Montreal private-office prices by team size: a transparent planning model

Research verified: August 23, 2026
Purpose: build a defensible office budget for teams of 1–12 people without inventing a market average
Boundary: this page is a planning framework, not a current quote. 2727 office prices and capacities are availability-specific.

Why there is no honest one-line price per person

“How much is a private office for four people in Montreal?” sounds like a simple query. It combines at least five variables:

• whether “four people” means four employees or four people present at once;
• whether the price is a monthly serviced-office fee or annual rent per square foot;
• whether furniture, internet, cleaning, utilities and meeting rooms are included;
• whether the existing room safely supports the team’s equipment and work pattern;
• whether startup, renewal and exit costs are included.

CCOHS says there is no one clear-cut answer to office-space requirements and that universal allocation standards are difficult because work, equipment and people differ.[1] It asks planners to consider workstation time, multiple equipment, storage, visitors, movement, visual privacy, acoustical privacy and natural light.[1]

The responsible answer is therefore a method:

1. Determine peak simultaneous attendance.
2. Write the activity and equipment brief.
3. Identify rooms that physically work.
4. Obtain current quotes for those exact rooms.
5. Normalize every quote to the same inclusions and time horizon.
6. Divide total cost by used workstation-months, not just nominal capacity.

Market context is not a small-office price list

CBRE reported that Montreal’s Class AAA net asking rent ranged from $33 to $42 per square foot in Q2 2026.[2] That figure should not be multiplied by a guessed room size and described as the price of a furnished private office. It refers to a category of market rent, not an all-inclusive small-suite quote.

The same report placed overall vacancy at 18.0%, or 12.4% after excluding listings marketed for over 36 months.[2] Colliers said occupiers were competing for limited premium space and that sought-after landlords were gaining pricing power.[3] Availability in the broad market does not prove that a suitable, furnished, transit-accessible room is available at an average rate.

First variable: people employed versus people present

Statistics Canada reported the following work-location shares in May 2026:

Source: Statistics Canada’s May 2026 Labour Force Survey.[4] These national figures provide context, not a forecast for a particular employer. A six-person business can need six desks every day, three desks most days but six on Tuesdays, or one permanent desk plus meeting space. Ask for actual calendar evidence.

Use four attendance values:

• Payroll headcount: everyone associated with the team.
• Typical attendance: usual simultaneous presence.
• Peak planned attendance: highest normal overlap.
• Exceptional attendance: occasional all-hands events that could use a separately booked room.

Size the daily office for the peak planned attendance. Compare the cost of a larger permanent room against a smaller office plus occasional meeting-room bookings for exceptional peaks.

Second variable: activity density

Two teams with the same headcount can require different rooms.

CCOHS expressly identifies workstation-heavy roles, multiple equipment, storage, visitors and safe movement as planning criteria.[1] It also asks whether acoustical privacy matches the required confidentiality and whether the workspace offers visual privacy.[1]

Team-size planning bands

These bands are question sets, not certified capacities or price claims.

One person

A one-person office should not automatically be the smallest room. Ask whether the occupant conducts confidential calls, uses two or three monitors, receives clients, stores files or needs long uninterrupted sessions.

Budget comparison:

• private coworking office for one;
• dedicated desk plus bookable call/meeting space;
• hot-desk membership plus on-demand private rooms;
• home office plus occasional meeting-room use.

The cheapest sticker option may become expensive if private rooms are booked daily. Conversely, paying for an enclosed office can be wasteful if the person is present once a week.

Two people

Test both people working and calling at once. A room can physically hold two desks yet fail because voices overlap, chairs cannot move safely, or screens are visible from the corridor.

Record whether the quote includes two access credentials, two workstations, after-hours use and meeting-room credits. A “two-person” label is not enough.

Three to four people

This is where nominal capacity frequently diverges from comfort. Multiple monitors, coats, bags and one visitor can consume circulation space. Test a full day, not a brief tour.

Compare:

• a room sized for daily peak attendance;
• a smaller room plus touchdown membership;
• two small offices for call separation;
• one private office plus scheduled meeting-room use.

