The GTA's industrial corridors, one by one.

Highway 427 and Pearson airport

Etobicoke, the airport lands and north-east Mississauga: the GTA's most central industrial location, beside Canada's largest cargo airport and the junction of the 401, 427, 409 and 407. The stock is mostly older, mid-size and small-bay buildings on valuable land.

Demand comes from air freight, distribution that needs same-day reach into the city, food and the trades. There is almost no land for new supply, so availability is structurally tight and rents are among the highest in the region. Buildings here are bought as much for the land as for the income.

Highway 401 West and Mississauga

Meadowvale, Heartland, Gateway and the 401/407 junction: the GTA's largest concentration of modern industrial space, with deep labour pools and direct routes to the U.S. border. The stock ranges from 1980s multi-tenant buildings to 2010s distribution centres.

It is the reference market for institutional investors; pricing here sets the benchmark the rest of the GTA is compared with.

Highway 410 and Brampton, Caledon

Home to CN's Brampton Intermodal Terminal and much of the region's large-format distribution. Most of the 2021–2025 construction wave landed here and in Caledon, so availability for very large buildings is higher than elsewhere and tenants have choice.

Smaller, older buildings along the 410 and Steeles still lease well. The future route of Highway 413 matters to land values at the northern edge.

Highway 400 and Vaughan

Concord, Vaughan Enterprise Zone and the CPKC Vaughan Intermodal Terminal: manufacturing, building products, food processing and distribution, with a strong base of family-owned businesses that buy their own buildings.

Owner-user demand gives this corridor unusually firm pricing for freestanding buildings of 20,000–80,000 SF. Outside storage and trailer parking are highly valued and closely controlled by zoning.

Highways 404/407 East: Markham, Richmond Hill

Lighter industrial, flex and technology space, often with higher office content. Rents per square foot are higher on smaller units; large-format distribution is limited.

Highway 401 East and Durham

Scarborough, Pickering, Ajax, Whitby and Oshawa: the GTA's value end, with lower land costs, newer large-format supply following the 407 extension, and a growing labour pool. Rents and prices sit below the west, and lease-up of new large buildings takes longer.

Choosing between them

Start from the operation, not the address: where employees live, where trucks go, how much yard and power is needed, and whether outside storage is permitted. Then compare corridors on rent or price per square foot and on how long a vacant building of that size takes to fill. The cheapest corridor is often the most expensive if its labour, access or zoning don't fit.