•Initially expected to increase 1.6% and represent 12.0% of retail sales in 2020, new forecasts anticipate that e-commerce sales penetration will increase 3.1% and hit 13.5% in Canada this year.
•Core retail sales have slowed in recent months, growing by just 0.4% in the month of August, however year-to-date growth remains positive at to 1.7%.
•The total national vacancy rate increased by 100 bps from year-end to 4.1%, one of the largest half-yearly increases on record.
•Despite construction delays throughout the first half of the year 1.3 million sq. ft. of new supply was brought to market. If projects remain on schedule, a further 3.2 million sq. ft. could be delivered in H2 2020, a half-year high not matched since H2 2016.
