Abbotsford experienced a strong showing in its commercial and industrial sectors in 2023.
Development permits issued last year amount to about 82,400 square metres of new industrial floor space. While this is lower than the 2022 amount of 121,600 square metres, it is still above the five-year average of approximately 58,000.
More than $488 million in building permits were issued in Abbotsford in 2023 for industrial, commercial and residential projects combined, compared to the five-year average of $476 million.
Abbotsford continues to be an attractive place for industry, particularly as much of the available land in Metro Vancouver is devoted to high-density residential development, forcing businesses further east.
The community has plenty to offer – including proximity to the U.S. border, a thriving airport, and an ethnically diverse population and economy.
Abbotsford currently has several large projects underway.
The city’s largest industrial development ever – Hungerford Properties’ 140-acre Xchange Business Park – was approved in early 2021 on Mt. Lehman Road north of Highway 1 and Highstreet Shopping Centre.
The project involves 11 buildings encompassing 1.3 million square feet of space. The buildings are mostly slated for industrial use, but the city has also changed its zoning bylaws to allow for up to 40 per cent of floor space to be used for office, retail, rental and product display – as long as the goods are manufactured or warehoused on site.
The development also requires significant transportation adjustments – some of which have already been done – to help ease congestion in the area, particularly in conjunction with the 734-unit apartment-and-townhouse project underway at Mt. Lehman Road and Cardinal Avenue. That project entails nine mid-rise apartment buildings and 137 townhouse units.
The business park is expected to be a catalyst for economic development in Abbotsford and the region, with more than 1,000 full-time jobs created.
QuadReal Property Group and Hungerford Properties announced in April 2023 that Building 3 in the complex had already been fully leased to the Cintas Corporation and would provide about 100 new jobs.
It is expected to be ready for occupancy at the end of 2024, with the business park itself expected to take a total of five to eight years for completion.
Another massive project is a 99,000-square-foot expansion of the dairy processing operation at Vitalus Nutrition at the corner of Mt. Lehman and Downes roads. The project is estimated to cost $3 million.
Initial construction has also begun on the city’s second-largest industrial development – a 250,000-square-foot project on Riverside Road that will contain six buildings to be used for light industrial and warehousing. Possible industries that could use the site include transportation, logistics and distribution.
Agricultural innovation continues to be a main source of growth in the community, and the city is working with the Ministry of Agriculture in that regard.
Another sector contributing to the city’s industrial and commercial base is the Abbotsford International Airport.
About 1,000 people are directly employed at companies based at the airport, which remains home to some of the city’s biggest employers. Cascade Aerospace employs hundreds of workers at its maintenance facility, which is one of two Lockheed-Martin-authorized C-130 heavy maintenance centres in the world.
Other major companies include Marshall Aerospace, which has its head office at OVERSET FOLLOWS:YXX; Chinook Helicopters, which offers flight training; and Conair Group, which builds and operates aircraft used to fight forest fires in British Columbia and elsewhere.
Abbotsford is also a transportation hub and home to truck drivers working for companies such as Valley Carriers, Vedder Transport and Tri-Link Systems who facilitate the movement of goods around the Lower Mainland and Western Canada.
The rapid growth of the Lower Mainland has been, and continues to be, facilitated in part by another key industrial resource: gravel. Abbotsford provides much of the aggregate used by builders around the region, and its trucking companies and truck drivers are key players in getting that product to customers.
READ MORE: Abbotsford in Action 2024