Five to eight people

The room becomes an operating system. Ask how simultaneous calls work, where a manager conducts a private conversation, whether visitors enter through the team area and how temperature changes with full occupancy.

The price comparison must include internal meeting capacity. A lower room fee can be offset by frequent external meeting-room bookings, while a larger suite may waste space if the whole team overlaps only monthly.

Nine to twelve people

At this scale, compare a large coworking office against multiple adjacent rooms, a managed suite and a conventional lease. Fragmenting the team can improve call privacy but reduce coordination. A conventional suite may create more control while adding fit-out, technology, permits, insurance and long-term exposure.

JLL identifies small headcounts, short projects, speed to occupancy and lower initial capital as flexible-office use cases, but does not claim flex is always cheaper over the entire term.[5]

The quote-normalization worksheet

Create one row per exact option. Never compare a promotional coworking fee with only the net-rent portion of a lease.

Classify uncertain items as unknown rather than zero.

Core formulas

Recurring monthly occupancy cost
= base charge
+ recurring building/operating costs
+ utilities + connectivity + cleaning + insurance
+ expected service overages

Horizon cost
= recurring monthly occupancy cost × expected months
+ setup + fit-out + furniture + professional + moving costs
+ expected exit/restoration costs
- refundable deposits actually expected to be recovered

Cost per used workstation-month
= horizon cost ÷ sum of occupied workstation-months

Do not subtract a tax benefit unless a qualified adviser has calculated it for the organization. CRA says business property lease payments may be deductible under its rules, purchased equipment may instead attract capital cost allowance, and capital leasehold improvements can fall into Class 13 depending on the interest and lease terms.[6] [7] These categories do not provide personalized tax treatment.

Worked planning examples with invented inputs

The following examples demonstrate arithmetic. They are not Montreal quotes, 2727 prices or forecasts.

Example A: four employees, peak attendance three

Assumptions:

• furnished private-office fee: $2,000 per month;
• internet and common cleaning included;
• meeting-room overages: $120 per month;
• setup: $300;
• 12-month horizon;
• expected used workstation-months: 3 people × 12 months = 36.

Horizon cost = ($2,000 + $120) × 12 + $300 = $25,740
Cost per used workstation-month = $25,740 ÷ 36 = $715

The output changes materially if actual average attendance is two, if the team needs daily meeting-room use or if the term renews at another rate. The useful result is not “$715 is normal”; it is that attendance and overages are visible.

Example B: eight employees comparing flex and lease

Illustrative flex assumptions:

• $4,800 monthly service fee;
• $250 monthly overages;
• $1,000 setup;
• 24 months.

Illustrative lease assumptions:

• $3,200 monthly base plus operating charges;
• $650 monthly connectivity, cleaning and insurance;
• $35,000 fit-out, furniture and project cost;
• $8,000 expected exit/restoration allowance;
• 24 months.

Flex horizon = ($4,800 + $250) × 24 + $1,000 = $122,200
Lease horizon = ($3,200 + $650) × 24 + $35,000 + $8,000 = $135,400

At a longer horizon the relationship may reverse; at a shorter horizon setup dominates. Neither example is a recommendation. Replace every input with written quotes and contractual obligations.

Occupancy and growth scenarios

Model at least three cases.

Flexible space can provide shorter commitments and pre-built premises, which JLL connects with footprint optionality.[5] But flexibility is contractual. Ask whether the business may actually change rooms, at what price and subject to what availability.

Privacy can change the required capacity

If two employees regularly conduct confidential calls, an otherwise suitable four-desk room may function as only two work positions unless call rooms are reliably available. “Private office” describes enclosure, not a measured acoustic rating.

Test:

• speech intelligibility outside the closed door;
• screen visibility from common areas;
• guest path and waiting location;
• locking file storage and disposal;
• network separation and wired options;
• call-room availability at peak hours;
• the organization’s professional obligations.

