The Globe and Mail reports in its Tuesday edition that Canada's downtown office vacancy rate reached 19 per cent in March, with Toronto and Vancouver driving the trend as more businesses give up office space. The Globe's Rachelle Younglai writes that the level of vacancies was nearly double the 10.8 per cent in downtown markets before the start of the pandemic, according to new data from Altus Group. The 19-per-cent vacancy rate was a record high since 2003 when Altus started collecting data. It surpasses other tumultuous periods in the office market, including the oil price crash in 2014 when energy companies cut jobs and slashed their corporate offices. Toronto and Vancouver, which used to be two of the hottest office hubs in North America, have shouldered some of the largest losses in Canada as tech companies try to get rid of unused office space. Vancouver's downtown vacancy rate reached 14.8 per cent at the end of March, more than triple the 4.1 per cent before the pandemic. Colliers International Group's Colin Scarlett says: "Less people are coming in and less space is needed. Employees don't believe they need to be in the office. As a result, the employer has been delicate on the return to the office."