Article
3 Things From CBRE’s Latest Montreal Lab Market Report
October 7, 2026 4 Minute Read
CBRE’s Jeremy Kenemy and Ralf Carcani say 2026 is shaping up to be a good year for the Montreal life sciences sector.
Key contributors to the latest Montreal Lab Market Report, they note steady activity in leasing deals for both Class A and Class B lab spaces, with asking rents remaining stable.
“There’s been an uptick in lab leasing activity,” says Kenemy. “There were a lot of groups touring spaces in 2025 and we’ve been closing on some of those transactions in 2026.”
That includes a 150,000 sq. ft. lease with government entity Institut de recherche Robert-Sauvé en santé et en sécurité du travail (IRSST) in Laval’s Cité de la Biotech, and a lease for Nomic Bio, a biotech research firm, earlier this year.
Here are three takeaways from the report.
More Demand for Downtown Lab Space
Montreal’s lab market has historically been more suburban, with pharmaceutical head offices located in either Laval or along the Trans Canada (Highway 40) in the West Island.
But Carcani says things are starting to change. “We’re seeing increased demand for locations closer to downtown Montreal, such as the Inspire Bio Innovations Project.”
He notes that this is the case with drug development companies versus research contract organizations (CROs), analytics companies and large pharmaceutical firms, which are still seeking space in the suburbs.
“Our downtown is becoming an emerging life sciences hub as companies look to add to their talent pools by locating close to universities and hospitals,” says Kenemy. “Not long ago, lab researchers were often required to work in a basement with limited fenestration and amenities if there was a functional lab there.”
“Today, researchers want that live, work and play environment.”
AI is Impacting Leasing
Investors are favouring companies that integrate artificial intelligence (AI) into their research, according to the report.
Congruence Therapeutics, a biotech company focused on diseases caused by protein misfolding, is using AI to help with predictive modelling of protein dynamics. Kainova Therapeutics is employing machine learning tools to design pharmaceuticals. And Puzzle Medical Devices, which develops minimally invasive heart pump systems, is integrating AI into its engineering processes.
“AI is still in its embryonic stage,” says Kenemy. “But we know that in the future it will shorten the amount of time required to go from an initial theoretical concept to a product that is approved for therapeutic use.”
It is already impacting demand for lab space. For instance, Congruence Therapeutics recently signed a lease for a more traditional office space given that most of their employees work on computers as opposed to in a lab.
“Instead of a more traditional 60-40 lab to office ratio, they opted for a larger proportion of office space,” says Kenemy. “It was also important for them to be close to an AI hub so that they could collaborate more efficiently with other researchers.”
Graduation Space Is in High Demand
There is growing demand in Montreal for smaller “graduation” spaces, according to Kenemy.
“Every once in a while, a university research team comes up with an interesting concept that they think has the potential to become commercially viable,” he says. “At some point they can no longer operate in a university setting and want to have their own research lab off campus.”
As such, Kenemy and Carcani regularly get requests for 1,000 to 2,000 sq. ft. turnkey lab spaces which, in many cases, are hard to find. “Montreal has a certain number of incubators, accelerators or research centres that are suitable for smaller tenants, but they no longer have available space,” says Carcani.
Prominent lab developers such as HarveyCorp are looking to invest in smaller “plug and play” lab spaces that enable lab tenants to move in relatively quickly, without taking on complex, expensive construction projects, providing them with basic equipment for biotech and life science experimentation.
“We also need more top-tier incubators and institutions that support life sciences innovation so that the researchers can make the right contacts, raise money and shorten the life cycle between discovery and commercialization.”
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