After opening a distribution centre in the Greater Toronto Area city of Vaughan this past fall, Walmart Canada has acquired a large piece of industrial land not too far away and is planning another new facility, RENX has learned.

The existing distribution centre is located at 360 Shipwill St., north of the Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital and opened in October 2025. According to an announcement, the facility spans 550,000 sq. ft. and is Walmart’s first “ambient distribution centre” (ADC) in Canada, which utilizes automation, robotics and artificial intelligence.

In Q4 2025, Walmart Canada then acquired an 84.9-acre piece of industrial land located at 10223 Highway 50 — along the boundary between Vaughan and Brampton, about a 20-minute drive away from the ADC — for $76.8 million, according to transaction details.

Notably, the property has changed hands multiple times in recent years. In Q2 2021, Montreal-based Groupe Mach acquired 10223 Highway 50 from a private owner for $75 million, according to a transaction report published by Avison Young. Groupe Mach then flipped the property in Q1 2022 to Crestpoint and PSP Investments — the public sector pension fund — for $124 million.

It’s unclear if PSP Investments still had an ownership stake in the property, but 10223 Highway 50 was previously listed for sale by CBRE as “Vaughan Industrial Major50” on behalf of Crestpoint – a subsidiary of Connor, Clark & Lunn Financial Group – according to a sales brochure that remains online.

Plans for the site

Reached for comment, Walmart Canada confirmed the acquisition, but did not provide any other details other than pointing to the $6.5-billion investment in Canada the company announced in January 2025.

However, CBRE noted in its sales brochure the site could accommodate a built-to-suit facility with 1,125,722 sq. ft. of space that would be available as early as Q3.

A development application for the site was also submitted to the City of Vaughan last year by CPSP Vaughan Nominee Inc. outlining a plan for one industrial building with approximately 734,000 sq. ft. of space.

It’s unclear if the development application was submitted before or after the CBRE listing, but the site was marketed as a “built-to-suit” opportunity. Thus a site-specific development application suggests the application was submitted after a tenant was identified.

The application was considered by council in mid-September.

The Vaughan Enterprise Zone

The property is a greenfield site within what is referred to as the Vaughan Enterprise Zone (VEZ), a designated business area that spans 4,122 acres and offers the largest supply of vacant employment lands, according to the City of Vaughan’s economic development department.

“The VEZ has a powerful value proposition for head offices, national logistics and distribution centres, manufacturing operations and other users needing large, new spaces,” Vaughan Economic Development states. “Vaughan’s industrial market is one of the busiest in the country by value of industrial construction permits, ranking sixth nationally in 2023.

"Vaughan remains the largest industrial market in York Region and the fourth-largest industrial market in the Greater Toronto Area after Toronto, Mississauga, and Brampton, with nearly 100 million sq. ft. of total inventory at the end of 2023.”

According to the city, the Vaughan Enterprise Zone is home to approximately 18,200 workers across 560 businesses, with the city targeting 60,000 workers and 50 million sq. ft. of employment space. Existing businesses in the area include Aritzia, Fedex, Home Depot, Saputo and Sobeys.

The CBRE listing notes the site also benefits from its location, as it is just two minutes away from the CPKC Vaughan Intermodal terminal, with access to the only transnational rail network in North America.

The site is also about a 12-minute drive from Toronto Pearson International Airport.