CCOHS’s privacy questions support evaluating acoustic and visual needs; they do not certify a particular room.[1]

Permits and move-in costs

Montreal states that commercial, industrial or professional activity may require an occupancy permit attached to the establishment and operator. Interior work may require another permit, and documentation may include a use description, proof of legal existence, owner authorization and plans.[8]

Do not assume a furnished room transfers every permit or compliance responsibility to the provider. Ask who obtains what for the exact use. Do not assume signing a lease proves the activity is permitted.

How to use 2727 pricing responsibly

2727 Coworking’s enclosed offices vary by room, capacity, availability and term. The defensible price is the current quote for the exact available office, with its inclusions and date. A historical page, cached listing or unavailable room should not become a permanent “starting price.”

For comparison, request:

• exact office identifier and usable setup;
• number of included occupants and credentials;
• term, notice and deposit;
• furniture, internet and common-area services;
• meeting-room access and overages;
• after-hours, guest and delivery rules;
• taxes and any other mandatory charge;
• renewal and room-change process.

Then place that quote into the worksheet beside managed-office and lease alternatives.

Build a decision record before requesting quotes

A useful request for quotation is not “send me your four-person price.” It is a short operating specification that prevents providers from solving different problems. Write the record before touring and give the same version to every provider.

Required business facts

Record the legal contracting entity, desired start date, evaluation horizon, preferred commitment, maximum acceptable commitment and the person authorized to sign. State whether the team expects a stable footprint, a known hiring event or meaningful uncertainty. A twelve-month evaluation horizon does not necessarily mean asking for a twelve-month agreement: it means every alternative will be costed over the same twelve months.

Required attendance facts

Use at least eight representative weeks of calendars, access data or manager schedules if they exist. Record typical and peak attendance by weekday. Separate employees, regular contractors, occasional visitors and exceptional all-hands attendance. Note whether the peak is predictable or can occur without notice.

A twelve-person company with Tuesday attendance of ten and attendance of four on other days has a different requirement from a twelve-person company whose daily attendance ranges unpredictably between seven and twelve. Both have the same payroll headcount; only one can confidently combine a smaller office with overflow bookings.

Required activity facts

Count simultaneous video calls at the busiest hour, not calls per day. Record private conversations, interviews, client visits, collaborative sessions and quiet concentration. List monitors, docking stations, specialized equipment, samples, lockable files and anything that remains onsite overnight. Identify staff or visitors who need additional circulation or accessible furniture, without recording personal medical information in the quote request.

Required service facts

Define required hours, weekend access, internet and wired-network needs, guest reception, mail handling, meeting rooms, printing, kitchens, bicycle storage, showers, parking and delivery handling. Mark each item required, preferred or not needed. A provider should not be penalized for omitting a service the team will never use, and a low price should not win if a required service is absent.

Required privacy facts

State the activities that need speech or visual privacy. Do not simply request “confidential space.” Ask whether callers outside the closed office can understand words, whether screens are visible from common areas, whether visitors cross employee work areas and whether lockable storage is available. CCOHS treats acoustical and visual privacy as separate planning questions.[1]

The finished record becomes the baseline. If a provider proposes a smaller configuration, require it to explain which requirement is being met differently rather than silently changing the brief.

Detailed scenarios by team size

These scenarios show why capacity and price must be interpreted together. They use no market prices.

Solo founder: one person, many client calls

Assume one founder works onsite four days a week, holds three confidential calls per day and receives two clients per month. Three configurations might pass an initial search:

The quote comparison should include the expected number and duration of private-room bookings. If a call room costs extra, calculate the base, expected and high-call month. If it is included but subject to availability, treat availability as an operational risk rather than assigning it a false zero-dollar value.

Decision trigger: choose a permanently enclosed office when the combined cost and friction of reliable daily privacy exceeds the value of a smaller membership. That is a business threshold, not a market rule.

Two-person professional practice

Assume both people attend full time, each uses two monitors, and either can receive a client. A nominal two-person office needs two usable workstations after monitor depth, chairs and circulation are considered. It also needs a client plan. Placing a third chair between desks may satisfy a furniture count but expose both screens and leave no comfortable path.

