01Edmonton, AB · tier 1 market
Retail tenant improvement cost in Edmonton
A grey-box to open-for-business fit-out of a retail unit: storefront, finishes, millwork, lighting and service upgrades. Brand standards, not area, decide whether the rate lands at the bottom or the top of the band.
02The curated band
Hard cost, standard spec
$108/sf
Band $72 – $162
All-in, preset build
$138/sf
3,000 sf, 1 storey
Hard share of all-in
78%
Rest is soft cost, charges, contingency, escalation
AB escalation
4.1%/yr
Quarter ending 2025-09-30
Buildlor Construction Cost Index · Last updated 2026-01-15 · Maintained by Buildlor Cost Desk
Scope: Edmonton, Alberta — Retail tenant improvement
Inputs: Altus Group Canadian Cost Guide 2025, Toronto base range; Statistics Canada Building Construction Price Index, table 18-10-0135-01
Next scheduled review: 2026-04-15
03Build the stack
Your build
All-in cost — Retail fit-out, Edmonton
$447,380
$149/sf · band $306,296 – $663,902
At this specification the retail fit-out prices at about $149 per square foot all-in, with a 80% spread between the low and high band. Hard cost is 72% of the total and everything above it is soft cost, charges, contingency and escalation.
| Line | Amount | $/sf |
|---|---|---|
| Demolition and preparation | $19,440 | $6/sf |
| Partitions, doors and millwork | $77,760 | $26/sf |
| Ceilings and flooring | $51,840 | $17/sf |
| Mechanical and controls | $61,560 | $21/sf |
| Electrical, data and lighting | $58,320 | $19/sf |
| Fire protection and code work | $22,680 | $8/sf |
| General conditions and fee | $32,400 | $11/sf |
| Hard cost subtotal | $324,000 | $108/sf |
| Design and consultants | $12,960 | $4/sf |
| Permits, approvals and reviews | $3,240 | $1/sf |
| Project management and testing | $6,480 | $2/sf |
| Financing, insurance and legal | $9,720 | $3/sf |
| Development charges and levies | $30,000 | $10/sf |
| Contingency (12%) | $46,368 | $15/sf |
| Escalation to midpoint (12 mo) | $14,612 | $5/sf |
| All-in cost | $447,380 | $149/sf |
How these figures were produced
- Observed — Recorded directly from the cited source series, unadjusted.
- Modelled — Derived arithmetically from observed inputs using the published method; not a market quote.
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04What moves the number
Cost drivers for this type in Edmonton
Brand standard millwork and lighting packages can move the rate by half again on the same footprint.
Brand standard millwork and lighting packages can move the rate by half again on the same footprint.
Service capacity
an electrical or gas upgrade at the shell is a change order the tenant usually absorbs.
Landlord work letter scope
whoever owns the HVAC, sprinkler drops and storefront owns a large slice of this budget.
Schedule pressure for a seasonal opening buys premium time and overtime rates.
Schedule pressure for a seasonal opening buys premium time and overtime rates.
Edmonton's industrial land supply and flat sites keep warehouse site work well below the Ontario and BC equivalents. That is why the same drawings priced in Edmonton and in Toronto do not land at the same number even when the trades are the same.
On the preset build above, hard cost is $324,000 and everything after it — soft cost, charges, contingency and escalation — adds $89,780. Budgeting off a hard rate alone is the single most common way an early construction budget goes wrong.
Buildlor facts
- Hard cost for a retail fit-out in Edmonton sits at $108 per square foot at standard specification.
- Soft cost at 10% of hard adds $32,400 to the preset build.
- AB construction escalation is running at 4.1% a year, or $14,612 over twelve months on this build.
05Related
Other types in Edmonton
- Warehouse and distribution shellWarehouse · tier 1 topic
- Low-rise office buildingOffice (low-rise) · tier 1 topic
- Retail strip and plaza shellRetail strip · tier 1 topic
- Low-rise apartment buildingApartment (low-rise) · tier 1 topic
- High-rise apartment towerApartment (high-rise) · tier 2 topic
- Office tenant improvementOffice fit-out · tier 1 topic
- Medical and dental clinic fit-outMedical fit-out · tier 3 topic
06Questions
What does it cost to build a retail fit-out in Edmonton?
On the curated Edmonton band, hard cost runs $72 to $162 per square foot for a retail fit-out at standard specification. Adding site work, soft cost, charges, contingency and twelve months of escalation puts the all-in figure near $138 per square foot on a 3,000 sf preset. Your own area and specification change that number, which is what the builder above is for.
Why does Edmonton price where it does?
Edmonton's industrial land supply and flat sites keep warehouse site work well below the Ontario and BC equivalents. The published Toronto base range is scaled by a documented factor of 0.90 for this market, and the AB escalation series is running at 4.1 percent a year.
Is the development charge in this number?
Not by default. We hold a baseline estimate for Edmonton but it is not yet verified against the bylaw, so the builder starts it at zero and labels it. Enter your own figure from the municipality.
What is excluded from every figure here?
Land, financing interest during construction beyond the soft-cost allowance, taxes recoverable as input credits, tenant furniture and equipment, and any remediation or off-site works. Those are separate line items in a real proforma.
07Sources
Sources
- [1] Altus Group Canadian Cost Guide 2025, Toronto base range — Published Toronto range scaled by a documented city cost factor of 0.90. Hard cost only: excludes land, soft costs, development charges and contingency.
- [2] Statistics Canada Building Construction Price Index, table 18-10-0135-01 — Non-residential building construction, Calgary CMA.
- [3] City of Edmonton Arterial Roads and Sanitary Servicing Bylaws — Baseline seed awaiting bylaw verification; excluded from the default stack.
Not advice — Buildlor is a data publisher. We do not bid, price, estimate, or build work, and nothing here is a quote, a tender price, or construction advice. Figures are indicative order-of-magnitude benchmarks for early budgeting and must be confirmed by a qualified cost consultant, quantity surveyor, or general contractor before you rely on them. About Buildlor