The bubble tea shops and shipping stores that lined Richmond’s No. 3 Road corridor for a decade were built for a specific demographic: international students. As that population contracts, the retail corridors that served them are beginning to show the strain.
Study permits issued to students at British Columbia institutions fell by roughly 30 per cent year-over-year in 2024, according to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada data—a result of the federal government’s national cap on international study permits introduced in January 2024. For colleges heavily reliant on international enrolment, the impact is structural.
Langara College, Douglas College, and Kwantlen Polytechnic University—which recently announced layoffs tied to enrolment losses—collectively educated tens of thousands of international students who lived and spent in Richmond and Burnaby. When those students depart, the associated consumer spending follows.
Vacancy trends
Commercial real estate brokers tracking Richmond’s No. 3 Road and the periphery of Burnaby’s Metrotown are reporting rising availability in food-and-beverage and personal-services categories. Vacancy rates along the No. 3 Road corridor have climbed to the mid-to-high single digits over the past 18 months, according to market reports, with food-service and personal-care tenants accounting for a disproportionate share of departures.
The Metrotown periphery, which developed a dense student-services economy over the past decade, shows similar softness. Landlords in both corridors report longer lease-up timelines and, in some instances, are accepting shorter lease terms to navigate the shifting tenant mix.
The rise of professional upskilling
The geography that is losing student-focused retail is attracting a different occupant: domestic professional upskilling providers. Enrolment at BC’s registered private training institutions has grown in the domestic professional development segment, according to data from the BC Private Training Institutions Branch. Growth is concentrated in technology credentials, project management, healthcare support, and trades-adjacent certifications—programs aimed at employed British Columbians looking to pivot or advance.
Several providers have expanded into Richmond and Burnaby in the past 18 months, drawn by transit access, competitive commercial rents, and a large working-age population. These providers are occupying ground-floor retail bays of 1,500 to 3,000 square feet—the same footprint vacated by student-services tenants.
Strategic shifts for landlords
This replacement is not one-for-one. Professional upskilling providers generate less walk-in retail traffic than student populations. While a bubble tea shop benefits neighbouring tenants through foot traffic, a credential program primarily generates parking demand. Landlords must rethink their tenant mix strategies rather than relying on backfilling.
Metro Vancouver retail sales data from the Retail Council of Canada indicates that food-service and personal-services categories are underperforming the broader retail average in these markets.
The opportunity for landlords lies in actively recruiting upskilling operators who require accessible, transit-connected space. The tenant mix of 2030 will differ from that of 2022; those who adapt to this transition will likely lease space more effectively. For retailers remaining in these corridors, the focus must shift toward the current customer: the working adult with a commute, a credential goal, and a lunch break.
