Industrial / Warehouse

Industrial mortgages for one of Canada's most lender-favoured asset classes.

Single-tenant industrial, multi-tenant flex, distribution, last-mile, cold storage, R&D, manufacturing. Lenders compete for well-located industrial, and we know which ones price most aggressively for your specific use case.

Term sheets in 5–10 daysIndustrial-active lenders Environmental coordination in-house

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FSRA #13737| 5-min pre-qualification

Warehouse, distribution, light industrial

Borrow up to 75% of the property's value

Industrial is the most lender-favoured commercial asset class right now. Clean files close in 45–75 days.

65–75%

Conventional LTV

20–25y

Amortization

45–75d

To funding

A-bank

Senior debt fit

Industrial deal size

Loan amount$8.0M

Senior + bridge layered for value-add plays.

Get pre-approved DSCR math

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Best lender for an industrial warehouse?

FSRA #13737| 15+ languages

Up to 90%

LTV (owner-occ)

65-75%

LTV (investment)

5-10d

Term sheet turn

Phase I/II

ESA coordination

Industrial is among the best-priced asset classes in Canadian commercial lending, but banks underwrite to a single asset-class rate sheet that doesn't differentiate between a last-mile distribution facility with an investment-grade 3PL and a 1980s manufacturing conversion to flex space. Owner-occupier programs often sit at the same bank but on a different desk that the commercial team rarely calls. Environmental Phase 1 risk gets surfaced after the term sheet — too late to pivot. We pre-screen environmental and use-case before submission, route to the right lender desk from day one, and know which lenders compete for distribution vs cold storage vs heavy manufacturing.

An aerial view of a residential neighbourhood

Financing options

Five financing structures for industrial real estate.

Owner-occupied vs investment. Single-tenant vs multi-tenant. Distribution vs manufacturing. Each profile has its own preferred lender list — and pricing varies by 50–100bps across them.

Owner-Occupied

For business owners buying their own building. Higher leverage is possible on owner-occupied buildings through BDC (up to 100% of project cost, per BDC) or the federal CSBFP (term loans up to $1 million), subject to approval. Effective cost of capital often beats leasing.

$500k – $10M45-75 days

Investment Industrial

Single-tenant or multi-tenant investment property. 65–75% LTV, conventional A-bank or monoline. Long leases price tightest.

$1M – $25M45-75 days

Bridge / Reposition

Vacant lease-up, manufacturing-to-distribution conversion, environmental remediation. 65–75% LTV, 1–3 yr term.

$1M – $20M21-35 days

Build-to-Suit Construction

Pre-leased construction with single-tenant credit. Construction draws + permanent takeout structured together.

$2M – $50M+60-120 days

Refinance / Equity Take-Out

Pull equity from stabilized industrial at lower rate or longer am. Owners who bought before 2020 may have built equity; a current appraisal will confirm what can be pulled out.

$1M – $25M45-90 days

What we finance

Industrial sub-classes we finance.

Last-mile distribution prices differently from heavy manufacturing. Cold storage prices differently from flex. Environmental risk profile is the second factor; the first is appetite.

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Distribution / Last-Mile

E-commerce, 3PL, courier

🏭

Manufacturing

Light, heavy, food-grade

❄️

Cold Storage

Refrigerated + frozen

🔬

R&D / Lab

Life sciences, biotech

📦

Flex Space

Office + warehouse mix

🏗️

Heavy Industrial

Yard, crane, rail-served

💻

Data Centres

Tier I-III, colocation

🛠️

Owner-Occupied

Self-use buildings

What you get

Why sponsors choose Mortgage Squad Advisors.

Up to 75% LTV conventional, up to 90% LTV on some owner-occupied files (lender- and program-dependent)

Distribution vs cold storage vs flex modelled with separate lender shortlists (50-100bps swing)

Environmental Phase 1 / Phase 2 coordination handled by our team — no surprises

Investment-grade tenant credit overlay applied — long-WALT files price tightest

Build-to-suit construction + permanent takeout structured as one transaction

Bridge financing for lease-up, manufacturing-to-distribution conversion, or remediation

survey and title insurance

On some senior bank and monoline files the lender pays our compensation; bridge, construction and private files usually carry a borrower fee, disclosed in writing before you sign.

Indicative term sheets targeted within 5–10 business days of a complete sponsor + building package

Clean industrial files commonly close in six to ten weeks

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How it works

From offer to funded — six to ten weeks.

Industrial closes faster than CMHC multi-family. The pacing item on most files is the environmental Phase 1 (and Phase 2 if triggered) — we coordinate that workstream alongside underwriting.

Asset + sponsor intake

Building specs, tenant or use, T12 if investment, sponsor profile. We assess ceiling height, dock count, power, environmental flags.

