Market data, provincial reports and plain-language fundamentals for owners, buyers and lenders, written by self storage broker and CSSA director Patrick Wood.
Apartment asking rents have fallen for 23 straight months and record purpose-built deliveries keep arriving. What that means for storage street rates over the next year, market by market, with JBW survey data on list rates, promotions and first-month prices.
Patrick Wood · September 2026
How a prolonged Canada-US trade war hits self storage across BC, Alberta, the Prairies, Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada, and where investors should position.
The tenth and final article in the Self Storage Basics series. Zoning and land use, lien rights and the sale of delinquent tenants' goods,...
The ninth article in the Self Storage Basics series. How Canadian lenders size a storage loan on LTV and DSCR, the terms to expect,...
The eighth article in the Self Storage Basics series. The three operating models used in Canada, what third-party management offers, the systems every facility runs on, what an owner actually does week to week, and the...
The seventh article in the Self Storage Basics series. How long a new Canadian facility takes to fill, the four parts of lease-up cost, how to calculate break-even occupancy, and why filling fast at low rates...
The sixth article in the Self Storage Basics series. The three ways into the sector, with the cost, timeline and risk of each, a side-by-side comparison for a 50,000 square foot facility, and why most first-time...
The fifth article in the Self Storage Basics series. What a rent roll contains, the six things to check first, how to read a unit mix, and how to tie the rent roll to the bank...
The fourth article in the Self Storage Basics series. The three numbers a facility is valued on, why price per unit is never used, the expense adjustments buyers make to a seller's NOI, and a worked...
Tighten your operations and financials so the next buyer pays for what you've already built. I identify the levers that move cap rate before you go to market.
Active capital looking for self storage assets across Canada, including off-market opportunities. Tell me what you're hunting and I will quietly source it.
Feasibility, expansion strategy, market sizing, and a second set of eyes on your project. Plain-spoken advice. I close the deals I write about.