Vaughan sits at the centre of the largest food and beverage manufacturing cluster in North America: Ontario's sector generates more than $37 billion in annual manufacturing revenue, and York Region's share of it needs refrigerated, food-grade, code-compliant buildings. Terrahills delivers cold storage and processing facilities in York Region from the geotechnical report to the first pallet.
A cold chain facility is a different building from a dry warehouse even when the footprint is the same. The envelope is the refrigeration system: insulated metal panels at 100–150 mm on walls and roof, a heated or ventilated freezer slab to stop frost heave under the building, thermal breaks at every penetration, and doors and docks specified for temperature loss. Food-grade cleanability, drainage and pressure regimes add process requirements on top.
Those are the same competencies as our EU-GMP pharmaceutical facility work, controlled environments, cleanable surfaces, zoned production, documentation prepared for regulatory sign-off during construction rather than after. Vaughan's food-processing tenants need that combination in a market where serviced industrial land is scarce and expensive, which puts a premium on getting the first design right.
What it costs here
published 2026 Ontario construction cost benchmarks, GTA hard costs: warehouse $75–$180/sq ft, distribution facility $170–$480/sq ft. Cold storage in Ontario runs roughly $240–$420/sq ft depending on refrigeration plant and freezer share. Hard costs only. Land, servicing, development charges and soft costs sit outside these bands.
Proof of delivery
Vaughan industrial building preconstruction and project management: 26,500 sq ft, 2023. EU-GMP certified pharmaceutical facility, Ramara, regulated, controlled-environment industrial construction.