Lender shortlist

3-5 lenders sized to use case (distribution vs manufacturing vs cold). Indicative pricing in 5-10 days.

Environmental

Phase 1 ESA ordered. If triggers, Phase 2 follow-up. We pre-flag environmental risk so the lender list is realistic from day 1.

Conditions

Appraisal, structural, insurance, survey and title insurance, lawyer's opinion, tenant estoppels (investment files).

Funding

Lawyer closes. Funds disburse to vendor (acquisition), existing lender (refinance), or per draws (construction).

Start your pre-approval — 5 min Run the math first

Why a broker beats your bank

Industrial gets won by the lender who actually wants the deal.

Last-mile distribution to a 3PL prices differently than a 1980s-era manufacturing converted to flex. We know which lenders price aggressively on which use cases.

Capability

Mortgage Squad Advisors

Your bank

Lenders shopped

Industrial-active lenders

Use-case-specific pricing

Distribution vs cold vs flex modelled separately

One blanket rate

Environmental risk underwriting

Phase 1/2 coordinated by our team

Sponsor's responsibility

Owner-occupier programs

Pre-vetted relationships

Rare or referred out

Build-to-suit construction

Construction + permanent as one transaction

Often two separate processes

Time to first quote

5-10 days

3-6 weeks

Tenant credit overlay

Investment-grade pricing tier

Generic asset-class rate

Illustrative client scenario

“A last-mile distribution building in Peel Region with a long lease to a national 3PL. The existing bank offered lower leverage at a wider spread; shopping several industrial-active lenders produced higher leverage at a tighter spread. Figures and timing vary by file.”

— Composite scenario: Ontario industrial investor (not a real client)

Illustrative client scenario that reflects the outcomes we help borrowers reach — a representative story, not a specific identifiable client. Figures are examples, not a guarantee of your outcome.

By market

Industrial / Warehouse across major Canadian markets

We are licensed in Ontario and place files elsewhere in Canada through licensed partners in the client’s province. Pick your market for local context and start a pre-qualification with your deal in mind.

Don’t see your city? Browse all Canadian markets — commercial coverage is national.

How are industrial and warehouse mortgages underwritten in Canada?

Industrial financing is underwritten on the building's cash flow, not its sticker price. Lenders start with net operating income (NOI) — gross rent less vacancy, taxes, insurance, management and reserves — then divide it by annual debt service to get the debt-service coverage ratio (DSCR). Most A-lenders and monolines want a DSCR around 1.20–1.25x or higher on stabilized industrial, leaving a cushion if a tenant rolls or rates reset at renewal.

Leverage typically lands at 65–75% loan-to-value (LTV) for conventional investment files, with the takeout sized to the lower of LTV and what DSCR will support. Industrial (warehouse, logistics, last-mile distribution and light manufacturing) has been one of the most lender-favoured commercial asset classes in Canada, which supports lender appetite and competitive pricing. We model NOI, DSCR and LTV before submission so the term sheet you sign is the one that actually funds.

What property specifics do industrial lenders scrutinize?

Beyond the numbers, lenders and appraisers underwrite the building's functional specs — because those drive re-leasability if the current tenant leaves. Clear ceiling height is the headline metric: modern distribution wants 32–40 ft clear, while older stock at 18–24 ft limits the tenant pool and can soften value. Loading is next — dock-high doors, drive-in ramps, trailer parking and truck-court depth all matter for logistics use.

Lenders also confirm zoning permits the actual use (and that the use is legal-conforming), assess power supply including whether adequate three-phase service is in place for manufacturing or refrigeration, and weigh location and highway or intermodal access. Tenancy structure is a major factor: a single-tenant building on a long lease to a strong covenant prices tightest but carries binary rollover risk, while multi-tenant flex diversifies income across several smaller bays. We pre-flag any spec that narrows the lender list so your shortlist is realistic from day one.

Owner-occupied vs leased investment — how does each get financed?

How your industrial building is financed depends on who occupies it. If your own business operates from the property (owner-occupied), lenders can underwrite against your company's cash flow and global financials, not just market rent — which often unlocks higher leverage than a pure investment file. Eligible owner-occupied real-property purchases may also access the Canada Small Business Financing Program, a federal program that shares loan risk with lenders; per ISED, it is open to businesses with gross annual revenues of $10 million or less, with term loans of up to $1 million per borrower for real property and equipment.

A leased investment property is underwritten on the lease itself — tenant covenant strength, remaining term and weighted lease term (WALT), rent versus market, and the resulting NOI and DSCR. Long leases to investment-grade tenants price tightest; short-WALT or vacant space pushes toward bridge or value-add structures. Personal guarantees are common on both, especially below institutional deal sizes. We structure each path to its correct lender desk — the two rarely sit together inside the same bank.

