020 1:52 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — The already tight rental market could be getting more pressure as Shopify is set to open a permanent 1,000 person office in Downtown Vancouver.
SFU city program director Andy Yan says the new office, in combination with expansions from companies like Amazon, will impact the rental market.
“[This] clearly brings into view the connection of housing and economic development. I think this will probably be an issue that will haunt policymakers at all three levels of government for a very long time,” he says, but adds it won’t just be high-end housing affected by the likes of software engineers.
“There are also going to be the support staff that aren’t necessarily as well paid. So you can imagine, it isn’t necessarily going to be going to just be the city of Vancouver that we’re talking about with the effects on housing, but possibly the entire region,” he says. “I think a lot of tech workers, from where they are, can afford these increased rents, but I think those that ultimately can’t run the risk of being displaced.”
The Shopify office is expected to be up and running by the end of the year.