Compare one larger room, one two-person room plus bookable client space, and two smaller offices. The two-room configuration may cost more but provide simultaneous-call separation. The shared room may support better collaboration but require scheduled call rooms. Record these as service-design differences, not subjective pros and cons.

The most important sensitivity is call overlap. Model days with no overlap, one overlapping hour and three overlapping hours. The price of the room does not change, but its functional capacity and expected meeting-room cost can.

Four-person hybrid team with a three-person peak

Assume four employees, a dependable peak of three and a quarterly four-person planning day. The base case can size daily space for three and buy a separate room for four-person events. The growth case must still test what happens if the peak becomes four every week.

Compare:

• a four-person room with one regularly unused workstation;
• a functional three-person room plus scheduled quarterly space;
• a two-person office plus one flexible membership;
• two two-person offices if call separation has high value.

Calculate unused capacity in workstation-months. A four-person room occupied by an average of 2.5 people over twelve months creates 18 unused workstation-months relative to nominal capacity. That number is not automatically waste: the spare capacity may buy resilience, visitor seating or privacy. Record the reason the buffer is being purchased.

Six-person team with synchronized office days

Hybrid does not imply staggered attendance. If six employees all attend Tuesday through Thursday, a three-day schedule still requires a six-person peak office. National hybrid-work percentages do not change this local peak.[4]

Test the room with six occupied desks, coats, bags and the actual monitor configuration. Count how many people can take calls without disrupting the others. Compare a six-person room with a four-person room plus two flexible seats only if those two seats remain operationally available on the synchronized days.

The decision record should state whether adjacency is required. “Two seats elsewhere in the building” may be a valid overflow plan for individual work and a failure for a team that attends specifically to collaborate.

Eight-person team with two managers and regular guests

At eight people, a single-room price can hide the cost of internal management. If managers require private one-to-ones, sales staff receive visitors and four employees make concurrent calls, the team may consume bookable rooms even though everyone has a desk.

Prepare an hourly room-demand map for a representative week. Separate client meetings, internal meetings and calls. Price overages and test booking availability at the requested times. Compare one eight-person room, a six-person room with flexible overflow, and a cluster of rooms. A cluster can create acoustic separation, but include any price premium and the time cost of managing separate access or supplies.

Temperature and ventilation should be observed at full occupancy. A ten-minute empty-room tour cannot establish whether eight people and their equipment can work comfortably all afternoon.

Twelve-person growing company

Assume twelve current employees, a peak of ten, two planned hires and uncertainty about timing. Compare at least four paths:

1. A room or suite that supports the expected twelve-person peak.
2. A ten-person room with contractually available overflow.
3. Multiple adjacent private rooms.
4. A conventional or managed suite with expansion options.

The key sensitivities are time, fit-out and exit. A conventional lease may offer control but can require project work before occupancy. JLL identifies speed-to-occupancy and minimizing upfront capital as flex-space motivations.[5] That supports comparing setup burden; it does not establish the lifetime winner.

Create a dated hiring trigger: for example, “seek additional room when four-week peak attendance exceeds nine” rather than “upgrade when it feels crowded.” Also create a downside trigger and review the actual contract mechanism for reducing space. A promise to “work something out” is not a priced option.

Normalize unlike price formats

Private-office offers are commonly expressed in formats that look comparable but are not. Convert each to the same monthly and horizon basis while retaining the original unit.

Annual rent per square foot

If a quote is stated as annual dollars per rentable square foot, the simple monthly base calculation is:

monthly base rent
= annual rate per rentable square foot × rentable square feet ÷ 12

Do not substitute usable area for rentable area. Do not add a guessed load factor. Ask for both figures and the contractual basis. Then add every separately quoted operating or additional-rent component. CBRE’s market range is explicitly net asking rent, which is why it cannot be treated as a furnished-office total.[2]

Monthly service or membership fee

Record included occupants, included access credentials and included hours. Add mandatory fees, taxes and expected usage charges. A fee that includes furniture and internet may still exclude meeting-room use, printing, parking, storage, after-hours access or extra occupants.