How do environmental reports and due diligence affect industrial approval?

Environmental review is the item most likely to set the timeline on an industrial deal. Because industrial sites carry a higher historical risk of soil or groundwater contamination — from past manufacturing, fuel storage, plating, chemicals or printing — most lenders require a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (ESA) as a standard condition. A clean Phase I with no recommendations usually clears the file.

If the Phase I flags a potential concern, the lender will require a Phase II ESA with intrusive soil and groundwater sampling, which adds weeks and can change the outcome. Confirmed contamination doesn't automatically kill a deal: it may move to a private or MIC lender priced for the risk, proceed with a remediation holdback, or close once a clean Record of Site Condition is obtained. Alongside environmental, lenders order appraisal, building condition and structural reviews, title and survey, and insurance. We pre-screen environmental exposure before submission so a late-stage Phase II doesn't blow up your closing.

Why use a commercial mortgage broker for an industrial deal?

Your bank underwrites industrial off a single rate sheet that can't tell a last-mile distribution centre apart from a 1980s manufacturing conversion. A specialist broker shops the deal. Mortgage Squad Advisors runs a full commercial desk with 100+ lender relationships — A-banks, credit unions, monolines, and specialty and private commercial lenders — so distribution, cold storage, flex and heavy industrial each get routed to the lenders that genuinely compete for that use case, where pricing can swing 50–100bps.

That reach matters most on the hard files: owner-occupied programs, environmental-flagged sites, bridge-to-stabilization, and build-to-suit construction with a permanent takeout structured as one transaction. We pre-screen use case and environmental risk, structure DSCR and leverage to fit the right desk from day one, and move fast. We're FSRA-licensed #13737, disclose our compensation in writing on every deal, and serve clients in 15+ languages. You get options, structuring and speed — not one bank's blanket answer.

FAQ

Common questions, answered.

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Why do lenders like industrial?

Lenders see well-located industrial as one of the lower-risk commercial asset classes: functional buildings re-lease readily, e-commerce and logistics support demand, and operating costs are modest. That translates into deeper appetite, solid LTVs and tighter pricing. Vacancy and rents vary by market and cycle, so we check current conditions for your submarket.

What LTV can I get on owner-occupied industrial?

Owner-occupied industrial can reach higher leverage than investment property, up to about 90% on some programs (for example BDC, credit union owner-occupier programs, or bank loans backed by the federal Canada Small Business Financing Program, within its limits). The rest can sometimes come from a vendor take-back or a small mezzanine layer. Every approval is lender-dependent.

Will environmental Phase 1 issues kill my deal?

Not necessarily. Most lenders accept Phase 1 reports with no recommendations as cleared. If recommendations trigger Phase 2, the deal may shift to a private/MIC lender priced for environmental risk, or proceed to remediation with a holdback. We pre-screen environmental risk before submission to avoid surprises.

Can you finance cold storage / refrigerated facilities?

Yes — though the lender list narrows. Cold storage requires specialized appraisal and operating-cost underwriting (refrigeration is a major opex line). Most A-bank lenders price cold storage 25-50bps wider than dry distribution; a few specialized lenders price it equally.

What about manufacturing buildings — single-tenant heavy industrial?

Lender appetite varies sharply by industry. Food, beverage, packaging, and aerospace tenants price tightest. Heavier industries (chemicals, metalworking, paint, plating) face environmental scrutiny and a narrower lender list. We model both before submission.

Will lenders finance a multi-tenant flex building?

Yes. Multi-tenant flex (small-bay industrial with 5-15 tenants) is a solid asset class — diversified income, low default risk, strong demand. Pricing is comparable to single-tenant if WALT is healthy.

What's the typical industrial mortgage rate?

Illustrative broker estimates; reviewed October 2026 (not quotes): 5-yr fixed conventional industrial around the 5-yr Government of Canada bond yield + 150-225bps for stabilized assets with strong tenants; owner-occupied around + 175-275bps at higher leverage; bridge roughly 8-11%.

What documents will I need?

Asset: T12 (investment), lease(s), property survey, environmental Phase 1, appraisal (lender-ordered), insurance. Owner-occupied: 2 years of T2s, T1 + NoA for principals, business banking. Sponsor: REO schedule, government ID, banking.

Editorial commitment

This industrial / warehouse page is an editorial profile written from our brokerage’s perspective by Mortgage Squad Advisors Editorial Team · Licensed Mortgage Advisors · Reviewed by the Principal Broker. We receive no compensation from any specific lender for this content. Compensation varies by lender and product; every borrower-paid fee is disclosed in writing before commitment. Program details and rates are reviewed quarterly; last reviewed October 2026.

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Industrial deal in the works? Let's get a term sheet out fast.

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