Promotional and stepped pricing

Convert free months, introductory discounts and annual increases into the same horizon total. Preserve the cash-flow schedule because a low average can still require a large deposit or setup payment. Do not apply a promotional price after its documented eligibility or expiry.

Deposits and guarantees

A refundable deposit is not necessarily an expense, but it ties up cash and may be at risk if conditions are disputed. Show it separately from horizon cost, identify the assumed recovery date and run a case in which some or all is not recovered. Personal or corporate guarantees should be reviewed as exposure, not converted into a casual monthly estimate.

Included services

Included does not mean unlimited. Capture caps, reservation windows, fair-use terms and overage prices. Assign a usage estimate only when the team has evidence. Otherwise show a range.

Sensitivity tables that reveal the actual decision

Attendance sensitivity

For an illustrative $36,000 horizon cost, the denominator changes the result:

These are invented arithmetic inputs. The lesson is that a nominal “five-person office” does not have one per-person cost. Attendance assumptions should be visible beside the result.

Setup-cost sensitivity

Consider an illustrative lease whose recurring cost is $4,000 per month and whose setup and exit total $48,000:

This does not predict an actual lease. It shows why the evaluation horizon can reverse a comparison. CRA distinguishes lease payments, purchased equipment and capital leasehold improvements; a tax adviser must determine treatment.[6] [7]

Meeting-room sensitivity

Run three cases: expected use, twice expected use and constrained availability requiring an external venue. The third case is operational, not merely financial. A missed client meeting cannot always be represented by the room charge alone.

Growth and contraction sensitivity

For each option, answer four questions with contractual evidence:

• What does adding one, two or four people cost?
• How much notice is required?
• Is suitable inventory guaranteed or merely subject to availability?
• What does reducing the footprint or leaving early cost?

If an answer is unavailable, label it unknown. Do not score an informal assurance like an enforceable option.

Common failure modes and their correction

Failure: comparing net rent with an all-inclusive fee

Why it fails: net rent omits cost categories that a service fee may bundle.
Correction: normalize both to horizon cost with identical cost rows.

Failure: pricing nominal capacity

Why it fails: the room may contain the advertised number of desks but not support monitors, movement, calls or guests.
Correction: test functional capacity with the actual activity brief.

Failure: using average attendance

Why it fails: a synchronized peak determines whether everyone can work.
Correction: size for the recurring planned peak and price exceptional overflow separately.

Failure: setting unknown costs to zero

Why it fails: the cheapest option becomes the one with the least complete quote.
Correction: use unknown, request clarification and run a reasonable high case without presenting it as fact.

Failure: ignoring staff time

Why it fails: procurement, setup, moving, vendor coordination and daily office administration consume time.
Correction: record hours and responsible roles, then decide whether to price them or show them as a separate burden.

Failure: assuming flexibility from a short label

Why it fails: room changes, reductions, cancellation and renewal are governed by the agreement and inventory.
Correction: extract notice, price, availability and penalty terms into the decision record.

Failure: treating market vacancy as product availability

Why it fails: broad vacancy includes locations and assets that do not fit the team's needs; CBRE also shows the effect of long-marketed listings.[2]
Correction: use market data for context and dated exact-room quotes for decisions.

Failure: assuming privacy because the door closes

Why it fails: speech, screens, files, guest routes and networks are different controls.
Correction: perform the property-specific tests and review professional obligations.

Failure: treating a deposit as both free and certainly refundable

Why it fails: cash is tied up and recovery depends on conditions.
Correction: show deposit cash flow separately and disclose the recovery assumption.

Failure: choosing only on first-year price

Why it fails: renewal, escalation, moving and restoration can dominate the decision.
Correction: calculate the likely horizon plus downside and growth cases.

A defensible final decision memo

The final memo should fit on two pages even if the supporting worksheet is extensive.

1. Decision: exact room or path selected, start date and commitment.
2. Requirement: peak attendance, critical activities and non-negotiable services.
3. Alternatives: exact options compared and date each quote was verified.
4. Normalized cost: horizon total, monthly equivalent and used-workstation metric.
5. Uncertainty: unknown costs, renewal exposure, growth and contraction cases.
6. Operational fit: privacy, calls, visitors, storage, accessibility and commute.
7. Contract/permit gates: items awaiting legal, tax, insurance or borough confirmation.
8. Trigger: date or measured condition for reviewing the footprint.

Record why the selected option wins and why the lower sticker price, if any, was rejected. This prevents a future reviewer from mistaking a deliberate service or flexibility premium for poor procurement.

Decision checklist by team size

All teams

• Peak simultaneous attendance is measured from real schedules.
• Equipment, storage, calls, visitors and privacy are documented.
• The team has physically tested the exact room at expected density.
• Every quote has a verification date and exact suite.
• Included, excluded and unknown costs are separated.
• Setup, renewal and exit are included in the horizon.
• Taxes are shown without invented deductions.

Teams of one to four

• Dedicated desk plus private-room usage was compared.
• Multiple monitors and simultaneous calls were tested.
• The cost of occasional exceptional attendance was modeled.

Teams of five to eight

• Internal meeting and manager-conversation space was modeled.
• Full-room heat, noise and circulation were tested.
• Adjacent rooms were compared with one larger room.

Teams of nine to twelve

• Managed suite and conventional lease were compared.
• Fit-out, technology, permits and project time were included.
• Growth, contraction and early-exit cases were stress-tested.

Frequently asked questions

What is the average private-office price in Montreal?

This research did not identify an authoritative, comparable small-office average that includes the same services and terms. CBRE’s $33–$42 Class AAA net asking-rent range is not an all-inclusive furnished-office price.[2] Use current exact-room quotes and normalize them.

Can I multiply headcount by 72 square feet?

No. CCOHS cites about 72 square feet as one planning example while explicitly saying there is no universal answer.[1] Actual requirements depend on work and people.

Should a hybrid team lease fewer desks than employees?

Possibly, but use peak simultaneous attendance and activity, not national averages. Statistics Canada’s national hybrid share was 9.8% in May 2026, which does not determine one employer’s schedule.[4]

Is price per nominal desk useful?

Only as one measure. Cost per used workstation-month reveals paid-but-unused capacity, while total horizon cost captures setup and exit.

Are office costs tax deductible?

CRA publishes relevant categories, but treatment depends on the expenditure and taxpayer. Equipment and leasehold improvements may not have the same timing as lease payments.[6] [7] Ask an accountant.

Is a furnished office automatically less expensive to open?

It can reduce furniture, fit-out and project requirements, and JLL identifies minimizing upfront capital as a flexible-space use case.[5] But verify what “furnished” includes, replacement responsibility, deposits, setup fees and whether the configuration works. Lower upfront capital does not prove lower horizon cost.

Should we rent for current headcount or planned headcount?

Use peak planned attendance plus a documented growth case. Buying permanent capacity for every possible hire can create waste; relying on future adjacent inventory can create a forced move. Ask for written expansion terms and set a measured review trigger.

How should meeting-room credits be valued?

Value expected use, not the maximum advertised credit. Confirm booking increments, peak-time availability, expiry, included rooms and overage charges. Run a high-use case and identify whether external rooms would be required if onsite capacity is unavailable.

Is the lowest cost per workstation always best?

No. The metric does not price all operational consequences. A higher-cost option may be justified by privacy, reliable client space, expansion rights, faster occupancy or less administration. State the reason and retain the normalized cost so the premium is explicit.

What if providers will not quote every cost?

Keep unknown items visible. Ask for a written list of mandatory fees and contract documents. Run a sensitivity range instead of inventing a precise value. An incomplete quote should carry more uncertainty, not appear artificially cheaper.

Research method and limitations

This planning model uses CCOHS, Statistics Canada, CBRE, Colliers, JLL, CRA and Ville de Montreal sources checked August 23, 2026. It deliberately avoids unsourced provider averages. All worked prices are labeled invented inputs. Real pricing requires a dated quote for a specific room, scope and term.